Seth Rollins surprised fans when Seth Rollins namedropped Jon Moxley during a promo segment of WWE Friday Night SmackDown in January. While developing his fight against Universal Champion Roman Reigns ahead of their final match in The WWE Royal Rumble.
Talking to Jimmy Traina of the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast, Rollins stated that no one on stage had any idea about Moxley’s name. He brought up Moxley’s name because he was an integral part of their history.
There have been AEW actors who spoke about WWE on TV, such as CM Punk and MJF. Rollins stated that it’s a simple method for AEW stars to gain viewers’ attention by mentioning WWE. He said:
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.
