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It’s almost impossible in 2025 for the WWE to keep storylines a secret and put one over on its audience. So, when it does happen, it’s a MAJOR win for the company.
Even if you don’t closely follow the WWE, you may have heard about the ruse pulled off by Seth Rollins, who “appeared” to sustain a significant knee injury on July 12 only to return at SummerSlam on Aug. 3 to cash in his Money in the Bank and win the WWE title.
in the words of Elaine Benes, Rollins’s knee injury was fake, fake, fake, fake.
On this week’s SI Media With Jimmy Traina, Rollins shared some insight into the memorable storyline.
“It is very difficult to keep a secret in our industry, so I was very happy with the way this turned out,” said Rollins. “We kept a pretty tight ship on this thing. A few people were aware, but it was nice.”
I asked Rollins how many people knew that he didn’t really injure his knee.
“You can probably count on two hands,” he said.
How did the idea for this storyline come about?
“I’m not exactly sure where it was hatched,” said Rollins. “It was presented to me in advance quite some time for our business. It was a few weeks. I thought the idea was brilliant when I first heard it. Obviously, the execution was gonna be important, and the details were gonna need to be ironed out. But I felt the crux of the idea was brilliant, and I was the guy to be able to pull that off. I was very excited at the prospect of it. My level of commitment to our industry is second to none. I was the guy for the job. I did not anticipate how annoying it would be to crutch around the city for a few weeks, though. That was an unexpected part of it. That was pretty obnoxious.”
What about having to lie to people who reached out to offer sympathies on the injury? Did Rollins feel guilty lying to anyone?
“No, I didn’t feel guilt,” said Rollins. “I let my wife take all the guilt. She’s got that Irish guilt. It’s a business. If someone did this to me, I wouldn’t feel bad in the slightest.
“Maybe John Cena. John reached out and I had to do my best to wiggle around it. But John and I are cut from the same cloth, so when John saw the final outcome, he was happy. He was proud in a way. So, at the end of the day, it all works itself out."
Good Morning Football
You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.
2. Adam Schefter had a weird take on Monday’s Get Up, saying the Eagles’ win over the Chiefs on Sunday really came back in March when NFL owners voted to keep the tush push in the game. That theory didn’t go over well with those in the City of Brotherly Love, so Philly’s 97.5 The Fanatic had Schefter on to debate the take. The result was a good radio segment, and host John Kincade got Schefter a tad flustered.
ESPN's @AdamSchefter on his recent comments he made on Get Up regarding the Eagles tush push in the win against the Chiefs
— 97.5 The Fanatic (@975TheFanatic) September 17, 2025
(Kincade & Salciunas) pic.twitter.com/41af1M6GnS
3. For some unknown reason, ESPN is going to put Stephen A. Smith on three editions of Monday Night Countdown this season. According to Smith, he will be part of the pregame show this week before the Lions-Ravens game, as well as in Weeks 9 and 14.
I’ll never understand these networks that think pregame shows need MORE people.
4. The Caitlin Clark ratings effect was felt in a significant way this weekend as the playoffs got underway with the WNBA superstar sidelined by injury.
Game 1 between the Fever-Dream on Sunday, which aired on ABC, drew 951,000 viewers.
Game 1 of the Fever’s 2024 Game 1 playoff game against the Sun drew 1.84 million viewers.
5. I laughed out loud at the Chiefs’ Chris Jones completely losing it over the Eagles running the tush push “seven f---ing times.”
Tush Push has broken Chris Jones 💀 pic.twitter.com/eQWfKyjkpL
— Mostly Eagles Tweets (@MostlyEagles) September 17, 2025
6. In addition to Rollins, the latest SI Media With Jimmy Traina, which dropped Thursday morning, also features an interview with ESPN’s Mina Kimes.
Kimes discusses her start at ESPN, transitioning into an NFL analyst, the stigma of being an NFL analyst who didn’t play the game, what her typical Sunday is like and if she’d like to be in the booth calling games one day.
Kimes also talks about auditioning for the ManningCast, the worst thing about social media becoming a cesspool, working with Dan Orlovsky and much more.
The podcast closes with the weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment featuring Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV. This week, we talk about me and friends getting booted from a restaurant, Sal's second week in a row suffering a horrific NFL betting loss, a crazy college football bad beat, Sal losing the Emmy Award on his birthday and more.
You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.
You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated‘s YouTube channel.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: The legendary James Gandolfini was born on this date in 1961. It’s still hard to believe the man who gave us the remarkable portrayal of Tony Soprano is gone.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Seth Rollins Reveals the One Person He Felt Guilty Lying to About His Fake Knee Injury.
