WWE

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins has commented on his recent NXT visit, explaining what ‘rubbed him the wrong way’ about the brand in the past.

Rollins notably defended his title against rising star Bron Breakker on the June 20 ‘Gold Rush’ edition of NXT.

Speaking on the Out of Character podcast, Rollins reflected on his NXT return, noting that his goal is to push the industry forward:

“It was very cool for me to go back and have that moment. One of the things I talk about is helping the younger talent and pushing the industry forward.

The opportunity was presented to me to go down to NXT and I haven’t wrestled a match on the show in over ten years. Obviously, it moved from Full Sail to the Performance Center and the look, the feel, and the vibe was totally different and it had gone through so many different iterations over the years, but it’s still NXT.

“I cut a little promo after the show and it didn’t really dawn on me that it would feel sentimental until after when I got out there and I felt the audience and I felt the connection.

“I hadn’t wrestled in front of a crowd that small and intimate in a very long time. There is something special about wrestling in front of an intimate crowd like that in a small space.

“You’ll see big bands do that, go back to these small bars and pack them out. There is something about that where you get a different experience as opposed to doing it in an arena or stadium, it’s a lot more personal.

“It really hit me when I went out there and you could really interact with any person in any seat. It was an awesome experience.

Prior to the 2021 NXT reboot, and Triple H taking over WWE creative in 2022, a number of stars publicly stated that they’d prefer to stay on the developmental brand, rather than moving on to the main roster.

Sharing his honest thoughts on the idea of ‘NXT lifers’, while also praising Bron Breakker, Rollins said:

“Bron was a hell of an opponent. I was really happy to get down there and get in the ring with him and chit-chat with other guys and girls, and see what they are experiencing on a day-to-day basis. It was cool.

“I felt a lot of hunger to get to the next level. I was happy to see that. We were going through a period with NXT where there was a lot of complacency and people talking about, ‘I’d rather stay in NXT, I don’t want to go to the main roster.’ That always rubbed me the wrong way.

“When I went down there this past time, I felt a different energy and I felt people were excited to come to the main roster and take their careers to the next level. That got me hyped.”

Rollins became the inaugural World Heavyweight Champion at Night of Champions in May, defeating AJ Styles in the finals of a tournament to crown the first titleholder.

The Visionary recently criticised Roman Reigns’ Universal Title reign for leaving numerous stars in a holding pattern.

A spoiler has emerged on Seth Rollins’ opponent for SummerSlam 2023, which you can read more about right here.

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• Seth Rollins
• main roster
• nxt
• wwe

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