Seth Rollins Criticizes Roman Reigns For Not Defending His Title Since WrestleMania

Seth "Freakin" Rollins has been World Heavyweight Champion for less than two months, but he's not afraid to speak his mind and send shots toward the current Undisputed WWE Universal Champion!

Since winning the title at Night of Champions 2023, Rollins has stepped up as the workhorse champion of WWE. He's been defending the World Heavyweight title against all comers, most recently against Finn Balor at Money in the Bank 2023:

So far, The Visionary's title reign has been wildly successful. In the eyes of many in the WWE Universe, it's already more impressive than Roman Reigns' three-year-plus stint as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. The reason? Well, Rollins has been defending his title regularly – something that Reigns cannot claim. The last time Reigns put the most prestigious championship in sports entertainment on the line was at WrestleMania 39, an event that took place over three months ago. 

Seth Rollins Acknowledges His Title Isn't on the Same Level as Roman Reigns' 

Seth Rollins poses in the WWE ring with his championship belt Photo: WWE

The truth hurts: Reigns has not been an active champion. He rarely defends his title, and many inside and outside WWE view the introduction of the World Heavyweight Championship as a secondary title whose creation was necessitated by Reigns' lack of interest in wrestling on a regular basis. Unsurprisingly, Rollins is one of those people inside WWE who has recently leveled harsh criticism towards Reigns. In fact, Rollins is at it again: During a recent appearance on the Out of Character podcast, The Visionary once again took Reigns to task, seemingly speaking for the entire Monday Night RAW locker room in the process.

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"I'm under no illusion that this title is the same as Roman's title," he told host Ryan Satin. "That title has been around and so much equity has been put into it over the past few years. It means a lot. You saw how evident it was, even at Money in the Bank, when [Roman] got pinned for the first time in three and a half years. You can't just come in and pretend that all of a sudden this title is that important. No one is going to buy that crap."

Indeed, Rollins has an uphill battle to climb: He needs to elevate the World Heavyweight title to a level that the WWE Universe sees as equal to Reigns' Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. At this point, Rollins' championship doesn't have the longevity to be considered equal by any means. Unsurprisingly, he believes being a fighting champion is the key to building up a championship.

Seth Rollins Makes His World Heavyweight Championship Aspirations Clear

Roman Reigns is one of the many WWE Superstars on the SmackDown roster. Photo: WWE

Rollins revealed he grew up watching legendary Superstars take the WWE Championship to the highest level, and acknowledges he has big shoes to fill.

"The way that I always saw champions that I looked up to and that I aspire to be were the champions that took the title to every territory and every town and defended it," Rollins explained. "And then, over time, people believed that it was a big deal. I came in when Cena and CM Punk were the World Champions. I grew up watching Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, Triple H. These were the people that did that for the World Title they were wearing. I'm trying as I might, to fill those shoes and make this World Heavyweight Championship as big as it possibly can be for myself and the rest of the roster."

In case Rollins wasn't clear enough, he directly criticized Reigns and his work ethic.

"Here's the thing, if Roman was doing what I'm doing, there wouldn't really be a need for a secondary championship," Rollins pointedly declared. "There wouldn't be a need for another World Heavyweight Title on RAW, because we would have somebody who was doing those things. It would give direction to the characters on the show and the show itself. Because of the route he has chosen and what he wants to do with his schedule and his title reign is not what I'm doing, somebody has to fill that void."

We must wonder: Would Rollins have the guts to say this to Reigns' face?

Nevertheless, we're glad a top-tier WWE Superstar has called out Reigns for his bizarre stranglehold over the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. And if we're being honest, Reigns deserves all The Bloodline drama he gets for what he's put the WWE Universe through in recent years! 

Seth Rollins Reveals Failed Plan to Elevate the United States Title

Photo: WWE

Rollins continued to pull back the curtain during his podcast appearance, confessing that steps were made to elevate the United States Championship on Monday Night RAW, but to no avail. 

"We did our best with the United States Championship for a little while, but it never really felt like a World Heavyweight Championship," he admitted. "There has got to be that person, there has to be that spot for everybody to get to and try to fight for. I'm very happy to be the carrot that is dangling there. I think it's a good thing."

We actually disagree. It's a great thing that Rollins is headlining Monday Night RAW as its champion. We couldn't think of anyone better.

Here's to Seth "Freakin" Rollins elevating the World Heavyweight Title to the point where we all can stop caring so much about whatever gold Reigns is lugging around.

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