Seth Rollins had nothing but respect for The Rock while talking about working with him during WWE’s WrestleMania 40 build.
During his conversation with Prince St. Pizza, Rollins was asked what it was like to work with The Rock. Rollins admitted that sharing a WrestleMania main event storyline with him was not something he ever expected when he first got into WWE. Rollins explained that The Rock had already been gone from full-time wrestling long before he arrived in the company.
“The Rock was long retired before I got to WWE. You know, he’d been out of the game. Hadn’t wrestled a match in 10 years at least by the time I got to WWE. I think he retired in 2002ish. Kind of did a little bit after that, but I came in 2012, you know.”
Because of that, Rollins said working with The Rock was not even something he thought was possible.
“So, it was like, uh, that was not even in my realm of possibility.”
That changed when The Rock returned during the road to WrestleMania 40 and became part of the story. Rollins said the tag match situation came together in a way that surprised him.
“So, when he came back, uh, for us leading into WrestleMania 40 a couple years ago and kind of got involved in our story and it became apparent that we were going to have this tag match, it was pretty shocking and in a good way.”
Rollins said what interested him most was seeing how The Rock handled the process after reaching the top of both wrestling and Hollywood.
“I was interested in the most was his process cuz I’m like here’s a guy who’s done it all. He’s done everything not just in our business but in Hollywood. Is the biggest movie star in the world, and he’s coming back to do a WrestleMania match with us.”
Rollins said he wanted to understand why Rock wanted to return and how his experience outside WWE shaped what they were doing.
“Like why, you know, what’s your process? Why do you want to do this? What are you thinking about as we’re putting the story together? And like how does what you’ve done now translate to what we’re doing here? It was really fascinating.”
Rollins also said he got to know The Rock on a personal level, and that experience meant a lot to him.
“I got to know him on a bit of a personal level as well. And, uh, that was extremely beneficial for me. He’s just such a good guy. I consider him a bit of a mentor now.”
Rollins shared that The Rock invited him and his family to the Moana 2 premiere in Hawaii, which became a big moment for his daughter.
“He was kind enough to have my family and I to, uh, his Moana, um, uh, 2 premiere out in Hawaii. Brought us to the resort there and we were able to hang out and see the thing on the lawn. My daughter, she’s five, she loved it.”
Rollins then defended The Rock from criticism, saying people in his position often get a bad reputation that he does not deserve.
“So, you know, when you meet somebody like that who doesn’t have to do any of these things, he doesn’t have to come back to WWE and wrestle. He doesn’t have to offer these types of things to you and your family, but he does.”
Rollins said Rock had nothing to gain personally from doing those things, which made the gesture stand out even more.
“Doesn’t do anything for him. It literally, you know what I mean? It’s not nothing. There’s no like return investment. There’s no reason for that. No, he just because he’s a good person.”
Rollins then made it clear that he believes the criticism of The Rock is off base.
“I think he, you know, people in his position get a bad rap sometimes and he himself gets a bad rap. It’s, it’s all [expletive]. He’s a good dude.”
Rollins even joked that he may have softened some of the on-screen heat between himself and The Rock by saying all of that, but he stood by it.
“I’m probably blowing off some heat here between me and him. But he’s a really good guy and, uh, like he’s someone I’d like to have a Yuengling with or in his situation some tequila.”
Rollins and The Rock may have been on opposite sides of the WrestleMania 40 story, but Rollins clearly walked away from the experience with a ton of respect for him. Whether they ever cross paths again in WWE, Rollins made it clear that Rock left a major impression on him.
What do you think about Seth Rollins calling The Rock a mentor? Let us know in the comments.
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