Seth “Freakin” Rollins and WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns have delivered several heated promos ahead of their clash at WWE Royal Rumble. “The Visionary” has looked back on their time together in The Shield, and in one eye-opening line, he directly referenced the third member of the popular trio, Jon Moxley.
This callback caught many fans by surprise, as the former Dean Ambrose left WWE in 2019, publicly criticized the company, and signed with All Elite Wrestling. WWE has rarely, if ever, referenced the former world champion ever since; even video packages about The Shield are often edited so that the focus lies on Rollins and Reigns.
In an interview with Alex McCarthy of talkSPORT, Rollins discussed his reference to Moxley; he called it an “easter egg” before he noted that he didn’t want to ignore the group’s rich history in the build to his match with Reigns. “The Drip God” also explained that framing the story around him and Reigns would be “simple”, but adding Moxley into the mix, with just a passing reference, was “important.”
“It would be very easy to tell the story of The Tribal Chief versus The Visionary, that’s a simple story and obvious for those who watch on a weekly basis but if you follow the industry and you pay attention and you know where we came from, you know there was a third guy in the mix,” said Rollins. “I’m not going to sit here and ignore that history, I’m going to bring that up because I think that’s important. And I think people who care about that appreciate it. It’s one of those things where it was on the tip of my tongue, it made sense, so it came.”
As for his looming clash with “The Head of the Table,” Rollins stated that it’s a match worthy of the WrestleMania main event. He then highlighted how fans have wanted to see the former stablemates mix it up again for some time now, and it’ll finally happen on a major stage at the Royal Rumble.
“This is a WrestleMania main event caliber match, no question,” said Rollins. “I definitely think we’re going to kick WrestleMania season off the right way. It’s always going to be me and Roman. It’s always going to come down to me and Roman.
“In many ways, we are the biggest two stars in WWE in this generation and I think fans have been clamoring for this match – especially where both of us are at in our career paths – and we didn’t think we were going to get it. But now, here we are and I’m looking forward to the electricity of the Rumble.”
Fans can catch Rollins’ match with Reigns at WWE Royal Rumble on January 29; the event will air on Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network elsewhere.
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