Seth Rollins is set to face a mystery opponent at WrestleMania 38 on Saturday, believed to be the returning Cody Rhodes. The storyline is that WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon is hand-picking Rollins’ opponent to give him “his own main event” on The Grandest Stage of Them All. Rollins’ opponent will not be revealed until it’s time for the match.
Rollins appeared on the Sports Illustrated Media podcast this week and talked with Jimmy Traina about his Road to WrestleMania 38. Rollins talked about plans changed when WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns was pulled from WWE Day 1, due to COVID-19, where he was to face current WWE Champion Brock Lesnar. Lesnar ended up winning the WWE Title, then dropping it to Bobby Lashley at the Royal Rumble, then winning it again at Elimination Chamber.
Rollins said his WrestleMania situation has been a very legitimate one, and it’s been a fun story because it’s the only match still up in the air for WrestleMania.
“You do what I’ve been doing and you try to make it work. That’s what I’ve done the last few weeks, try to work my way into WrestleMania,” Rollins said. “People say, ‘this is ridiculous, this is preposterous, you’re Seth Freakin Rollins, how can you miss WrestleMania?’ If you only knew how close to the truth this storyline was, your mind would be blown. This is a very legitimate situation for me. The pieces went haywire at Day 1 in Atlanta. COVID blew the whole thing up, you see Brock Lesnar walk out with the WWE Championship, all hell broke loose, and its dominoes. Everything has to fall. Bobby Lashley gets hurt. Everything is chaos after that.
“This is a very legitimate situation that has translated to screen time every Monday and it’s been a fun story because it’s the only match that is up in the air. It’s the only thing you can follow every week and go, ‘what’s going to happen next? What are these weird crossroads we’re going to get into to get into the finish line?’ It’s been fun. Not my ideal way to go into WrestleMania, it’s a lot of extra stress, but it’s been a party and we’re going to get there one way or another. I’m very excited to get to Dallas and I’m going to have my WrestleMania moment one way or the other.”
Regardless of who Rollins faces at WrestleMania Saturday, he says it’s going to be a big moment because that’s what he does – make moments. He also commented on how he is the new Mr. WrestleMania as WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels had his time but will always be the original.
“It’s going to be a moment. One thing I’ve learned on this journey to try and find my way to WrestleMania is that, I am Seth Freakin Rollins and I am the moment,” he said. “You look at WrestleMania over the last eight to ten years, and all I do is make moments. It doesn’t matter who I’m in the ring with or what we’ve got going on, I find a way to make moments. I am the moment. I am my own main event at WrestleMania. Anybody lucky enough to share the ring with me has a good chance to steal the show.
“You can run down the laundry list of my past WrestleMania accomplishments, but it’s right there in front of you. It too me a while to see that, but I am WrestleMania. I’m the new Mr. WrestleMania. Shawn (Michaels) had his time, he’ll always be the original Mr. WrestleMania, but look at the track record the last decade. They don’t get no better than me.”
Stay tuned for more from WrestleMania Week.
(H/T to Fightful for the quotes)
Follow Marc on Twitter at @this_is_marc. Send any news, tips or corrections to us by clicking here.