WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins spoke with the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast this week and addressed comments made by Jon Moxley during his recent “Talk Is Jericho” podcast with Chris Jericho.
“Ambrose can do what he wants,” Rollins said (H/T to Bleacher Report). “He’s a big boy, he’s got his big boy pants on. He can go out there and say whatever he wants, but the bottom line is not everybody’s equipped to handle the rigors of WWE and the schedule and how it affects you mentally and emotionally. And Ambrose gave everything he had to the company for the entire time he was here. He put his heart and soul into the travel, into the schedule, into the injuries, into the work in the ring and all that stuff. But at the end of the day, he took his ball and he went home, or he went elsewhere at least. And I think it’s a little presumptuous of him to get on a podcast and talk down about the company that gave him such an opportunity.”
Rollins went on about his love for the former Dean Ambrose, but said they share different perspectives about life. Rollins acknowledged that Moxley did talk about some of the good experiences with WWE, like meeting wife Renee Young, but Rollins still took issue with how Moxley expressed his thoughts. Rollins noted that he’s kept tabs on Moxley and he knows Moxley is doing very well for himself in post-WWE life.
“And like I said, I love the guy. I love him, I’ll always love him, but at the end of the day, we just share different perspectives about what we want out of life and about where we’re at in our own lives,” Rollins said. “I hope that he does well. I’ve kept enough tabs on him to know that he’s doing super well for himself right now and I’m happy for that, but I just don’t think there’s any reason to hop on a soapbox and complain after the fact. You need to take the first step, and that’s looking in the mirror and asking yourself did you do every single thing you possibly could to make yourself and your situation what you want it to be, and if the answer is yes you did, then you can go elsewhere and complain. If that’s where he’s at mentally then go right ahead, but if he hasn’t done that, he hasn’t looked in the mirror and made that decision, then maybe he should think about that. That goes for any other disgruntled talent past or present.”
The big topic coming out of Moxley’s first post-WWE interview with Jericho was how he had issues with Vince McMahon and WWE’s heavily-scripted creative process, wondering if Vince should be calling the shots still. Rollins talked about how some talents, those who have that power, should speak up and be heard. Rollins, noting that he’s happy with the amount of input he has and with the overall process, also pointed to the experience of the WWE Chairman.
“Absolutely I’m satisfied with it because I make a point to be satisfied with it,” Rollins said of the creative process. “I make a point to contribute my ideas and my thoughts, and if I feel strongly about something the way it should be or the way it should be portrayed, then I will make my voice heard. And look, not everybody gets that leeway. And also, not everybody should get that leeway. That’s not how it works. You have to build equity with your audience, with your boss, with your co-workers. You have to build equity over time and then you can get the leeway to have that kind of say in your story if that’s your complaint. Or you can just stand up for yourself and do it instead of going on somewhere else and b—hing about it. I’m very satisfied with the amount of input I have. Do I do things that I don’t always want to do? Yes, but you know what, sometimes that stuff works because I can’t see things perfectly every single time. I don’t have the perspective that other people around me have. Vince McMahon has been doing this 20 years longer than I’ve been alive. So he’s got some ideas and he knows things that I just don’t know that I have to learn.”
