Seth Rollins Says Wrestling Is In A Boom Period, References AEW All In
Seth Rollins thinks pro wrestling is in a boom period while also referencing AEW’s recent major show on a WWE podcast.
The WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins (the “Freakin” one) has been one of the biggest stars on Monday Night Raw for several years now. If SmackDown could be called the Roman Reigns show then Raw could be called Seth’s show although there are some other big names like Cody Rhodes, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens and The Judgment Day on Raw too.
This coming Saturday at Payback, Seth Rollins will defend the World Heavyweight Title that he won three months ago against the legendary Shinsuke Nakamura. It’s a match that has been built around Nakamura targeting the serious back injury that Rollins is living with.
To promote Payback, Seth Rollins was a guest on WWE’s After The Bell podcast hosted by Corey Graves & Kevin Patrick. While speaking on the show, Rollins spoke about how well the pro wrestling business is doing right now. Rollins also referenced the AEW All In London event that had over 80,000 fans in attendance although he didn’t mention AEW by name.
“Bro, we are in the boom, man. You got to understand there is another company that just put 80,000 people in a stadium for one night. A week before that, we sold 90,000 tickets to WrestleMania broke the all-time gate on the first day. There are seven, eight different television programs of professional wrestling on a week not counting Premium Live Events or pay-per-views.
“I mean, the talent roster across the board is beyond what any generation has ever put forward. And it’s very easy to look back at the past with rose-coloured glasses and say, ‘Oh, but this but that,’ and I’m not taking anything away from the guys who paved the way I stand on the shoulders of these guys.”
Seth Rollins Thinks Legends Should Be Proud of the Wrestling Business Today
As he continued, Seth Rollins spoke about how legends of pro wrestling should be proud of where things are today.
“I don’t do what I do, I can’t do it without the legends of our industry that have defined their own generations. But they should be proud. And I know they are. Because they’re the people who got us to where we are now the business is bigger than it’s ever been.”
“It makes more money than it’s ever made. It’s healthier. I mean, the future of the business is so bright, and I’m so happy to be a part of it in any capacity. I can’t tell you the pride I take when I see young cats coming up and succeeding in our industry and helping push the thing forward or guys getting an opportunity to prove their worth and they do because they’re capable.”
“And then seeing guys like you know Edge who is you know, close to deciding to hang it up one way or the other still go out there and absolutely tear the house down with Sheamus in Toronto. Like, just on every level. It’s just firing and so I can’t say enough about our industry right now. I’m so proud of it. It’s healthier physically than it’s ever been.”
“The longevity for our generation is going to be better than the generation before us. Because you know, we learned and we got smarter. And the the business as a whole the money. It’s all there is just I can’t say enough, I really can’t.”
Here’s the full lineup for WWE Payback on Saturday, September 2nd in Pittsburgh.
* World Heavyweight Championship: Seth “Freakin” Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
* Women’s World Heavyweight Championship: Rhea Ripley vs. Raquel Rodriguez
* Steel City Street Fight for the WWE Tag Team Championships: Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens vs. Damian Priest & Finn Balor
* United States Championship: Rey Mysterio vs. Austin Theory
* LA Knight vs. The Miz
* Steel Cage Match: Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus
* Grayson Waller Effect talk show with Cody Rhodes as the guest
You can watch WWE Payback on Saturday, September 2, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, streaming LIVE on Peacock in the United States and on WWE Network everywhere else.
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