Seth Rollins On Why He Didn’t Turn Face When He Returned In 2016

Seth Rollins is one of the top stars in WWE, and he has been for a few years now. After Seth parted ways with The Shield, he cashed in Money in the Bank at WrestleMania 31, and he became the WWE Champion. That same year Seth Rollins suffered an injury during WWE’s overseas tour, and it put him on the shelf for several months.

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Seth returned at Extreme Rules in 2016 to a massive pop, and fans were thrilled to have him back. The fans were clearly behind Seth Rollins when he returned, and it seemed like the timing to turn him face couldn’t have been better. However, Rollins continued to work as a heel, and some fans have argued that not turning him was a bad move.

Rollins recently spoke to Sporting News about his current run as a babyface, and he says that the timing just wasn’t right for him to be a face in 2016.

“I think it’s been a nice, organic change in my character. We had an opportunity … I could have been a babyface when I came back but it didn’t feel right at the time. Then we had stuff go on with Finn Balor’s injury and stuff like that. It felt from a television perspective watching it back and thinking back on it, it felt like a good, slow burn as opposed to all of a sudden I flipped the switch. People will say what they want about it but I think it’s gone well so far. I think it’s only going to get better as we keep moving forward. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to shed my old skin and try this new thing out. It’s something I haven’t done on the main roster since I’ve been up here. I haven’t been a good guy since NXT. It’s definitely a different change of pace but something I’m looking forward to continuing to develop as we move forward.”

Seth Rollins has been working as a face for over a year now, but he’s still trying to figure out his character. When asked if it feels weird to get cheered, Seth said it doesn’t, and he enjoys the challenge that comes with making people like him.

“Nah, it doesn’t feel strange. Sometimes I watch our bad guys, our heels, and see how much fun they’re having, being goofballs. Man, I miss that. It’s a new challenge, especially in 2017 to be a babyface in professional wrestling. I’m trying my damnedest and, hopefully, we’ll keep moving forward and keep things going in the right direction.”

On this week’s episode of Still Real Radio we’re talking about the Road to SummerSlam, and the fallout from Monday Night Raw and this week’s WWE SmackDown Live. Shinsuke Nakamura defeated John Cena to earn the right to challenge Jinder Mahal at SummerSlam in a few weeks, and we dive into his chances of winning the WWE Championship at the big event. You can subscribe to Still Real Radio on iTunes, and you can also check out the latest episode below.