Seth Rollins believes he could have been "closely aligned" with an AEW star at one point in WWE

World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins recently talked about the possibility of him pairing with an AEW star at one point in WWE.

Seth Rollins, the inaugural NXT Champion, made his main roster debut at the 2012 TLC Premium Live Event as a part of The Shield alongside Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose (Jon Moxley). The trio interfered during the triple-threat match between CM Punk, John Cena, and Ryback for the WWE Championship. The interference allowed Punk to retain his title.

During an interview with CBS Sports, Rollins stated that if he had been a part of the initial incarnation of NXT in 2010, which was a reality TV format, he probably would have been paired with CM Punk due to their similar personality types and upbringing.

"Oh man, that would have been like 2011, 2012. At that point in my career, gosh, I would have been very closely aligned with CM Punk at the time. He would have probably been the guy if he was going to be involved with NXT that they would have paired with me based on our personality types and our upbringing," said Rollins. [H/T Fightful]

In its first iteration, NXT was launched in 2010 as a game show format in which rookies competed to win and become WWE Superstars. Each participating rookie was paired with a WWE pro as their mentor.

In 2012, the show was restructured into the format we see today, and it became the WWE's developmental territory, and the NXT Championship was introduced. Apparently, Rollins was supposed to be in the reality show format of NXT, but the rebranding happened before the start of the new season, and the new format was introduced.

At the time of the restructuring of NXT in 2012, CM Punk was a top superstar in WWE. Punk left the company in 2014 and took a seven-year-long break from pro wrestling until debuting in AEW in 2021.

Seth Rollins will defend his World Heavyweight Champion at WWE SummerSlam

Since his debut in NXT, Seth Rollins has never looked back. During the last decade, The Visionary has won many championships and accolades in WWE and has done all there is to do in the Stanford-based promotion.

Rollins recently won the newly introduced World Heavyweight Championship after defeating AJ Styles at Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia. Since then, The Visionary has been a fighting champion and successfully defended his title on multiple occasions.

The 37-year-old star is currently embroiled in a rivalry against The Judgment Day. Rollins will defend his world title against Finn Balor this weekend at WWE SummerSlam in Detroit.

The Visionary previously defeated Finn Balor at the Money in the Bank Premium Live Event in London. At the event, Damian Priest teased to cash in his MITB contract, to which Balor got distracted, allowing Rollins to capitalize and retain his title.

Can Seth Rollins retain his World Heavyweight Championship this weekend at SummerSlam? Sound off in the comments section below.