On being seconds away from beating Brock Lesnar at Night of Champions before Seth Rollins got involved:
"I'd like to be the one to agree with you. That was a difficult night, not just because I was so close in what I thought was defeating Brock Lesnar but I was coming off a pretty one-sided contest at SummerSlam and I really had something to prove not just to the WWE Universe but to myself that night."
On what the weeks leading up to Night of Champions were like:
"Are you kidding me? I had to deal with people like you and anybody with an opinion, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair; I think Hulk Hogan was the only guy who kind of stuck up for me. Everybody said I had no chance. I don't think people truly know what Brock Lesnar is about. And this is why I was just so frustrated at Seth Rollins' stupid decision to do what he did. I understand what he was trying to do, but he doesn't understand what he actually did. I don't know who can stop Brock Lesnar. Right now, Brock Lesnar is the WWE world heavyweight champion. He has defeated the Undertaker, every other superstar in his path. I'll be the first to tell you, he cleaned my clock at SummerSlam. So what did I do? I got right back on my horse. I said 'you know what? I'm going to go at this guy and I'm really going to try to take it to him.' And I did. At Night of Champions, I took it to him. I don't think Seth truly knows. He's never seen anything like Brock Lesnar and he doesn't know what it's like to be in the ring with Brock Lesnar. That's why this guy is now my target, because of his sheer stupidity. I could have had the championship in my hands and I would have willingly given him the first match, given him another rematch. As long as it's not Brock Lesnar. Because you tell me, you tell me, who else on the WWE roster is going to beat Brock Lesnar? And I know everything can happen when you ring the bell. But is it Seth Rollins? Is it Dean Ambrose? Is it Roman Reigns? Is it Randy Orton? Is it Kane? I say it's no one. Half the time it's not even John Cena because John Cena got one minute and 16 seconds worth of offense at SummerSlam and I had to live with that number for weeks until Night of Champions."
On being okay with Rollins allowing Cena to win at Night of Champions before cashing in on him:
"Seth's decision is Seth's decision. He doesn't know how much of an idiot he is. I'm okay with Seth, I have to live with it. Every action has a reaction and my reaction is now I'm focused on Seth Rollins. What Seth Rollins doesn't realize, he was looking directly at Seth Rollins and not the body of work that is WWE. Brock Lesnar is the toughest SOB ever to step on a canvas at WWE."
On Dean Ambrose also going after Rollins:
"I can't blame Dean for that, Seth Rollins tried to end the guy's career. This is what I do, this is what I love, it's some guy trying to end my career. I would spend every waking minute trying to get in to pay that back. So I understand, but if you ask Dean he's going to tell you 'well, John Cena's issue isn't big enough. This guy tried to end my career.' Dean needs to look at it from my shoes: I got kicked in the butt at SummerSlam. I had everybody from kids to Hall of Famers to announcers to professionals backstage telling me that I'm washed up, that I don't have it anymore, that I need to throw in the towel; essentially, that my career is over. Why? Because of one match, one match with Brock Lesnar. Then I go to Night of Champions. I get a rematch and I ask for it right away, no downtime, and I actually compete and hang in there with a monster. I feel as if I had Brock Lesnar beat and out comes Seth Rollins. So, essentially, yes, he physically tried to take Dean Ambrose's career away but I got everybody telling me I've lost a step and I'm washed up but I finally have a pinnacle victory, a paramount win over Brock Lesnar, to make history by the way, to be a 16-time champion, and that's taken away from me. So you're telling me Seth Rollins didn't take away my career, take away my accolade, and I don't owe him that payback as well?"
On having to find a way to get along with Dean Ambrose lest they fall prey to The Authority:
"The Authority is not stupid, Seth Rollins is. The Authority knows what they're doing. Whether Seth acted alone to cash in his briefcase you could compile an enormous conspiracy theory of maybe the guy who is in The Authority didn't want me to win the title for the 16th time because he holds the guy who has 16 championships in very high regard. Maybe he doesn't ever want me to be champion again. He chose, he hand picked Brock Lesnar to take the championship off of me and I was about to defeat Brock Lesnar at Night of Champions. So whether Seth acted alone or he didn't, well, that's an interview for another day. The Authority knows exactly what they're doing, I just... I know that Mr. Ambrose and I have to find common ground and if we don't, we're already outnumbered and we're just going to get picked apart. We don't see eye-to-eye on this. We both want a piece of Seth Rollins. We both have just cause to get our hands on Seth Rollins. The future is uncertain as far as Dean Ambrose and I being friends, or just getting along to make this whole thing work out. I'm not an enemy of Dean Ambrose but I'm gunning for Seth Rollins and anybody that stands in my way that keeps him from letting that little... from letting Seth Rollins know exactly how stupid he was, and he virtually collapsed the WWE Universe with one briefcase shot. That's something I need. That's something I need, that's something I'm going to do, and I don't care if Dean's in my way, I don't care if The Authority is in my way, I'm going to get to Seth sooner or later."
Wow. Just ... wow.
Thoughts on all this?