Arn Anderson Thinks Seth Rollins In WWE Needs To Be More Like Jon Moxley In AEW
During the ARN Podcast, Arn Anderson covered the Money in the Bank 2015 event, which included Sheamus winning Money in the Bank, Seth Rollins defending the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Dean Ambrose, and John Cena defeating Kevin Owens in their second match.
Anderson also talked about The Shield as a trio and who he recognized as the star from the start of the trio. He then talked about Dean and Seth, and how they changed his opinion on the trio over time.
"The very first time I saw the trio, it's kind of hard not to look at Roman Reigns and go, 'Damn, what a look'," Anderson said. "Then you saw him move and you go, 'Damn, what an athlete.' The fact that they had him positioned as the killer, he would get plugged in and shut everything down.
"Then I would start to look at the other two – [Dean] Ambrose and what he brought to the table," Arn continued. "My nickname to him to this day is crazy man, because you never knew what that guy was going to do. He was such a diversified all over the place type worker in a positive sense, he would just go out and just keep coming and doing things. The guys who could keep up with him ended up having a great match.
"Seth [Rollins] is that guy that can put the battle plan together. He's a wrestler's wrestler. He thinks in terms of the big picture, how does he plug himself in at the right time, how do the other guys fit in. He was an architect," Arn added. "Each one brought something different. Roman was the steamroller, Ambrose you didn't know what to expect, and the one that was in there regulating everything was Seth."
Roman Reigns has been one of the most polarizing talents in the WWE for some time now. The crowd cheers and boos on any given night for Roman and peoples opinions of him constantly change. The crowd's reaction can impact an entire match if their disdain for him is loud enough. Anderson talked about Romans polarizing personality and why he thinks the fans have shown such disdain for him over the years for being in the top spot.
"It's got nothing to do with his ability to work," Anderson stated. "You don't notice it as much in the live events because the pro vs. con reactions are probably 80-20 on the pro side. For T.V. a lot of stuff gets pumped in even though the audience doesn't act that way. Roman comes through the curtain looking like a movie star. If your girlfriend is sitting beside you, she's probably going to stand up and go, 'Who is that'? which pissed most adult males off, and he's a hell of an athlete.
"Roman should've come through that curtain to this day, if he had a promo it was 1 or 2 Clint Eastwood lines uncontested, and then he just kicks ass. He's a samoan killing machine and that's who he should've been. When you try and flip a guy from heel to baby face, the audience gets confused. Roman Reigns should either still be a baby face from the first time they turned him and no switches in between or he should be an ass kicking heel."
Arn also mentioned Seth Rollins as being too much of a flip flopping talent. As of late, Rollins is currently a heel with a new stable, but at the end of last year, Rollins was a babyface. Anderson said the constant flip flopping between babyface and heel for Rollins has ruined his image and character when the WWE should just let him be himself like Jon Moxley currently is in AEW.
"A talent like Seth Rollins, how many times has he been a baby face or a heel?" Anderson said. "There's a guy that's a diamond. Just polish him up, you don't need to try and change his chemical makeup. The Shield guys, you see how special Ambrose is being himself right now [in AEW]. When you got a race horse, let him run."
Lastly, Anderson talked about the main event of the show featuring Seth Rollins defending the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Dean Ambrose in a ladder match. Anderson encouraged anyone who aspires to be a professional wrestler to watch this match because of how great of a job storytelling wise the former Shield members did.
"They killed it," Anderson said. "They took everyone of their offensive moves and put them in places where they went and they were true false finishes. The intensity was just incredible. It's one of those matches where if you watched it ten times in a row, you'd always learn something new. It was that good. It was a treat for the audience, it was a treat for the business, and every guy out there who aspires to be the best worker they can be. They should watch this match and watch the story that's told."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit ARN Podcast with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.