Tommy Dreamer thinks Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins may have been feuding longer than anyone in the history of the business.
Raw closed on Monday from the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California with the final confrontation between the two before their World Heavyweight Championship match at SummerSlam. Reigns speared Rollins and reached for a chair, but Rollins recovered and hit the Curb Stomp onto it, standing over the champion as the show went off the air. On Busted Open After Dark, Dreamer put the whole thing in the context of how long it has been running.
“Man, I got to tell you, this could possibly be the longest feud in professional wrestling history. They got 12 years, right? I would say John Cena, Randy Orton has got some history, but long-term storytelling.”
“12 years since the chair shot that turned Seth Rollins, and that turn changed both those guys’ trajectories of their lives. Changed, made them into millionaires, and made them into global household names.”
Dreamer said the current version works because both men need something different out of it.
“Seth has had to deal with being secondary to Roman. Seth has said it in his promos, that you got the push that I deserved because I was the better wrestler than you. And for Roman, Roman who was not accepted as the original babyface, he found his groove and became everything that the WWE wanted him to be, and the WWE universe has accepted him as our tribal chief, as the top act in the wrestling industry.”
“Seth has to win SummerSlam to prove to himself and to the world that he is number one. That’s it. That’s his why. For Roman, Roman, who’s acknowledged as a champion, has done everything, has to prove to himself that he can beat this guy that has eluded him.”
He singled out one line from Rollins’ promo as the moment the segment turned.
“Seth straight up said to him, to his face, I’m a better wrestler than you, pretty much, and you know it. And the entire crowd acknowledged it. That line that he had hit was a great heel line. It was also a great babyface line.”
Dreamer said the reference to Reigns’ family is what triggered the physicality.
“When Seth hit the line about the family, it got in Roman’s head. Why? Because he physically went after him, and takes him down, dominates him, then hits a great spear.”
He described the finish as a rare lapse from the champion.
“Roman goes, grabs a chair as he slides in, and he stoically was getting up Seth Rollins, and then just stood there almost godlike, turned around at the right time, and a curb stomp on the chair and lays Roman out. Roman, for the first time in a long time, took his eye off the prize. And is Seth in Roman’s head, I would say yes.”
“I hope SummerSlam has this chair involved because it’s a great way for the story. Roman not being calm, cool, collected, because he meant his kids got mentioned, and that’s a big part of Roman.”
Dreamer would not pick a winner.
“I don’t know who’s going to win. I’m literally sitting back and watching a 12-year story be told.”
“There’s nowhere where someone can say, well, this person is going to win, because both guys have equal arguments to that throne, and athletically you know it’s going to be an excellent match. Storyline wise, you know it’s going to be a great match.”
“Both guys did a great job to want me to see this match, and that’s the beauty of pro wrestling.”
Reigns defends the World Heavyweight Championship against Rollins on Night Two of SummerSlam on Sunday, August 2, from U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is their first singles match on a premium live event since the 2022 Royal Rumble.
