Seth Rollins return tour includes more than just wrestling shows like Extreme Rules and Raw. The former WWE World Heavyweight champion also joined Jonathan Coachman on SportsCenter for the second time to mark the occassion of his completing his comeback from knee surgery.
The two spoke about the response Rollins got in Newark and Baltimore for his first appearances on television since 2015. He said he missed being out in front of the crowd and discussed the work it took to get back (including video footage of what his rehabilitation sessions in Alabama were like).
Coach asked about the biggest challenge he encountered, and turns out it's one Seth is still processing:
It was an emotional challenge to accept the fact that I was gonna miss WrestleMania - biggest WrestleMania in the history of the company. The moment I got hurt, I knew that it was kind of going to be out of the question for me to return that soon. And just knowing that I put so much work in throughout the year, eight months with that title - everything I had done night after night and knowing I was gonna miss WrestleMania and not be there for that, was... that broke my heart. That was really, really hard to come to terms with - something I'm gonna have to, you know, take some time to get over.
He talked both about the influx of talent since he was injured, something he welcomes since "iron sharpens iron", and wanting to work with Apollo Crews, Sami Zayn and especially AJ Styles.
Rollins isn't worried about his reconstructed knee stopping him from wrestling every one on the roster, either:
I wouldn't be here if I didn't think I could get in and hang with the best. You know, from day one I wanted to get back as soon as I could, but also I wanted to make sure I could perform at the level that meets and/or exceeds the expectations. I put in a lot of work before this moment... and I wouldn't be here, I wouldn't be ready to go if I wasn't 100% positive I could go out there and be better than the Seth Rollins there was before.
It's a solid performance from a guy WWE clearly still thinks very highly of, but not one you need to seek out unless you're an Architect superfan.
There was the always excellent ESPN-produced recap video of the pay-per-view (PPV) and Monday's action, of course:
How long before we see Seth back on SportsCenter, and will he have a belt over his shoulder when he returns?