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Seth Rollins on Trying to Make the Best of the WrestleMania Situation, WWE Continuing Shows Through Coronavirus Outbreak

April 1, 2020 | Posted by Jeffrey Harris
Seth Rollins WWE Raw 2-17-20 Image Credit: WWE

The Sports Illustrated Sports Media Podcast recently interviewed WWE Superstar Seth Rollins, who spoke about dealing with the WrestleMania situation in light of the coronavirus outbreak. Below are some highlights from SI.com.

Seth Rollins on performing in front of an empty Performance Center: “It’s weird. It’s weird. It’s taking me back to my days wrestling in front of eight people. I’ve been there before. I’ve grown accustomed to Monday Night Raw, 10,000 people. It’s a whole different vibe. Everything’s somber. We all want to get through this, but we’re all trying to figure this thing out together. When the whole thing started to develop here in the States, I purposely didn’t tweet or Instagram anything about wrestling because I didn’t feel right about it. Then I got out there and I cut this promo on Monday Night Raw and I got back and I had this sense of relief almost.”

On if it’s more difficult to cut a promo or wrestle without an audience: “I would say cut a promo. You don’t have crowd reaction to play off of. A promo, when you’re having a conversation with the crowd, it really feels like you are talking to somebody. It feels as though they are part of the conversation. If you don’t have that, there’s a lot of pressure. And also not having the ability to do multiple takes. Monday Night Raw is live, so that’s a one-take promo. That’s a one-take monologue. I don’t get the opportunity to cut-and-paste that thing together. It’s not like a movie. Wrestling, on the other hand, is fluid. It’s in the ring and it’s moving around. There’s a lot of you can do. There are a lot of changes you can make. A promo is nerve-wracking. You can hear everything. There’s no audience to drown anything out. You can hear cameramen shuffling. You hear everybody whispering in the back. It’s really eerie in a way.”

His opinion on WWE continuing with live shows in light of the coronavirus: “I don’t know. I’m not a medical expert. Obviously the airports are still open. Should they close? I don’t know. I wish I had answers. I’m sure a lot of people do. Right now, I’m just trying to stay as hygienic as possible, keep my distance from as many people as I can. As of now, I feel great. Knock on wood, I’ve been able to avoid this thing. I know a lot of families and people who have been affected by it. It’s extremely contagious and it’s very dangerous. I wish I had more answers. I wish I knew what was the right thing to do. After WrestleMania, we’re gonna recollect and see where we’re gonna go from here. Right now, I’m very humble and grateful that I have a job that still needs me. A lot of Americans are not in that boat and their futures are uncertain. So if providing them with some entertainment can help them out, then I feel like, we’re being productive in doing something right.”

Seth Rollins on trying to make the best of WrestleMania: “This is as big as a curveball that you can be thrown this time of year. I think we’re all trying to make the best of it. I think we have a different mindset as performers. We’re all gonna go out there and pretend as if there were 80,000 people filling the Performance Center the way that it would be at Raymond James Stadium. The people who are paying to watch WrestleMania at home don’t deserve any less of a show because they’re not there live. We are gonna do our best to make this WrestleMania feel as WrestleMania-ish as we can.”

article topics :

Seth Rollins, WWE, Jeffrey Harris