Former Universal Champion, Seth Rollins on WWE Backstage revealed that he is not a big fan of the red lighting used in his match against The Fiend for the Universal Championship in the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view. Rollins admitted that he was not told about the red lights before the match and he found out about it with everyone else in the arena.
He said:
That was a mess for me. First of all you are in this dark red. The cell is also red and you are trying to navigate the edge of the cell. It was a mess. It was very difficult to deal with, especially with not knowing it was going to happen. I for one am not a fan. I feel like it affects my performance personally.
Did he like it? @WWERollins talks about the infamous red lighting. #WWEBackstage pic.twitter.com/vvfZSZ4OhE
— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) December 4, 2019
However, the red light was not the biggest talking point coming out of that match as the finish of the match completely overshadowed everything. After a gruesome encounter, a Hell in a Cell match ended in a no-contest after The Architect hit The Fiend with an oversized hammer. In a stipulation in which literally the word ‘Hell’ is there, the match ended because the match was too violent.
This created a huge backlash for WWE and the company was forced to put the belt on The Fiend a month later. Rollins was getting booed out of the building despite being the top babyface of the company.
Since then, Rollins had wrestled another televised match in those red lights at Saudi Arabia’s Crown Jewel where he eventually lost his Universal Championship to The Fiend. He also wrestled under the red glow in multiple dark matches in October and November during the build-up to his match against The Fiend.
The red light received a negative response from the fans as well as people in the crowd were finding it difficult to see the match clearly. But, despite that, it seems like the red light is here to stay as The Fiend’s title match against Daniel Bryan at Survivor Series was also under similar settings.
During his appearance at WWE Backstage, Rollins also opened up about the negative reaction he is getting in arenas and on social media. He thinks that people do so because “it’s the cool thing to do”.
He goes on to say:
“You look at where I was sitting a year ago at this time. I was the guy. I was being positioned to go to the next level. And in my opinion, and to the fans opinion at the time, I thought I was very successful at that. I got all the way to WrestleMania, to Brock Lesnar, to taking that title, and then we shifted gears and I do not really have an explanation for why.”
He compares himself to other top guys of different times like John Cena, WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart and Roman Reigns and said that people hating on top guys isn’t a new thing.
While it is true to a certain extent, fans only started resenting Rollins after he began defending WWE’s awful storylines during the summer and started calling himself as the best wrestler on the planet. That controversial Hell in a Cell match was the last nail in the coffin, but his recent heel turn could be the saving grace that he needed.
Nevertheless, here is Charles Crowley being saved by a balloon:
