WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins officially confirmed that he and Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch were dating in an Instagram post back in mid-May. In the weeks that followed their relationship was referenced on television several times, whether it be by having Paul Heyman or Baron Corbin mock Rollins, the two bumping into each other either during Raw or by having Lynch be by Rollins’ side when he was carried into an ambulance after being attacked by Brock Lensar.
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But then finally reached a tipping point at Stomping Grounds on Sunday night. Corbin announced prior to his Universal Championship match with Rollins that Lacey Evans (Lynch’s rival in recent months) would serve as the special guest referee, making it impossible for Rollins to beat Corbin. Late in the match Evans nailed Rollins with a low blow and seemingly handed the victory to Corbin, but Lynch ran out before she could count the pinfall and attacked her, helping Rollins eventually retain. The couple opened Monday Night Raw this week and, after chasing away Corbin and Evans, agreed to a Winner Take All Mixed Tag Match at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view against the two heels.
Rollins appeared on an episode of the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast this week and was asked about how he felt about having his real-life relationship play a role in WWE storylines. The champ stated he wasn’t a fan of the idea at first.
“When you’re first approached about the idea you’re like, ‘Ah, I don’t know how this is going to work, is it going to work?’ I’ve never done anything like that before, I don’t think she has either as far as I know. If you look at the couples have been portrayed in the past, sometimes it’s a bit sketchy especially on the woman’s end. So I know some of her concerns about that, and mine as well.
“We had discussions, but once we sat down and brainstormed about it — because at the end of the day they’re not going to go for it with the idea if it’s not something we’re comfortable with — once we sat down and brainstormed and talked about how cool it might be and the options that were in front of us on the table, I think that we decided it would actually be a pretty fun thing to do and a cool thing to do.”
Rollins also mentioned the timing of the the storyline was about striking while the iron was hot.
“It’s not like this would be as cool if we did it a year from now or whatever,” he said. “That’s assuming I’m lucky enough to keep her for a full year.”
Extreme Rules takes place on July 14 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
