Seth Rollins Opens Up About Roman Reigns’ Battle With Leukemia, Dean Ambrose’s Betrayal, & More

William Mullally of Al Arabiya interviewed Seth Rollins ahead of yesterday’s Crown Jewel pay-per-view. The WWE Intercontinental Champion opened up on a number of topics including Roman Reigns‘ battle with leukemia, his thoughts on the Crown Jewel pay-per-view, & Dean Ambrose‘s recent shocking betrayal.

Rollins’ Thoughts On The Crown Jewel:

It’s pretty fantastic. It’s not often that we determine something like this. We have eight of realistically the best wrestlers not just in the world, but of all time. You’ve got a pretty stacked deck—Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton, Jeff Hardy, myself, Dolph Ziggler, Bobby Lashley, Kurt Angle and The Miz. It’s eight dudes who want to prove how good they are and a one-night tournament is always exciting, so I’m really looking forward to having these guys bring out the best in me and bringing out the best in them. It should be pretty exciting to see who comes out on top in that thing.

On Which World Cup Entrant He’d Most Like To Wrestle:

I know it’s a long way off, but, man, I’d love a singles match with Rey Mysterio. That’s an easy one, but he’s the one guy. Rey was always a huge inspiration to me growing up, so it would be fantastic to get in the ring with him. Rey has been on SmackDown so I haven’t had a chance to be around him.

On The Saudi Fan Base:

The nice thing about the fans in Saudi Arabia is the genuine excitement. Sometimes in the States, and at other venues overseas, we run into a lot of the same fans going to the same places. Coming to this part of the world, and seeing the genuine excitement they have to be a part of this spectacular event that we’re putting on, so it’s very refreshing. It’s cool. You get it with kids and adults alike, so it’s really a cool experience to see how much they appreciate what we’re doing here.

On Roman Reigns’ Battle With Leukemia:

It threw everything up in the air. It’s hard to go a day without thinking about him and how he’s doing and hoping he’s doing alright. I’m fighting the urge to check in on him like a brother every two hours, but he’s a strong dude, and I know that he’s in a good place mentally as well as physically. He’s in good health for the most part. I think he’s going to be able to fight this thing pretty strong. We’re just getting through it while we can. Obviously it’s going to be easier as time goes on, but certainly the last couple weeks have been, and last week especially, have been a rollercoaster of emotions. Lots of ups and downs.

On There Being A Whole At The Top Of The Roster Without Reigns:

With Roman not being on the roster for an indefinite period of time, there’s definitely extra pressure that I put on myself to step into that role. Obviously his shoes are his shoes and nobody is going to fill them, but I put pressure on myself, whether he’s around or not, to go out there and steal the show and have the best match on the card, and push everybody else to that level. The thing that sucks about not having Roman, besides not having his camaraderie, is that he is one of the guys that pushes me to be better, because he goes out and gives it his all every single time. Not having him around, I’m feeling that pressure to step it up even more to bring everybody with me so we can try our best to fill the void that the big dog leaves behind.

On 2018 Being A Personal Revelation:

This year has been sort of a revelation in the sense that everything has really slowed down for me. I can’t really pinpoint how or why or what, I think it might just be me getting old. I’m coming into almost my 15th year in professional wrestling now. I’ve had a ton of experience. I’ve been working at an elite level with top guys for a long time now. That experience I’ve been fortunate to have. It’s put me in a position so now I feel that any match I’m in, I feel like I’m the guy running the show. I don’t feel there’s anyone out there that I need to compete with when it comes to having the best in-ring performance of the night. That confidence has really slowed things down for me. I feel like I’m working on a higher plane than I have in the past. I can’t explain why or how or when, but it’s definitely something I feel and that I’m cognizant of.

On WWE Evolution:

Evolution was fantastic. It was cool to focus on the girls for a little while, take some of the pressure off of me. I got to watch the show on the WWE Network as a fan, which I don’t get to do very often.

On Dean Ambrose’s Betrayal:

I feel like it sucks. I haven’t been able to get any answers out of him. I felt like, especially, to a point maybe I’ve done something similar in the past, so I have to give him the benefit of the doubt until he tells me otherwise and forces my hand in another direction, and I want to know why, I want to know what I’m thinking, and the fact that he chose to do that on that particular night, I don’t know man, it says a lot about his character. We’ll see where that leads us, but it definitely doesn’t feel good.

On Future WWE Goals:

I’ve been very fortunate to live out my dreams here in the WWE, but the one thing I have not been able to do is headline a WrestleMania. Obviously if you look back WrestleMania 31 I was able to leave WrestleMania as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, but that match wasn’t mine. I got in there and snatched it away from Brock and Roman. I’d like to be the guy on the marquee going into the show. I’d like to be the guy that somebody has to come down and snatch my match away. That’s the one thing that I really haven’t had the opportunity to accomplish just yet. I have a lot of years ahead of me, so we’ll see what the future holds when it comes to headlining WrestleManias.

On Whether Wrestling Is As Fulfilling Now As It Was When He Wrestled In The Indies:

That’s an interesting question. I think it fulfills me in different ways. One of the things I’ve done over the past few years is I’ve had a lot come through my wrestling school, and I think to be able to pass along knowledge that I’ve gained over the years to a younger generation, that’s what gets me where I want to be these days. Obviously the big moments and the accolades and getting to do what I’ve dreamed of as a child is always going to be there, but after six years of WWE, some things become less important to you over time. For me, what’s become more important is helping other people grow. I’ve been able to do that with my wrestling school and my role as a leader in the locker room helping out some of the other talent and getting them to where they need to be. I think my role has changed but I’m very accepting and appreciative of what I’ve been able to do so far.

On WWE Talent He Has Personally Assisted:

I help out my friends a lot. I shouldn’t say young—because Finn Balor is not young—but he’s a guy I’ve had a lot of time in the ring with and we’ve talked a lot about the business and how we see things going. Sami Zayn too. Then guys down in NXT and I’m seeing how I can help them out as well. With the girls, Bayley is one of my best friends, and I try to help her out as much as I can as well. I’m just around and available for whoever needs some advice. Even the Riott Squad—they need all the help they can get. No I’m kidding, they work hard. I just feel like I’m a guy that people can come to now. I’ve started to embrace that role, and hopefully will able to do that in the future.

On Who Might Be The Next Big Star From NXT:

There’s a ton of guys down there with absolutely incredible potential. Shayna Baszler is one of those people who I never got a chance to watch that much, but I saw her on the NXT show last Sunday and I was blown away. I think she’s fantastic. I think Velveteen Dream is really good—he’s got something wacky about him. I’ve always been a fan of Ricochet. I’ve known him since he was a 17-year-old kid from Paducah, Kentucky. I’ve always thought the world of him and I’m looking forward to seeing what he does in the future. The whole Undisputed Era, I think those guys are fantastic. I think there’s a lot of talent down in NXT that has the chance to make waves when they move up to the main roster.

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