Seth Rollins has high praise for John Cena

Rollins calls Cena ‘The GOAT’ and a mentor, and says he’s just honored ‘to be even a little footnote’ in the 16x WWE World champ’s career.

Seth Rollins and John Cena have shared the ring a lot in their careers (150 times, by Cagematch’s count), including a 2014-2015 feud that featured a killer Triple Threat with Brock Lesnar, a memorable broken nose, and a winner takes all match for the WWE and United States titles decided by a comedian.

Seems a lot of respect (and loyalty… not sure about hustle) developed between the two men over their years together in WWE. At the pre-Royal Rumble WWE 2K23 press event where he also expressed his lack of respect for another former World champion, Rollins was effusive in his praise of Cena.

Seth told Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s Scott Fishman:

“John’s the GOAT. John’s the best. John is incredible. And ya know, I’m a footnote, really, in his career. John influenced so many talents over the years. He was a generational guy. For me, though, on the other side of that, John influenced what I do so heavily. I took a ton of inspiration from John. I learned a lot being in the ring with John. I learned a lot watching John behind the scenes.

“And John still is a mentor to me, even now that he’s not around that often. It’s awesome to see him portrayed in this way [on the cover of WWE 2K23], the legend that he is. I’m very excited to see what his story mode looks like throughout the game. I’m just a bit part of that. So it’s my pleasure and my honor to be even a little footnote in the story of John Cena.”

Doesn’t sound like Cena will be around a lot on the Road to WrestleMania, so he may rely on Rollins’ insight about his reported opponent. Seth’s pretty familiar with Austin Theory, so he should have plenty he can tell his mentor about the current U.S. champ.