Between his two WWE Universal Championship reigns and eight pay-per-view main event victories, Seth Rollins has been the face of WWE throughout the majority of 2019. Unfortunately it hasn’t all been smooth sailing for “The Beast Slayer.” He’s had to apologize for comments made on Twitter, he’s been ridiculed for statements made in interviews and he was booed out of the building on Sunday night after a controversial finish to his Hell in a Cell match with Bray Wyatt. And yet despite the bumps in the road, another top WWE star is still impressed with how Rollins has handled the role so far.
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In a new interview with Sports Illustrated, Roman Reigns spoke about his former Shield tag partner has handled the hurdles of the job. Reigns found himself in a similar role in the past, though the crowd has firmly been on his side ever since he returned from his battle with leukemia.
“There is a lot to being the face of WWE,” Reigns said. “It’s not only about being in the ring. It’s about how you represent, and that is a 24-7, 365 job. You’ve got to be on all the time for 52 weeks a year. But I’m telling you now, my brother is legit.”
“I was so proud of him and what he did at SummerSlam against Brock Lesnar,” he added. “He obviously had one of those weeks where the Twitter machine and the Internet went nuts on him, but he bounced back and answered the call.”
By “one of those weeks” Reigns was likely referring to when Rollins went on a crusade on social media to pronounce that he was the best wrestler in the world and that WWE had the best pro wrestling action in the world. This led to a back-and-forth interaction with Will Ospreay in which Rollins resorted to bringing up how much money he made compared to Ospreay. He later apologized.
“Is he passionate?” Reigns said. “God, yes. Is he blunt? Of course, that’s why I love him. He doesn’t sugarcoat, he’s very honest, and he is passionate, and he was born for professional wrestling.”
“Seth loves the WWE,” he added. “That’s why some people misread some of the things he says or the ways he delivers it, but he does mean well. He’s a workhorse. Yeah, he’s a little live at the mouth sometimes, but he’s got a heart of gold, trust me. Whether he’s on Raw or SmackDown, the WWE is in good hands with him as champion.”
Rollins will take part in the upcoming Team Hogan vs. Team Flair 10-man tag match at Crown Jewel on Oct. 31.
