Seth Rollins surprised fans when he namedropped Jon Moxley during a promo segment on WWE SmackDown in January while continuing to build his feud with Universal Champion Roman Reigns ahead of their title match at the WWE Royal Rumble.
Speaking to Jimmy Traina of the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast, Rollins said no one backstage mentioned anything to him about bringing up Moxley’s name, and the reason he mentioned Moxley’s name was due to him being part of their history.
There have been some AEW stars who have mentioned WWE on television such as CM Punk and MJF. Rollins said it’s an easy way for AEW stars to get attention by mentioning WWE.
“Yeah, to me, it’s one of those things where, if it’s very useful, it’s fine. To me, the references you spoke of are two kinds of different things, right?. I didn’t use the reference to Mox to talk down to somebody. I wasn’t trying to diminish anyone’s accomplishments…it wasn’t like that. He’s part of our story, Roman wouldn’t be the same if it wasn’t for Mox and I. The other side of that coin is the way that it can be used by those guys. And look, they can do whatever they want. I find it very tacky and low-brow, personally. I think it looks and reeks of desperation. I don’t think it’s anything on our television show that we need to go there and talk down about those guys. They are doing their thing, they’re doing it very well, we’re very happy for them. I am, at least personally. Are they on our level? No. They have a long way to go to catch up to us. That’s fine and they know that. They do things differently. From my perspective, it’s a little step down for us to use it as an insult. And so that’s my perspective. People may not share that opinion.”
Seth Rollins Says WWE References On AEW TV Are Tacky And Reeks Of Desperation
