WWE: Seth Rollins on Claims of World Title Being Consolation Prize, Cody Rhodes, More News

Seth Rollins Comments on Claims of WWE’s New World Title Being a “Consolation Prize”

A recent episode of the Out of Character with Ryan Satin podcast featured Seth Rollins as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Rollins’ thoughts on those who claim that WWE’s new World Heavyweight Championship is just a “consolation prize” due to Roman Reigns holding the real top championship.

“I’m under no illusion that this title is the same as Roman’s title. That title has been around and so much equity has been put into it over the past few years. It means a lot. You saw how evident it was, even at Money in the Bank when [Roman] got pinned for the first time in three and a half years. You can’t just come in and pretend that all of a sudden this title is that important. No one is going to buy that crap. The way that I always saw champions that I looked up to and that I aspire to be were the champions that took the title to every territory and every town and defended it, and then, over time, people believed that it was a big deal. I came in when Cena and CM Punk were the world champions. I grew up watching Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, Triple H. These were the people that did that for the world title they were wearing. I’m trying, as I might, to fill those shoes and make this World Heavyweight Championship as big as it possibly can be for myself and the rest of the roster.

Here’s the thing, if Roman was doing what I’m doing, there wouldn’t really be a need for a secondary championship. There wouldn’t be a need for another World Heavyweight Title on Raw because we would have somebody who was doing those things. It would give direction to the characters on the show and the show itself. Because of the route he has chosen and what he wants to do with his schedule and his title reign is not what I’m doing, somebody has to fill that void. We did our best with the United States Championship for a little while, but it never really felt like a World Heavyweight Championship. There has got to be that person, there has to be that spot for everybody to get to and try to fight for. I’m very happy to be the carrot that is dangling there. I think it’s a good thing. If Roman was doing all this stuff and defending the title all over the place, we wouldn’t have these problems or these issues, and there wouldn’t be a need for the title. One more little piece is, if the roster wasn’t so freaking stacked and there wasn’t so many people worthy of being World Heavyweight Champion on our roster, there also wouldn’t be a need for it. If we were suffering and were a one star promotion, then fine, but we have stars across the board on both brands. Kevin (Owens), Sami (Zayn), AJ Styles, all of Judgment Day, Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Edge, all of these people, and I’m leaving a ton off, who are capable of being World Heavyweight Champion, have been in the past or are ready in the future. We need a title they can vie for that is around and available …

It’s hard for characters to evolve and advance if you don’t have stories and a lot of our stories are based around levels. I’m creating one for Monday Nights, creating a top-tier level. That was the hand we were dealt after unifying the titles, that’s where we’re at, and we’re making the best of what we can, and so far, I’d say it’s made for good matches and good stories, and we’re just getting started.”

Rollins continued stating:

“I believe it was a necessity. I wasn’t offended or annoyed. If you watched and followed and saw how Roman has built up the title that he has, it only makes sense to view it as a consolation prize, but for me, it didn’t feel that way. It felt like a big deal, and it felt like a big deal because there are so many guys who are able to be in the shoes that I’m in right now. The fact that it’s me makes it feel like a big deal to me. I feel a lot of responsibility to represent them and the industry as well as I can and help everything move forward. It feels, sometimes, with Roman’s title reign, because there is only one challenger at a time and often only every few months, a lot of guys were in a holding pattern. I am a firm believer that having a title available is a necessity and I feel a lot of humility and responsibility in being the champion that will be there and available for our audience. I wasn’t offended by it, and I understood where people are coming from.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

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Cody Rhodes Comments on “I’m Still On The Hunt To Find My Own Legacy”

A recent episode of ESPN’s Keyshawn, JWill, & Max radio show featured Cody Rhodes as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Rhodes’ thoughts on him still creating his own legacy in wrestling separate of his late father Dusty Rhodes’ legacy.

“A big secret there is when it comes to second or third generation wrestlers, this trickles down to any athlete where your parent came before you and did something great. The thing you don’t always say is, ‘I want to honor them,’ but also, you want to be better than they were. Not in a negative way. You want to take it a step further. For me, winning the Royal Rumble. My dad passed away in 2015, it’s so unique that he’s not able to see it, but I feel like he’s still here with me. To be able to do some things that he never touched. Dusty did everything. To be able to win the Royal Rumble, to go to WrestleMania and be the main event of the biggest thing in wrestling, I’m blessed and lucky, but I’m still on the hunt. You mentioned SummerSlam, [on Monday] in Buffalo (at WWE Raw), I’m hopefully going to get to talk about what I’m going to do at SummerSlam, but I’m still on the hunt to find my own legacy. That’s the tricky thing when you’re in these families. You want to look at everybody and say, ‘they were different, they did this. He was different and did this.’ That’s my way of honoring them. Trying to be different from both dad and my brother. That’s certainly a struggle because they laid out a great path.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

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WWE News & Notes

WWE backstage interviewer Megan Morant recently announced on Instagram that she is donating one of her kidneys to help save the life of the wife of her previous boss. Morant also stated that she had originally wanted to donate a kidney to help save the life of a friend but was unable to do so due to not being blood compatible. Morant also stated that surgery was scheduled to take place today.

As noted before, Logan Paul is currently facing a potential investigation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over issues related to his PRIME energy drinks brand. The Globe And Mail reported that Paul’s PRIME drinks were recently recalled in Canada due to the drinks violating Canada’s health laws in regards to being well over the legal limit allowed for caffeinated beverages in the country.

WWE NXT developmental talent Monika Klisara revealed on Instagram that she was recently given a name change and will now be known under the new ring name of Karmen Petrovic going forward in WWE.

As noted before, Ronda Rousey recently gave her “hard out” departure date to WWE causing WWE officials to make major changes and speed up their original plans for Rousey’s current feud with Shayna Baszler. Ariel Helwani reported that his sources stated that the recent rumors of Rousey is considering a potential return to UFC following her departure from WWE are not true.

Natayla announced on Twitter that she recently held a training session with Stardom talent Utami Hayashishita, who is currently on a tour of the United States.

An old ad for supermarket chain ALDI featuring the future LA Knight, known as Eli Drake at the time, recently resurfaced online.

Sami Zayn recently held a new fundraiser for his Sami For Syria charity.

As noted before, this past Friday’s WWE SmackDown show at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York drew 2,561,000 viewers and a 0.76 key demographic rating on FOX. The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that this past Friday’s SmackDown show ended up being the top ranked show of the week. This is believed to be the first time ever that a wrestling television show took the top ranking for a particular week. In an interesting note, SmackDown was not the topped ranked sports show and instead was the topped rank entertainment show due to a recent change by WWE and FOX that no longer lists SmackDown as a sports show.

Johnny Gargano has been absent from WWE since this past May due to shoulder injury-related issues. Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that Gargano was recently medically cleared and WWE officials currently have creative plans for his return. It was reported that it is currently not known if these return plans include Gargano working at next month’s SummerSlam 2023 event.