Seth Rollins has been in a lot of hard-hitting matches over the course of his career. He’s also unfortunately earned an (undeserved) reputation for being reckless or dangerous, thanks to some really crummy luck that has resulted in a string of injuries to opponents. But he has proven he can dish it out as well as take it, so he’s probably a good judge of who can take a pounding in the ring.
In a recent interview with RauteMusik, Rollins dished on several of the usual questions, like when there will be a full-time Shield reunion, but perhaps the most interesting tidbit came when he was asked who his toughest opponent in wrestling has been. Rollins wasted no time in naming The Face Who Runs The Place, John Cena.
“I’d have to say maybe Cena, and I know that might strike some as odd, but I crushed that guy’s face with my knee. He dropped like a bad habit, but 30 seconds later, he was up like a madman, spraying blood all over my face like he was Brad Pitt in Fight Club. John’s a tough guy and he [has] worked through a lot of injuries for a long time, for the last 15 years to be that good for that long and hold that spot down. That’s extremely impressive and it’s doesn’t happen by chance. That’s something he works really hard for every single day. And you put all that stuff together, the fact that he has been able to come back from injuries at record pace, finish matches when he didn’t need to, make shows when he didn’t have to, do all that sort of stuff, John, his toughness is very underrated.”
Perhaps it should come as no surprise that the guy whose nose he obliterated, leading to one of the best wrestling shirts in recent memory, is his toughest opponent. Certainly Cena’s superhuman recuperative abilities speak to his level of toughness. But Rollins has been in the ring with a LOT of dudes over the years, dating back to his IWA-MS days. And there are a lot of crazy-tough dudes who came out of that scene. Granted, Rollins was never in King of the Deathmatch or anything, BUT STILL.
(h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription)
