June 04, 2016
WWE Superstar Seth Rollins was in town for Wizard World Philadelphia Comic Con.
During his panel discussion on Thursday, the now-former champion revealed the key role Philly fans played in the decision to insert him into the main event on the company's biggest stage at WrestleMania 31.
Two months prior to the event, Philly fans, as they are wont to do, booed to voiced their displeasure at Roman Reigns' victory at the Royal Rumble to earn a spot to face Brock Lesnar in WrestleMania's main event.
While the focus was on Lesnar and Reigns during that time, Rollins saw an opportunity:
"I kind of saw the writing on the wall, actually, a few months before the Royal Rumble in Philly. Maybe like a month or two ahead of time, I had a feeling the way this wonderful city would respond to Roman Reigns during the Royal Rumble. I had a feeling that would carry over to WrestleMania. I knew how I was gonna perform in the Triple Threat match with John Cena and Brock Lesnar. And I just felt like I was gonna have a lot of momentum, and I also felt looking at the landscape moving forward that the most opportune time would be at the end of WrestleMania. And so, ya know, I put my two cents in and a few months later, I'm standing at the top of the ramp in San Francisco with the World Heavyweight championship.
So, obviously there's a lot more detail, but that's the abridged version. It was something that I wanted from the moment I won the briefcase and I kind of hedged my bets on it for a few months and so, thank you, Philadelphia for helping me out." [h/t to Cageside Seats for transcribing]
Rollins vacated the title due to a torn ACL, MCL and medial meniscus last November, but recently returned at Extreme Rules last month.
Wizard World Philadelphia is scheduled to run through June 5 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
