After Redesigning, Rebuilding And Reclaiming, World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins Is Out To Conquer WWE

During the same time of the year in 2022, Seth Rollins was preparing for probably the toughest match of his career. Rollins was up against a superstar who had torn his pectoral muscle away from the bone and the two-time Grand Slam Champion had to carry his opponent throughout the match. He had to do the heavy lifting and make sure that Cody Rhodes came out alright.

For the second running year, Rollins delivered a Match of The Year. The next night on Raw, Rollins was heavily booed when he attacked Cody so he could go off-screen. The crowd couldn't boo Rollins for a long period and as per Rollins, a month later at the Madison Square Garden, the crowd gave him a "good guy" reaction.

Rollins now receives the loudest cheer on the show and the fans can't just stop themselves from singing his song. Rollins' hard work over the years plus the crowd reaction pushed him back into the title picture and the future WWE Hall of Famer was crowned the inaugural World Heavyweight Champion after he stomped AJ Styles at Night of Champions.

"It's awesome man, it's a dream come true. You work for years and years to be at the apex of your industry, and to finally be here - to have a new championship - celebrate that victory; it's really special. It's hard to put into words because it's so surreal, so unexpected," Rollins tells Timesnownews.com on becoming the inaugural World Heavyweight Champion.

With Roman Reigns becoming a part-timer, all eyes will be on Rollins and the face of Monday Night Raw is once again ready to do the "heavy lifting". "We needed a new championship on Raw to be represented regularly and I am super proud to be the guy - to hold that title for the very first time and bring it to Raw every single Monday. Hopefully, I can be the champion that our audience can grow with and be proud of," Rollins further says.

Rollins received a thunderous welcome from the crowd on Raw and everyone was singing his song. He seemed a bit emotional during the celebrations that took place. "It was really funny - the more the things change the more they remain the same. You look back - the very first NXT Championship - exactly how that thing went down. Triple H was there, raising my hand and holding up the inaugural title. And we are back in the same spot, it's really cool," he says.

In 2012, Rollins became the inaugural NXT Champion. In 2016, he competed against Finn Balor to crown the inaugural Universal Champion. Come 2023, Triple H once again chose Rollins and the superstar made his way to the final with back-to-back wins in the quarter-final and semi-final.

Rollins seems to have a great rapport with Triple H. Back when Rollins joined FCW and then NXT, Triple H was very close to firing him. Over the years, Rollins proved himself to the Authority Figure and he is now The Game's go-to guy.

"He is one of the all-time greats. To be able to have somebody like him on your side over the years, someone to learn from, someone to help you cultivate your career and your career path. Just to watch him as a businessman as an in-ring performer, as a father, as a husband - he balances all of those things immaculately well and it's something I aspire to. To have him in your ear and to provide you guidance in those areas, it's special," Rollins says about the Chief Content Officer of WWE.

In 2014, when the time came to break up The Shield, they chose Rollins to turn into a bad guy and the move springboarded him into the main event. Rollins pulled off the Heist of the Century when he cashed-in his Money in the Bank briefcase in the main event of Wrestlemania 31 to walk out as the WWE Champion.

Rolins was having the time of his life and was on the cusp of ending the year as the champion when a knee injury during a live event forced him to relinquish the title. Seth had to redesign himself, rebuild and reclaim the title he never lost. The knee injury didn't just see him lose the title, but also a marquee spot at Wrestlemania. It looked like Rollins would go on to defend his championship in the main event of Wrestlemania 32 against Roman, but he doesn't know if that was going to be the case.

"I don't make those calls," Rollins says. "I don't have any idea what the plans were for Wrestlemania back in 2016. I was the champion, who knows what the plans were? I certainly don't know!"

Rollins and Roman could have had an iconic rivalry. Surprisingly, they have never been involved in a full-fledged rivalry culminating in a Wrestlemania main event. And like the WWE Universe, Rollins does find this strange.

"I find it strange in one sense. In the sense that you got two biggest stars of the generation who have never had a Wrestlemania main event or even a match on the big show together, to be honest with you. That seems odd. What would have it been like if (hulk) Hogan and (The Ultimate) Warrior had never main evented, Hogan and (Randy) Savage, if The Rock and (Stone Cold Steve) Austin had never main-evented a Wrestlemania. It seems a little odd. But I tell you that I want it but if the other half doesn't want it, I can't do anything about that. We all know that Roman loves to handpick his opponents. He has got something against...maybe he is afraid, I don't know. One or the other."

Seth also has unfinished business with Cody. WWE wanted to establish Cody as the face of the company upon his return and he defeated Rollins thrice on the premium live events. He also defeated the former Universal Champion in every live event. A lot has changed since then but Rollins says that they will get there.

"With Cody, there's always an unfished business there. He came in hot last year and got three (wins) on me - all on huge pay-per-view matches. I owe him one, but we will get there. He got some business to tend to. He is dealing with Brock Lesnar with a broken arm and I am dealing with being at the top of my game - World Heavyweight Champion. It is what is. But I am sure Cody plans on being here for a while. I am gonna be here, we gonna get back to it, I am sure," he says.

Seth has always wanted to main event a Wrestlemania. He does have a championship victory in the main event of the Show of the Shows but a full-fledged Wrestlemania main event continues to elude him. Rollins has main-evented countless weekly shows, live events and premium live events. But there's big dream of his that's still unfulfilled. Has the World Heavyweight Championship win earned him that spot?

"Here's the thing - there no guarantees man. In our industry, there's no guarantee that you are going to have the best year of your life and main event Wrestlemania. You can be a world champion and main event Wrestlemania, win a Royal Rumble, main event Wrestlemania - it doesn't matter. What matters is you keep yourself in the best possible position, you put in the work, that's all you can do and hope for the best. That's life man," Rollins opines on the coveted Wrestlemania main event.

When Rollins turned heel in 2014, he had a pretty famous segment with a "retired" Edge. The fans were craving to see the two generational superstars go against each other. Their seven-year-long rivalry finally ended at Crown Jewel 2021, where Edge won. The opening match of the show was adjudged the Match of the Year.

Rollins and the WWE Hall of Famer put on three memorable matches during their rivalry. So which WWE Hall of Famer Rollins wants to face next and defend his title against?

"I want them all. Every single one of them!" he says. "I don't care where they come from; I want everybody from Raw, everybody from Smackdown, anybody from NXT who think they got the guts. I don't care, anybody from outside the WWE, if they want to come in, sign a one-day deal and compete for the title, I will beat them too. It doesn't matter to me. I want everybody, I want all the competition!"

After dropping the Universal Championship to "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt, Seth underwent a character change and was out of the title picture. He turned heel and faced Kevin Owens at Wrestlemania 36. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, WWE staged its shows at the Performance Center. Rollins became a "Messiah" during that period and took Buddy Murphy and Austin Theory under his wings.

More than two years later, Theory would try to cash-in his MITB briefcase on Rollins for the United States Championship. Why did Rollins' disciple fail despite learning from the superstar who has the best cash-in ever?

"I taught Austin Theory everything he knows but I didn't teach Austin Theory everything I know! You gotta be smarter than that. We can't give kids everything. At the end of the day, you know, he is just a kid. He's got many, many, many years ahead of him, he will be just fine. And to be fair, I liked what he did," Rollins says on the failed cash-in attempt.

"I thought him trying to cash in on the US Championship on me was a smart move. You know, Roman Reigns is extremely protected. At the time, he had a whole gang around him with his bloodline, obviously, that's changed since then, but I was there on my own. The problem with Theory is he didn't account for all the parties. He didn't think that Bobby Lashley was going to be a factor. So you know, that's one of those things. That's a learning experience. There's a good chance that Theory will be there long enough to get another opportunity to cash in the MITB contract...Here we are months later, and Theory is still the United States Champion. (He) got huge wins over Hall of Famers like Edge and John Cena. So I would like to think that he is doing alright."

Seth, whose real name is Colby Lopez, is married to Becky Lynch (Rebecca Quin). The star couple has been dominating Monday Night Raw since being drafted there in 2021 but they haven't shared screen since 2019. If given a chance, Seth would happily share the screen again with the "greatest ever to do it".

"Of course (on sharing the screen with Becky), I will take that rub any day of the week man. She is the greatest ever to do it. Being with her makes me look good. I need it. She is out there cutting fire promos, tearing Trish Stratus apart; I can't do that. I need some of that in my life. I want to do something with her on screen again," says Rollins.

A two-time WWE Champion, a two-time WWE Universal Champion, a one-time Royal Rumble and Money in the Bank winner, Rollins has done it all. He continues to travel places and is there on Raw every week. Despite being in the business for more than 15 years, Rollins still has the hunger and he wants the fans to remember him as someone who left the business as a better place and someone who gave the business more than he took from it.

"I would just love to be remembered as someone who helped grow the industry. I think there are two approaches to the business - there's the approach that it's all about me and get all much as you can and get out. Whatever, if that's what you want to do, great! And there' the (second) approach that you give back to the business as much as you can and help push it forward and help the next generation. For me, I hope my legacy is that I left the place better than I found it. And I didn't take more than I have given. At the end of the day, that's all I can ask for a legacy and I hope that people and the fans remember that part of what I have given to the industry."

Seth has been giving back to the industry by developing the next-gen superstars at his Black and Brave Wrestling Academy.