Even when he was WWE Champion, Seth Rollins felt like he was never “the guy.”
In 2015, Seth Rollins pulled off “the heist of the century” when he cashed-in his Money in the Bank briefcase at WrestleMania 31 and became WWE Champion. The cash-in is still etched in fans’ memories and is considered one of the greatest MITB moments in history.
The Visionary would hold onto the championship for 220 days before relinquishing it after tearing his knee at a WWE live event. During his first reign as Champion, Rollins defeated the likes of Kane, Sting, Jon Moxley, and even 16-time world champion John Cena.
Despite defeating some major stars in the industry, Rollins admits he never felt like “the guy.” In an interview with Ariel Helwani for BT Sports, the star discussed how he suffered from imposter syndrome after becoming the top man on the roster. He claimed the company focused more on setting up Roman Reigns for greatness.
“I always felt like a little bit of impostor syndrome with my first title run, you know. I was young, 26, I think, when I first won the title, maybe 28, something like that. I was young and working with guys who, after I won the title, were a lot more experienced than I was. And not that I wasn’t adding anything to the stories, but I didn’t feel like I was thinking about it the way in this is all in retrospect; I don’t feel like I was thinking about it the way that say I would think about it now seven, eight years later, whatever it is.
And so, yeah, I never felt like even when I had won the title at WrestleMania, cashed in a great moment, I still felt like I was second fiddle to Roman, I still felt like he was the guy, you’re the placeholder until he’s ready, and we’re ready to put the ball in his hands. But for now, you’re a step ahead.
So we’re going to give you this, and then we’ll move on to where we really want to be. But this is going to take a few months. So no, I’ve never ever felt like I in my time in WWE, that, that the company was like, Yep, he’s our guy put his face on everything.”
After Rollins’ injury, WWE completely switched their focus to crowning a new top champion on Monday Night Raw. Reigns seized the opportunity and won a tournament to capture his first WWE Championship. He’d be cashed-in on by The Celtic Warrior Sheamus and forced to fight for the title for several months leading up to WrestleMania 32.
As for Rollins, the former architect of The Shield would have a few more chances to become WWE’s top babyface on Monday Night Raw. In 2019, he defeated Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship on two separate occasions. His last reign ended after he lost the title to The Fiend Bray Wyatt and later turned heel.
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