A worked segment involving Seth Rollins and Kyle Brandt ended up blurring the lines a little too well.
At least for some fans.
Ahead of the NFL Draft, Rollins made a guest appearance on Good Morning Football, where things quickly escalated into what appeared to be a heated confrontation with Brandt.
The exchange culminated with Rollins storming off the set, only for it to later be revealed as a planned, worked segment.
Speaking on the SI Media Podcast with Jimmy Traina (see below), Brandt pulled back the curtain on how everything came together.
“I’ve worked with Seth [Rollins] for over a year and consider him a friend in the industry,” he said. “Love him. Loved him before I met him. I knew it was going to be he and I at the Draft, just alone at the desk. It’s me and a pro wrestler at the Draft. We have to bring something better than ‘Where is Sonny Styles going to land on Thursday?’ We have to put on some kind of show.”
Brandt admitted the idea stemmed from his appreciation for old-school wrestling storytelling.
He explained, “I like the old WWF. I like the heels. I text Seth, ‘Can we do a work? I’ve always wanted to do that. It’s a fantasy of mine.’ He goes, ‘Yeah, do you have an idea?’ Seth is up for anything. I started piecing it together and saw we were going to be talking about [Aaron] Rodgers. Seth famously hates Rodgers. There was this question about Seth doing WrestleMania, where he’s almost 40, and Rodgers playing this year, and he’s 42, which one is more difficult? I was like, ‘This is it.’ Seth and I are texting, and I’m like, ‘I’ll push you. I think you should walk off.’ ‘Great.’ We tell very few people. We told the producer of Good Morning Football so he doesn’t hit a panic button, and I texted a few bosses, a boss at ESPN, a new boss, and a boss at NFL Network. Seth let a few people know,” Brandt added.
From there, Brandt leaned fully into the role, intentionally pushing Rollins until the breaking point on-air.
According to Brandt, the segment played out exactly as intended behind the scenes.
But the reaction online told a very different story.
“Over the next 24 hours, it was very strange. I don’t regret it at all, but I didn’t think I was going to be that much of a heel. I thought it was going to go ‘Seth and Kyle have a fight. Seth leaves.’ It was, ‘Kyle bullies Seth off the set and goes way below the belt and insults him until he leaves. Kyle is a prick.’ It was everyone. The wrestling fans went nuts. I had many threats of physical violence in my mentions,” he continued.
Yeah… the line between work and reality definitely got crossed for some viewers.
Brandt went on to explain that the commitment to keeping the angle alive only added to the confusion.
Even as both men had to appear at the same events later that day.
“All that stuff, which now I can laugh about. I had industry people being like, ‘What was that? What did he do to you?’ There was disappointment in how rude I was to Seth. The problem was, we committed to 24 hours. The other funny thing is Seth and I had to go to some of the same engagements throughout that day, including the Draft. We couldn’t be around each other. I was even thinking, ‘Do I go and throw a drink in Seth’s face? Do we escalate it?’ We just left it where it was. The next day, we do the dramatic hug and that was it. It was one of the weirdest 24 hours of my career because everyone was so mad at me.”
