Before defending the world heavyweight championship against Bron Breakker in NXT on Tuesday (8 p.m., USA Network) Seth Rollins took time for some Q&A with The Post’s Joseph Staszewski.
(Edited for clarity and length)
Q: How will taking the title to NXT help build what you want this championship to be instead of maybe Bron coming up to Raw and wrestling you?
A: Taking it down Florida and NXT I think makes it special. You just don’t see that very often. The last time I had a match on NXT was, God, over a decade ago (2013). Getting an opportunity to go down there to the place I really cut my teeth in WWE and bring a brand new world title there and defend it against someone like Bron Breakker, I think it’s gonna put more eyes on NXT, I hope, and bring some attention there.
Q: We just had a draft and Bron wasn’t one of the NXT stars brought up. Having watched him, how main-roster ready do you think he is?
A: There is nothing you can do down there that’s gonna prepare you for the experience of being on the road with WWE full-time. It’s just a different animal. From everything I’ve seen performance-wise, Bron’s as ready as he’s gonna get. And his time will come. Everybody’s time will come. I was as anxious as anybody when I was down there in NXT. I told Bron this on Tuesday, I’ve been in your shoes. You want to make noise. You want to be the guy and I like that. We need that passion and we need that hunger to continue to push the business forward. I’m excited to go and give him the test of his life and see what he throws back at me. I’m excited to see how ready he really is.
Q: Is it right or fitting that Finn Balor is your first pay-per-view opponent for the title at Money in the Bank given your history?
A: The reason it’s right is just because he’s one of the best. He’s one of the absolute best on the planet and has been for a long time. And being part of The Judgment Day is such a resurgence for him as a character and as a personality and now we got a chance to duke it out. It’s been seven years since the infamous Universal title match at SummerSlam. We’re both totally different players in this game now. The game has changed. We have changed. The matchup is going to look a lot different than it did in Brooklyn that fateful night.
At this point in the game, I have history with everybody. There are not too many people on this roster I don’t have history with. So it’s nice to kind of come back around with Finn Balor, who is in a totally different place, one of the best there is and we’re gonna put on a hell of a performance.
Q: One of the things people reacted to after your promo with Finn on Raw was how much the fans took it over by singing your music. Are you at all worried that is something that can happen? Is it something you may have to step in and control if it ever gets as obnoxious as the ‘What?’ chant?
A: No. (Laughs) Why would I want to stop it? They’re doing my thing for me. Why would I want to stop them? What good is that? That’s silly. They “What” people when they’re bored with them. They’re singing my song to my opponent to aggravate him, to piss him off. They know that it annoys him so they keep doing it. That’s as good as it gets. If he was a heel out there standing by himself and they were booing him out of the building a la Dominik Mysterio and he couldn’t get a word in, everyone would be thinking that’s the greatest thing ever.
The fact that there is a babyface who has something like that to utilize to antagonize the bad guy, it doesn’t get any better than that. Why would I ever want to stop them? I say party all night long. Mind you, I didn’t tell them to party all night long. All I did was stand there and when I talk, they listen. So, what does that tell you? I do have some control of them.
I hope it’s like that every single time my opponent picks up a microphone to say something bad to me. Please, bring it on. If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the fire baby.
Q: You and Roman Reigns have been compared forever. Do you feel like being champions at the same time is going to heighten those comparisons now?
A: Immediately people are going to compare whatever my title reign is gonna be to what his title reign is gonna be, my stories to his stories, my character to his character, my promo to his promo and it’s inevitable. It’s awesome. Great, I love it. Let’s talk about it. It’s only gonna make things more exciting. It’s only gonna polarize people more. It’s only gonna give people stronger opinions. Let’s go. I love it. Whatever you got to say, you think about, I’m excited to hear it. I’m excited that we are both in great positions in the prime of our careers. Two different titles. Two different approaches.
Q: Do you like the fact that the return match between the two of you is kind of hanging there? Whenever it’s needed or the moment is right and it’s kind of being built without an actual build?
A: It’s always there and it’s always gonna be a matchup people are interested in seeing, and the further we get away from it I think the more people will want to see it when you start to touch on it again. I think that it’s just inevitable. We came up together. We grew into WWE together. We built the industry into what it is over the last decade. We are really going to make it in our image over the next decade and hopefully, we’ll leave the place better than we found it. That matchup is always gonna be huge. Whenever we get back to it, I hope it’s at the right place at the right time.
Q: You have talked about how important getting a main event at WrestleMania is. When you have this new title and the importance WWE is putting on it, do you see it as another vehicle to make that happen?
A: If it is, it is. If it isn’t, it isn’t. At WrestleMania the best stories make the main events and that’s the way it has been and the way it should always be. If my title turns into the best story going into that event at the right time of year, I fully expect to be in the spot. If not, I’ll work harder to get there next time. I don’t necessarily see the title as a vehicle to do anything other than create a more competitive sort of experience at the top of WWE in the men’s division. I feel like that’s the one thing we’ve been missing for a while.
There are just so many guys that are so good and so capable of being world champions, former world champions on Raw and SmackDown. When you only had one guy and one unified title that wasn’t around that often, the opportunities were smaller. The pool was smaller. It worked for Roman, an absolutely incredible champion. He’s spectacular in everything he does. I do think it limits options for everybody else.
Q: Is it almost you can’t be considered a main event guy until you get that main event chance or wrestle for a world championship?
A:. It’s still a company that’s got to decide to put you in that spot. If there are limited spots because there are limited dates available, you’re shortchanging the top of your roster and that’s the way it is. It just makes it harder to get through that funnel. I think this title is going to be an opportunity for guys to get that shot and see what sticks because Roman and I aren’t gonna be around forever. The top guys, myself, Roman, Kevin [Owens], Drew [McIntyre], Sheamus, we’re not gonna be around forever. They’re gonna need other guys to carry that torch and if we don’t get the opportunity to see who those guys can be, then we’re never gonna know.
Q: How has fatherhood and traveling with your family and getting that experience with Becky [Lynch] and your daughter been different?
A: As a couple on the road we are really kind of breaking the ice a little bit here for our generation. I know Hunter and Steph (McMahon) used to do it when they were a bit younger and their girls were younger and they were on the road. Other than that, I don’t know of any other couple who has been characters on our TV show and traveled for work every single week and did it at this level.
It’s been awesome in short. It’s really a blessing. When I was coming up before I had a kid there were a lot of parents on the road and they would lament not being able to see their kids because they were gone so much. I just feel so fortunate that we’re at a place in our lives where we’re able to.
It takes a village. The fact that we get to do that and have experiences on the road with our little girl and have her be a part of our lives and be a part of her life and not have to leave her at home so much, I feel so much gratitude that we are able to do that. It’s a really incredible experience. I feel lucky and so happy we get to do that because spending time with her is just the best. It really is what it’s all about. I know it sounds cliché and I probably would have scoffed at that five years ago but I’m in such a different headspace than I was back then.
Q: Does she have any recognition of what mom and dad do?
A: She sees us on TV. If she hears our voices or our songs — she’ll see “momma” on TV and go, “Momma looks so beautiful” or “dadda looks so cool.” Whatever she says. She does know. She doesn’t understand the magnitude of it, but she knows that we’re on TV. She can comprehend that part of it.
