Seth Rollins ‘excited’ that The Shield are babyfaces
By: Greg Oliver

Seth Rollins and The Shield follow in the grand tradition of such greats as Dick the Bruiser and Jake “The Snake” Roberts, wrestlers who started out as villains but through time became beloved by the fans.

It’s just a process that happens a lot quicker in this day and age.

Shortly before Monday Night Raw in Baltimore, Rollins talked to SLAM! Wrestling about The Shield as babyfaces.

“It’s just how things happen,” Rollins said. “It’s been an interesting transformation, I suppose. But to be honest with you, we really haven’t done much different. We just started targeting different people, I suppose. By that association, the fans just started to get with us. It’s been fun. It’s been a side to take for sure, but I think it’s something that we’re all pretty excited about.”

Rollins and his brothers in The Shield — Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns — are firmly a part of a new generation of WWE stars pushing the envelope, not content to wait their turn.
“I think that with this new generation of guys, you talk about the Wyatt Family, you can talk about Daniel Bryan, the Usos, you can throw Cesaro in there. There’s this next generation of dudes who are hungry, man,” Rollins said. “The Shield, coming into WWE, we wanted to change what was going on. We had seen the business stagnate for a good five years at least. Just guys not coming in being hungry, and not wanting to make change, not wanting to ruffle any feathers, feeling like they’re walking on eggshells. Myself, Ambrose and Reigns, we were never like that. We’re all alpha males, that type personality.

“We all want to be the best, be number one. From the very outset, we were just going to work harder than everybody else, put on better matches than everybody else, cut better promos than everybody else, be more interesting than everybody else. We didn’t really care who that pissed off. I think that attitude resonated with a lot of other guys that we came across, especially in developmental — and they brought that attitude up here with them. It’s really a great time to be a WWE fan, because you’ve got a lot of very invested performers who are willing to make that sacrifice, to make that change.”

From one former Ring of Honor World champion (when Rollins was Tyler Black) to another (when Bryan was “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson), Rollins is a fan and a friend of Daniel Bryan.

“People say he ascended so quickly, but he’s been in WWE for what, four years now? And before that he was on the indies for over decade,” said Rollins. “He’s a guy who, if anybody’s put in the time, it’s him; if anybody’s had a slow build to where they’re at, it’s him. It definitely seems like a skyrocket, just because of all the attention the Yes Movement has gathered, the way he’s been positioned over the last six months particularly. But like I said, he’s worked so hard, and I’m super happy for him. He deserves it. I’m real proud of him as a performer and as a friend.”

Rollins doesn’t deny that he and Bryan have walked similar routes.

“The lifestyle, the paths we’ve taken, have put us in the same perspective. We kind of see through the same eyes a bit. Like I said, I just really appreciate all he’s been through. He’s been a guy that’s been there through most of my career. Wherever I’ve worked, he’s always been someone’s who helped me out and been a major part in my development. I’m just super happy for him, man, and hope that he can make the most of his title run. He’s definitely had a run for the ages.”

Many pundits point to Roman Reigns as the Next Big Thing, a breakout star from the A’noai family of wrestlers just waiting for his chance.

Rollins doesn’t disagree, and explains how Reigns has learned from Ambrose and Rollins, both veterans of the indy wrestling scene.

“He’s smart enough to listen. He’s smart enough to pay attention and pick up little things,” Rollins said of Reigns. “He’s someone who’s a student of the game. He played football before he got here. He didn’t spend as much time doing this as we had, but it’s in his blood. His family’s a huge part of this business. He’s just a guy who’s built for it. It’s just part of him. We spend a lot of time in the car and a lot of time in the ring together, and stuff like that, so if he’s not learning, then something’s not right. But I think it’s pretty clear that over the past 18 months that we’ve been teamed up up here that his progression and his development has been accelerated, to say the least.”

The trio can only get better with top-of-the-card billing, such as the Extreme Rules pay-per-view bout with The Shield against Evolution (Triple H, Randy Orton and Batista).
Rollins admits to being a fan of Evolution’s back in the day.

“How could you not be? You’ve got past, present and future, with Ric Flair in the original incarnation. All the success that those guys have had is proof that Evolution was a successful stable in its time. I think the fact that they have banded back together to have match with The Shield and try to take us on is proof that we are also an extremely successful stable, and hopefully not just now, but for a long time.”

In his earlier days, when he was Tyler Black in Ring of Honor, Rollins was a part of a faction called The Age of the Fall.

The Shield is another faction, and Rollins talked about the differences between working as a unit compared to on one’s own.

“It’s something that I’ve kind of grown accustomed to a little bit; it’s almost like a comfort zone kind of thing,” he said of teaming up with multiple partners. “It’s definitely different than working by yourself, because there’s so many moving parts. Especially in a six-man tag match, you’ve really got to be aware of what’s going on, not just for yourself, but for everybody else in the ring. You’ve got to play off each other’s strengths, and weaknesses too, which is different than being out there by yourself. It’s a whole different ballgame, but we’ve definitely perfected the art, I’d say.”

While not always perfectly neat, Rollins’ hair is worth a mention. With his long, dark hair dyed a yellowish blond on his right side, he stands out in a cookie-cutter world of wrestlers.

It’s not a backstage before Raw dye job either.

“No man, my girlfriend’s a hairstylist, actually, so it’s worked out well,” chuckled Rollins to conclude the interview. “We do it at home every so often. You can kind of tell when I’m on the road too long and the roots start to show. But yeah, she does it every month or two. It is what it is, just a way to stand out. It’s starting to come up with some serious breakage up front though. We’ll see how long it lasts. We’ve been doing it for about two years now.”

Source: slam.canoe.ca Where you can check out even more wrestling stories and interviews!

Here is a bunch of photos from recent WWE Live Events in Saudi Arabia, as well as photos from the Shield’s visit to US Troops in the country.

Shield Confronts Evolution Photos: WWE Digitals

Shield Issues their Ultimatum
No match for the Shield this week, instead there is an intense confrontation between the two baddest factions in WWE right now. Evolution appears and Triple H talks about humiliating the Shield last week on RAW and compares it to a dad spanking his kids in front of the whole world. Randy Orton says the Shield set in motion their own destruction. A video package plays showing us the forming and dominance of Evolution.
Batista takes the mic following the video package and gloats about how many world titles Evolution holds between the three (31 Titles). Batista believes the Shield has no idea what they have gotten themselves into.
Clearly the Shield is not intimidated in the presence of the veterans as they soon make their entrance. Evolution vacates the ring as the Shield takes it over. Ambrose takes the mic first and agrees that Evolution did a number on them in the previous week, however they are not and will not be humbled.
Ambrose speaks about the time when Triple H actually hired the Shield to protect his “creampuff champion” Randy Orton.
Seth Rollins takes the mic and tells the crowd that Evolution is not prepared to fight with their fancy suits. Seth takes aim at each veterans week side saying that Batista has a lot of Hollywood obligations, Randy Orton is selfish and only out for himself. He says the COO will do what he always does and that is “what is best for the boss.” Seth says at Extreme Rules they will rip Evolution to pieces. He says that by attacking the Shield Evolution put nails in their own coffin and the Shield will be the hammer that drives it home.
Roman Reigns then gives Evolution an ultimatum saying they are coming up that ramp and Evolution can either fight like men or be “Creampuffs”.
The Shield makes their way up the ramp and as they do so several members of the roster come out to surround Evolution. Seth hollers and screams at them that they can’t fight like men. “Do you think we are that stupid?!” He yells as the Shield is forced to back away.

Some new Seth Rollins interviews have been posted in the past week, as well I’ve posted one from Radio Row at WrestleMania that didn’t post earlier!

Seth Rollins talks about turning baby-face, ROH, “this is awesome” chants and more with Busted Open Nation!

Seth talks to Sam Roberts at WrestleMania Radio Row! Talks about his NXT experience, enjoying the shield “drama” and more!

Seth Rollins on Gameswelt.tv during WreslteMania week talking about NXT and his love of food!

Witness all the chaos: 11 on 3 Tag Match Digitals

The Shield vs. 11 Men Tag Match
The authority was bent on destroying the Shield after they came to the aid of Daniel Bryan several times over the past weeks. The Shield was to compete against mystery opponents for the main event. It soon became clear there would not be just three opponents, as 11 members of the roster came out one after another. These rivals included: 3MB, Rusev, Rybaxel, Fandango, Del Rio, Jack Swagger, Wade Barrett and Titus O’Neil.
The Shield isolate and beat down Heath Slater at the beginning of the match with Seth Rollins beating him down and keeping him in the Shield corner.
Things would soon turn for the worst though, as their opponents had the same plan for Seth. Rollins remained isolate from his partners for the first moments of this match. He takes clubbing elbows to the chest from Rusev and a massive slam from Ryback, before being tossed out of the ring.
Roman Reigns would strike and knock Ryback away from Rollins. All 11 men jump on Reigns on the outside but Seth sneaks back into the ring and unleashes a powerful 360 dive that knocks everyone down. Soon the mayhem continues to heighten as the entire group of men begin to brawl and Ambrose leaps on top of the whole heap as well. The Shield get back into the ring protecting it from anyone who might jump in but find themselves overpowered in numbers.
All members of the Shield are being beaten down as Evolution’s music hits.
The crowd is in shock as HHH, Orton and Batista walk slowly down to the ring and order everyone else to leave. From there the three seek to demolish the Shield further. Seth becomes the target of multiple kicks and punches by all three. He attempts crawl away but is caught by Randy Orton and subjected to an RKO. He still tries to get up and is further punished by evolution. Soon none of the Shield is left standing. After the show is over the Shield get helped to the back by referees.