Seth Rollins Talks Jon Moxley Departure, Says WWE Will 'Knock' AEW 'Dead'

Seth Rollins isn't letting friendship cloud his quest to help make WWE the preeminent wrestling promotion in the world.

All Elite Wrestling scored a coup when it signed Jon Moxley, who was a top star in WWE as Dean Ambrose. Moxley and Rollins shared a special bond through their time in The Shield alongside Roman Reigns.

Yet Rollins views AEW as he would any other company attempting to take some of WWE's spotlight.

"We are going to knock them dead, just like we do everyone else," he said Monday in a conference call for SummerSlam, per John Pollock of Post Wrestling.

Rollins added he "was surprised" to see Moxley show up on AEW's Double or Nothing pay-per-view in May, though he acknowledged he knew the former WWE champion was looking to take a break.

"Now he's competition and trying to take dinner off my table and good on him," he said.

Rollins' comments likely come with a level of kayfabe. As a cornerstone of WWE's current roster, no one should expect him to go out of his way to praise another promotion, even if AEW is nowhere near WWE's level.

The Architect adopted a slightly more diplomatic tone this time around as well compared to his June interview with Sports Illustrated's Jimmy Traina.

In that discussion, Rollins said Moxley "took his ball and he went home" by allowing his WWE contract to expire and criticized him for publicly airing out some of his grievances with his creative direction prior to leaving.

To say there's any level of bad blood between Rollins and Ambrose would be a stretch. But the two will clearly have a friendly rivalry based on their current employers.