"Michael Cole had no idea" - Seth Rollins on the major moment that WWE kept a secret
Seth Rollins recently recalled how hardly anyone in WWE knew he was going to win the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 31.
The former Shield member successfully cashed in his Money in the Bank contract during the main event between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns. The show-closing moment was only finalized backstage after WrestleMania had started. As a result, WWE’s higher-ups decided not to let the secret out.
Speaking on The Pat McAfee Show, Rollins said even veteran commentator Michael Cole was unaware of the major development:
“I got Roman [with the Curb Stomp]. That guy that you love so much that you said beat me up. He owed me one, to be fair. He owed me one for that… Michael Cole had no idea that that was happening. There was a small room, I would say less than 10 people, for sure like five or six knew that was happening.” [2:18:50-2:19:20]
McAfee added that he did not know in advance about Rollins’ recent Shield entrance against Roman Reigns at the 2022 Royal Rumble. The former NFL star prefers to know limited information before WWE shows because he wants his commentary reactions to sound as authentic as possible.
Seth Rollins pitched his own title win
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On this day in 2015, @WWERollins pulled off the heist of the century when he cashed in his #MITB contract & captured the GOLD at #WrestleMania 31! 😱🤯 https://t.co/h48Cij5N8t
While Vince McMahon has the final say on main-event outcomes, the WWE Chairman sometimes receives ideas from the superstars involved in the match.
In 2019, Seth Rollins revealed on Edge & Christian’s Pod of Awesomeness that he twice pitched the dramatic WrestleMania 31 finish to Triple H. The 14-time world champion then passed the idea on to McMahon, who decided he liked it.
"I remember the next day [after the 2015 Royal Rumble] with Hunter [Triple H], it was the second time because I had pitched the idea at the end of the year before, and I just wanted to remind him that I had this idea on the table and I think it's a pretty good one,” Rollins said.
Rollins sensed after Roman Reigns’ unpopular 2015 Royal Rumble victory that fans would not be happy if his former Shield colleague became WWE Champion. For that reason, he felt that he was the right person to leave WrestleMania 31 with the title instead of Reigns or Brock Lesnar.
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