WWE star says he pitched Roman Reigns to lose a major title match

One of the biggest losses of Roman Reigns' career came in 2015 in the main event of WrestleMania 31. In a recent interview, Seth Rollins explained how his impromptu addition to The Tribal Chief's one-on-one match with Brock Lesnar came about.

Reigns was widely expected to beat Lesnar to capture the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. However, Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to turn the match into a triple threat. Moments later, he pinned Reigns to produce one of the most memorable WrestleMania moments in recent history.

On My Love Letter to Wrestling, Rollins said Reigns' babyface persona received "tepid" responses from fans at the time. The Visionary also recalled how he pitched his own title win at the expense of his former Shield stablemate:

"I thought it was a great opportunity to create a moment unlike any we've ever seen," Rollins stated. "I thought it was a great way to build myself but also to build Roman and give him somebody to chase. I just didn't think the time was right, I didn't think the audience was ready for that victory, and fortunately for me I think people saw it that way as well."

Rollins' iconic Money in the Bank cash-in is widely viewed as the greatest in WWE history. Eight years on from that moment, he now holds the World Heavyweight Championship while Roman Reigns is the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion.

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When Seth Rollins thought of the Roman Reigns storyline idea

Following The Shield's break-up in June 2014, Roman Reigns was immediately presented as WWE's next top babyface singles competitor. As Seth Rollins referenced, his former tag team partner had trouble connecting with fans in late 2014 and early 2015.

During a car ride with former WWE star Cesaro, Rollins came up with the idea to dethrone Lesnar at WrestleMania 31 instead of Reigns:

"I had the idea to do the cash-in a couple of months before WrestleMania, so probably like January [2015], December [2014], I'm riding in the car with Cesaro, Claudio Castagnoli, and we're booking the territory as we do, and I've got these ideas and I'm running them by him, and he's got his ideas and we're just trying to come up with some stuff."

In the same interview, Rollins named an unexpected potential challenger for his World Heavyweight Championship at WWE Money in the Bank.

Do you think Roman Reigns should have won the WrestleMania 31 main event? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Please credit My Love Letter to Wrestling and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.