Seth Rollins finally has a clear Road to WrestleMania 38! Only his destination is literally unknown; and we’re not talking about Ruby Soho. The Visionary is set to face an opponent of Vince McMahon’s choosing at Night 1 of WrestleMania 38 (click here for more on how to watch it); and in the lead-up to the match, he addressed All Elite Wrestling.
I AM THE MOMENT! https://t.co/3S3sskoKvK
— Seth FREAKIN’ Rollins (@WWERollins) March 29, 2022
Seth Rollins has had a tumultuous 2022 to say the least
It’s amazing to think that at the start of 2022, it looked like Seth had the clearest path to ‘Mania 38. Then he lost to basically WWE’s entire main event scene in a series of successively crushing defeats. The Visionary trashed the ringside area after losing to AJ Styles last week on Raw.
HAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHHAHAHA! OF COURSE!! ???????? pic.twitter.com/19VtmYrfJE
— Seth FREAKIN’ Rollins (@WWERollins) March 26, 2022
That caught the attention of Vince McMahon and Rollins was called in for a face-to-face with the boss at WrestleMania Raw. There was both good news, and bad news. The good news was that Seth “Freakin” Rollins was going to WrestleMania 38!
During his meeting with @VinceMcMahon, @WWERollins learns that he’s going to #WrestleMania 38!!! pic.twitter.com/B4IiopCGmM
— WWE (@WWE) March 28, 2022
The bad news was that the opponent would be of Vince McMahon’s choosing. And while he was discussing his misfortunes in 2022 with Jimmy Traina, he revealed his thoughts on All Elite Wrestling’s weekly name-dropping routine.
Well that puts a bit of a damper on things…
— Seth FREAKIN’ Rollins (@WWERollins) March 29, 2022
“I find it very tacky and low-brow”- Seth Rollins on AEW’s WWE-bashing segments
While talking to Traina on the Sports Illustrated Podcast a couple of days ago, Rollins was asked about mentioning Jon Moxley (FKA Dean Ambrose in WWE) during the build to his match against Roman Reigns at Royal Rumble 2022. The Visionary brought up how integral Mox was to Roman & Seth’s career, and their story heading into the match.
Rollins emphasized that there was no backlash to that name-drop and that he didn’t bring Mox’s name up as a cheap shot on somebody. He went on to speak about the “flip side of that coin”, talking about AEW’s tendency to troll WWE for a pop during its tapings. Rollins said,
“They can do whatever they want, I find it very tacky and very low-brow, personally. I think it looks and reeks of desperation and I just don’t think it’s anything on our television show that we need to go there and talk down about those guys. They’re doing their thing, they’re doing it very well, we’re very happy for them, I am, at least, personally. Are they on our level? No, they’ve got a long way to go to catch up to us and that’s fine and they know that.” – Seth Rollins
It is true that AEW relies heavily on referencing WWE for its hottest segments. Over the last 6 months, they’ve brought up The Miz, John Cena, WrestleMania; hell, Chris Jericho is a Sports Entertainer once again! (more on that here)
You’re out of your league @MadKing1981. Go home…. #FutureEndeavored #JerichoAppreciationSociety @AEW @GarciaWrestling @TheAngeloParker pic.twitter.com/c1bIpGai41
— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) March 31, 2022
Seth Rollins is (most likely) set to face one of AEW’s Former EVPs, if all reports are to be believed, and it will be very interesting to see how things play out after the match. Or WWE will pull a quick one on us and give us Seth vs Shane instead. The good thing is, we’ll find out tomorrow.