Seth Rollins doesn’t blame Roman Reigns for how his WWE career unfolded. He blames the system that made sure Roman never had to worry about losing his spot.
Speaking to Jackie Redmond ahead of his World Heavyweight Championship match against Roman Reigns at SummerSlam, Rollins was asked whether he respected the path his longtime rival took to the top of WWE. His answer wasn’t a shot at Reigns as much as it was a look at how differently the two men were treated behind the scenes.
Rollins admitted Roman carried a unique kind of pressure because of his family’s wrestling legacy, but he never believed those expectations actually threatened Roman’s opportunities.
“There’s kind of the other side of that. My perspective, I see it as, you know, he’s starting on third base. From his perspective, and I can see this, is that is a level of pressure that maybe I will never understand, right? But it didn’t matter if he failed. It didn’t matter if he wasn’t great at what he did.”
For Rollins, one moment summed it all up. Roman’s infamous “sufferin’ succotash” promo became one of the most criticized promos of his career, yet Rollins believes nothing changed afterward.
“He could go out there and say sufferin’ succotash, and it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter. He was still going to get the opportunities.”
Rollins said his own reality couldn’t have been more different. Every bad promo, every disappointing match and every mistake felt like it could send him back to the bottom of the ladder.
“If I go out and I lay an egg, whether it’s a promo or a match, whatever it is, I may not get another crack. Stakes are different. I drop to the bottom, and I got to find my way up.”
Those fears weren’t just in his head. Rollins recalled Triple H telling him during his NXT days that he was “on the chopping block.” Years later, another respected wrestling figure told him he wasn’t becoming the star people expected him to be. That’s why, in Rollins’ mind, he and Roman never experienced WWE the same way.
“These are situations that Roman Reigns will never understand. These are expectations that he will never have to deal with.”
Even after laying all of that out, Rollins drew a clear line. His frustration was never with Roman himself. He even admitted those feelings sometimes extended beyond WWE management.
“So I don’t resent Roman as a person for what he has and what he was given. I suppose more than anything, I resent the system. I resent the way it is. And, gosh, even to… this might not be a popular one. Sometimes… sometimes I resent the audience for accepting that. And I think that part, again, might not be popular to say, but it’s my truth. It’s just how I feel. Sometimes, and I get it, but it is hard for me to swallow sometimes.”
With SummerSlam bringing the two rivals together once again, Rollins made one thing clear: his issue was never that Roman Reigns became WWE’s chosen star. It was that the rules always seemed different depending on who was playing the game.
Do you agree with Seth Rollins that WWE’s system favored Roman Reigns, or do you think Roman earned every opportunity he received? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.
