Seth Rollins' rivalries with CM Punk and Roman Reigns didn't begin with conflict but rather admiration and brotherhood before evolving into something far more complicated.
As he tells Complex in an interview about his relationship with Punk that took place last month, Rollins made clear that time hasn't erased the resentment stemming from his rival's controversial WWE exit and the tension that followed.
"I meant what I said about him being a cancer back then," Rollins says. "If you objectively look back at his time away from WWE, even pre-AEW, he was a cancer. He was a person who tried to destroy the business because he had his own beef with the company. He 100% tried to destroy it and tried to make everything difficult for all of us. And I think, you know, when the prospect of his return came around, even now it's still pretty difficult for me to see it happen."
When Punk made his shocking return at Survivor Series 2023, Rollins' reaction immediately went viral. He appeared visibly furious, shouting and needing to be restrained as Punk stood in front of the crowd, a moment that blurred the line between storyline and reality, reinforcing how real the tension between them was.
Even so, Rollins says he chose to work with Punk in matches and promo segments in the months that followed because his responsibility to the industry outweighed his personal resentment.
"At the end of the day, it's not my sandbox," Rollins tells Complex. "I'm tasked with doing a job, and I'm a professional, and I'll do that no matter what. If I think that we can make wrestling fans, and people care about what it is we're doing, then that adds a little bit kind of extra juice to why I might want to do something, and I think that was probably the ultimate reason why I felt comfortable working with Punk in that way was that this is something that even if I didn't want it, it was bigger than me."
He continues, "Being able to put my own feelings aside for the betterment of our industry, that was the ultimate reason. But I'm also a person who believes in second chances in the event that you're willing to be different, and again, I haven't forgotten what he's done, and I meant all of what I said when I said it. Do I feel like he's changed? I don't know. The jury is still out on that."
Long before Seth Rollins became a defining figure of WWE's modern era, CM Punk was someone he admired. Both came out of Ring of Honor, where Punk was already established while Rollins was still developing. Punk also helped introduce Rollins and Roman Reigns to WWE's main roster, but when he abruptly walked out in 2014, Rollins' admiration turned to disillusionment.
He publicly sided with WWE, viewing Punk's exit as a betrayal, and their philosophical divide eventually gave way to personal tension.
Unlike Punk, Rollins' rivalry with Roman Reigns is rooted in brotherhood, betrayal, and complicated respect. The two debuted together in 2012 as members of The Shield, making Rollins' shocking 2014 chair attack a moment that reshaped both careers. Though they later reunited, the emotional scars lingered, and when Reigns recently suggested during an interview with Pat McAfee that WWE has struggled creatively without him, Rollins didn't hesitate to fire back.
"I just laugh," Rollins tells Complex about Reigns' comments. "It's so absurd. It's so ridiculous."
More than the comment itself, Rollins said what stood out most was Reigns' belief in his own narrative.
"The thing is, he believes it about himself. He says it and believes it, and that speaks volumes about who he is."
Rollins' wife, Becky Lynch, also weighed in, pointing to the long road Reigns took to reach the top and suggesting he didn't do it alone.
"He talks about how nobody has taken the brass ring, when it took him 10 years and about 20 people, four cousins, and Sami Zayn, to prop him up and make him interesting. Maybe one day he'll figure out how to get himself over, too."
According to Lynch, rivalries like these endure because of the emotional investment behind them.
"You get tied to those people because of the strength of the emotion around that," says Lynch. "The fact that people were able to be so invested in any rivalry or any story is always just a compliment."
For Rollins, those emotions, admiration, betrayal, resentment, and competition, are inseparable from the legacy he continues to build.
"The audience chooses your legacy," says Rollins. "You just go out, do the best work you can, and hope it makes people feel something [...] You know, and as an artist, that's all you strive to do."