Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast
Release Date: August 24, 2017
Guest: Seth Rollins
Recap By: Matthew Wilkinson
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Newsworthy Items
- Seth Rollins hated losing the Curb Stomp
- Rollins would be open to a Shield reunion
- Rollins wanted to return as a face after his injury
- Rollins felt that the Shield had a babyface run in them
- Sam Roberts has another live show coming up
- Sam Roberts thought TakeOver stole the weekend
Show Highlights/Rundown
Sam welcomes everyone to this week’s show and say’s we are coming off the back of an excellent SummerSlam week. Not just the show, but the entire week, as he plugs his recent content.
He spoke about Seth Rollins and the interview ahead. He said he felt both Rollins and Dean Ambrose were stuck as singles stars and is happy with the new tag team.
Seth Rollins Interview
Seth came out to his old music, which he mentions. Sam asks when he first heard the ‘burn it down’ version. It was just before the day it aired. Apparently, Vince McMahon didn’t like the pause in his song and they offered five versions to put in it with one of them being ‘Kingslayer,’ which Seth said was a little seductive.
2k18 cover
Sam mentions how the ‘burn it down’ is from the video game and asks Seth if it was always a goal to be on the cover of one. Rollins said it was one of those things that he never thought would happen but he was stoked.
He said he was happy for his generation of wrestlers, because all the 2K games have had older wrestlers on. He admitted he is happy with his character not being the way it is on the trailer, unless it fits the story.
Dean Ambrose Reunion
Sam speaks about how the crowd has bought in to everything about the Shield reunion. Seth says he is happy, especially with how fickle the fans can be.
Seth isn’t bothered that he has gone from the Universal Championship match to the Tag Team Championship since last SummerSlam as the fans are interested.
Sam asks about Roman Reigns coming back to form the Shield. Seth asks the live crowd who pop for the idea. Seth says that right now things are in a good spot but if it happens he would welcome the possibility, though he doesn’t want to force it.
Triple H – WrestleMania
Sam wonders if wrestling the boss adds extra pressure. Seth says there is pressure but there are lots of reasons for that, not just because he is wrestling a legend.
Seth mentions how he must know what is on the card and how long the fans have been sitting before his matches to work out what he needs to do to make them interested for him.
Sam asks whether they were competitive within the Shield and Rollins confirms it. He said because they all wanted to be singles stars they pushed to be the best but they gained a real brotherhood from being in the group. He said there was never any jealousy.
Shield break up
Seth reveals that the turn came very quickly and out of the blue, as they were hoping for a long babyface run but admitted it worked really well.
He said he didn’t really see himself as the bad guy of the group but he listened and thought it would work out.
Return from injury
Seth thought he should have returned as a babyface from his five month injury, as that is what the crowd was ready for. he admitted it was a little strange.
He added with the story that has been told over time it was better the way WWE did it having him return as a bad guy.
Sam spoke about the 24 documentary and how that made the fans want to cheer for him even more. Seth said that is the confusing world we live in now within wrestling, with social media and the Network showing more of the life of the talent.
Sam asked what has been the biggest change and decision for Rollins to get to where he is. Seth said it isn’t getting complacent. He always finds new goals every time he has achieved something. If there isn’t a ‘next thing,’ then he must find one. He added that before The Shield, he felt there wasn’t enough passion in the main event scene other than Daniel Bryan and CM Punk.
Sam asked how he doesn’t become frustrated when things don’t fall into place such as with CM Punk. Rollins said that everyone has a breaking point in every job, but he thinks the frustration is a good thing because it motivates him.
Sam wonders how long ago the Ambrose plans were. Seth says he believes the original plan was for him and Bray Wyatt to go a few PPVs and something changed for that to not happen.
Fan Q&A
Sam opened up the floor to a Q&A from the fans. They wanted to know who he would most like to face. Seth said A.J. Styles, as he would like to see how they match up. Seth says the fact he is doing his best work in the last five years is awesome.
He was then asked about working with Sting. Seth said he was in the ring for Sting’s Survivor Series debut and got goose bumps. He never thought in a million years he would get to wrestle Sting and said he was a great guy.
Seth said he thought it was awesome being the US and World Champion and it worked to inflate his character’s ego.
Rollins’ favorite match as a child was HBK vs Bret Hart, as well as a weird one with Bret being screwed out of the title against Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania.
Seth says he was very sad about being told he couldn’t do the Curb Stomp anymore. It will never come back. Seth said after ‘Mania he went to the Today Show and they put a package together, which included the Curb Stomp. Vince McMahon felt it wasn’t a good way to represent the company and it was gone.
Rollins would like to wrestle Kenny Omega/Okada/Suzuki if he could pick someone from outside the company to work with.
He says he doesn’t think he needs a manager as he is good on the microphone and is proud of that, because he admits he used to suck. Seth said that was one of the scariest things about breaking from The Shield, as he had never been given much opportunity for long promos so he takes pride.
Seth said if he had to team with a female superstar it would be Sasha Banks. HBK would be his dream opponent from the Attitude Era.
The fan Q&A rounds out the interview segment with Seth Rollins, as Sam wishes him good luck in his match at SummerSlam (this was taped prior to the event).
End of Interview
Sam says he thinks Seth is the present and the future of WWE. He admits he is very excited to see where his career goes.
He announces his next live podcast at an upcoming podcast festival called the Now Hear This Festival in September.
Sam said he had a great time at SummerSlam weekend. He felt that not only was TakeOver the show of the weekend but potentially the greatest TakeOver in history.
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State of Wrestling
Sam discusses the Jon Jones situation. He was popped for drugs, which casts a major doubt over Brock Lesnar’s MMA career, as UFC doesn’t have anyone else who could face The Beast.
Beach Ball
Sam brought up the crowd on Monday Night Raw and said they were a little out of control with the beach balls. He thinks it’s silly. But he said you can’t get mad at the audience for being bored with the show or trying to get involved and make an atmosphere.
He notes that people pay a lot of money to go to these shows, and it is up to the WWE to put on a show that will entertain without the need for beach balls.
Raw Talk
Sam said he thinks John Cena and Roman Reigns are different and thinks there is money in a match between them. But he wants to see Roman Reigns let some of his steam out in a heelish manner.
However, he doesn’t believe that the match should happen at No Mercy as that would take something away from Braun Strowman vs Brock Lesnar. He thinks that it should be built up with a good storyline and that it could be as big as John Cena vs. The Rock.
Sam thinks that SummerSlam cemented Braun Strowman as a babyface and thinks he has that potential because his rise has been so organic.
New Faces
Sam says he is very happy to see both Shelton Benjamin and Bobby Roode on SmackDown Live. He felt the blue brand needed Roode, although he thinks he should be a heel.
He noted that Raw is so stacked with star power, which is why they have so many big names nowhere near the Universal Championship scene such as Finn Balor and Seth Rollins.
Sam doesn’t think Enzo Amore should be on 205 Live, but said the show does need something added. He thinks Enzo would work better as a manager for somebody. Though he understands why WWE has made the decision.
Sam says TakeOver was the best show of the weekend. He is a big Adam Cole fan, adding that NXT is the spot for him and Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly. He believes the NXT fans will really sink their teeth into what these three guys do.
He thinks it is important to not think about the main roster for them and just to enjoy the run. A guy he believes fans should keep an eye on is Andrade Cien Almas, stating he thinks he will be everything WWE wanted Alberto Del Rio to be.
Sam also can’t believe how good the Authors of Pain are doing. He also thinks SAnitY is great. He believes when you talk about NXT as a touring brand, they have a roster that people want to buy tickets to see.
Rating 8/10
This was a slightly different episode this week due to the fact that the interview was done in front of a live audience. It brought a fun atmosphere to the podcast. Seth Rollins and Sam both sounded like they were really enjoying themselves and that came across, making it fun to listen to. The interview wasn’t massively in-depth because Sam wanted to give the Q&A plenty of time, but that is fine. The State of Wrestling was, as ever, great. Sam had some good opinions on the busy week of wrestling and overall it was a very good show.
Subjects covered (with timestamps)
00:00-Sponsor Ads
01:25-Show Introduction
07:39-Seth Rollins Interview
10:38-2K18 Cover
13:34-Dean Ambrose Reunion
18:00-Triple H/WrestleMania
20:13-Shield Breakup
22:30-Return From Injury
35:18-Fan Q&A
1:00:47-End of Interview
1:08:29-Sponsor Ads
1:09:12-State of Wrestling
1:13:45-Beach Ballgate
1:19:04-Raw Talk
1:30:19-New Faces Debut
About the author
Matthew Wilkinson is from Bradford, England. He’s been a fan since the late 90’s with the Attitude Era and was then heavily invested again through the rise of CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. He can be found on Twitter at @MC_Wilkinson1
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