WWE Superstar Seth Rollins Talks Roman Reigns SummerSlam Showdown with Rich

Seth Rollins sat in Rich's chair last week. This week he was back in what Rich called his usual lane, calling in from Minnesota ahead of a SummerSlam main event 14 years in the making, and wearing purple in a way that required immediate explanation.

Rollins is a Bears fan. He knows the optics.

"The season hasn't started yet. It's not quite August. So let's just let bygones be bygones for now," Rollins said. "Once the season starts in September, I'll put the navy and orange back on." He figured he would be one with the people while he was in town, and offered a unifying principle for the détente: "I still think that we both hate the Packers more than we hate each other."

That grace does not extend to Roman Reigns and his Vikings past. Asked whether Reigns having played in Minnesota complicated things, Rollins delivered the coldest read of the segment.

"Did he play there? A little bit. Practice squad. I'm not exactly sure. I'm not concerned," he said. "He wasn't good enough to hack it and be a real player in the NFL."

Rollins was careful to say the practice squad guys are ballers who would outrun him and out-throw him every step of the way. His issue is sustaining. Reigns was in and out quick, came from a very famous family in the wrestling industry, and took the opportunity waiting for him in WWE. "And here we are many, many years later fighting over the richest prize in the game."

The history runs deeper than the punchline. Rollins and Reigns came in together as part of the Shield, split in 2014, and as Rollins put it, "I might have had something to do with that." Both men are closer to the end than the beginning now, which is why this one carries weight. "Whether this is the final chapter or not, I don't know, but it's certainly the next chapter."

Rollins is not just working the show, he is watching it. TJ asked what the fan version of Seth Rollins is looking forward to, and Rollins named two matches. Nick Aldis, the SmackDown general manager, makes his WWE in-ring debut against Gunther. Rollins recommended you pop on the old internet machine and Google Aldis, because there is a long professional wrestling career behind that GM title. The other is Chad Gable against Penta for the Intercontinental Championship. Gable is from Minneapolis, and after the Grande Americano run, the injury, the return and a mask versus mask match down in Mexico, Rollins expects the hometown ovation to land.

Then there was the loyalty audit, which the show failed.

TJ, who says he has no dog in the fight because both men are among his favorites of all time, hedged. He compared it to being a Sixers and Clippers fan and clapping for every basket regardless of jersey. He then predicted, "for storyline purposes," that Monday might bring a new world champion.

Rollins was not moved. "I don't root for storylines. I root for people who I love and I root for and I work with."

Rich planted his flag clean. Reigns can come on the show whenever he wants, but Rollins is his guy. Rollins returned it in kind. "You put the Seth signal up in the sky, I'm there for you."

The best detail came from backstage. TJ ran into Reigns, who looked at him and said, "What's up with your co-worker, man?" TJ's first thought was that Reigns watches their stuff. His second was that Reigns might mean Chris. He did not. He meant Rollins, and TJ said the comment was complimentary about the hosting.

Rich's takeaway was less about the shot and more about the framing. "I just love that he looked at us as co-workers."

Rollins expects Minneapolis to be split down the middle and is genuinely curious which chant wins, or whether the dueling sides just amplify each other.

"The audience is like an actor in our play," he said. There are not a lot of fence-sitters in this rivalry. Except, apparently, one.