November will mark ten years since Seth Rollins, Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose (aka AEW World Champion Jon Moxley) formed The Shield in WWE. All three have found success in their singles careers since then. Rollins recently spoke with BT Sports’ Ariel Helwani and said he’s felt like he was “second fiddle” to Reigns.
“Even when I had won the title at WrestleMania, cashed in. Great moment. I still felt like I was second fiddle to Roman [Reigns],” Rollins said. “I still felt like, ‘He was the guy, you’re the placeholder until he’s totally ready and we’re totally ready to put the ball in his hands. But for now you’re a step ahead, so we’re gonna give you this and then we’ll move on to what we really want to be, it’s just gonna take a few months.’
“So no, I’ve never ever felt like, in my time in WWE, that the company was like ‘Yep, he’s our guy, put his face on everything.'”
Rollins was then asked if he feels like he’s getting closer to that spot in WWE.
“I don’t know man,” he answered. “I wonder often if because I live in the Roman era that’s just never gonna happen. The only time I was even considered, I think, for the main event of WrestleMania, [was when] Roman, when he got Leukemia, and he was out from August to January, February whatever it was, and I was second behind in the babyface column, so I got slotted in. So, I feel like, it’s one of those things. The best I can hope for is to be the Edge to his [John] Cena, the [Randy] Savage to his [Hulk] Hogan. Sometimes I just feel like that’s just the way the cookie crumbles. Doesn’t mean that I don’t think I’m better than he is, or that I can perform or I can draw at that level, I certainly think all those things, but it’s not my sandbox, I don’t make those decisions.”
Rollins defeated Reigns by DQ at the Royal Rumble back in January, but Reigns retained his title. Reigns then defeated Rollins by submission at the Madison Square Garden live event on March 5.
Rollins has been feuding with Matt Riddle on WWE RAW, and the two will lock up inside the Fight Pit structure at WWE Extreme Rules on October 8. Rollins has recently talked about going for the top title in WWE, or the WWE United States Title.
Stay tuned to WrestlingHeadlines.com for more. Below is the full interview with Rollins:
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(H/T to Wrestletalk for the quotes)