WWE Superstar Seth Rollins says AEW referencing WWE on TV is “very tacky” and “looks and reeks of desperation.”
Rollins recently appeared on the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch and compared his recent WWE SmackDown reference to Jon Moxley (fka Dean Ambrose) to AEW referencing WWE on their programming. Rollins made a reference to Moxley on the January 21 SmackDown episode during a segment with WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. Rollins pointed to their history as The Shield as justification for the reference, and said he heard nothing in response to the name-drop backstage.
“Everyone knows he’s a part of our history,” Rollins said. “You can’t do Seth and Roman without Dean or Mox, whatever you want to call him, you can’t do it. To ignore that part of our history and to just try and put him aside and focus on Roman and Seth, the focus was Roman and Seth, that was the story but he’s a part of that. So, to just ignore that and completely pretend he didn’t exist is just silly. I referred to him by the name that he prefers to go by and so that’s where we’re at with that. I heard nothing in response to it backstage at all.”
Rollins later compared his reference to Moxley with how AEW references WWE and various Superstars on Dynamite and Rampage. He said he finds the name-dropping very tacky and low-brow, and said it looks and reeks of desperation. Rollins also said AEW is doing their thing very well, but they have a long way to go to catch up to WWE.
“I didn’t use the reference to Mox to talk down to somebody. I wasn’t trying to diminish anybody’s accomplishments, it wasn’t like that,” Rollins said. “He’s part of our story. Roman wouldn’t be the same if it wasn’t for him and I. The other side of that coin is the way that it can be used by those guys.
“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. They do things differently but for me, my perspective, it’s just a little step down for us to kind of use it as an insult. That’s my perspective on it but people may not share that opinion.”
Rollins is set to compete at WrestleMania 38 this Saturday, against an opponent to be revealed as Rollins waits in the ring. It’s believed that former AEW Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes will be Rollins’ opponent as Rhodes has reportedly signed a new contract to return to WWE after his AEW deal expired in February.
Stay tuned for more.
(H/T to F4Wonline for the quotes)
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