Seth Rollins On Helping Change WWE's Perception Of Indie Wrestlers, Pat Patterson Note, The Miz

- Seth Rollins was the latest guest on the Pro Wrestling Illustrated Podcast, which features exclusive excerpts from Rollins' "Hot Seat" interview with Al Castle, most of which is featured in the October issue of PWI, available on newsstands and at pwi-online.com. Rollins tackles a number of subjects in the interview, including his thoughts on the WWE brand split, the current Ring of Honor product, backyard wrestling, the controversial NJPW match between Ricochet and Will Ospreay and more. Rollins also discussed WWE's new attitude toward independent wrestlers.

"I'd like to think I played a small part in transforming the entire system," Rollins said. "Without guys like myself, Cesaro, Ambrose, Punk having success on a high level, you wouldn't have the company taking the leap into that area. They wouldn't have the faith to go out and grab a Sami Zayn and a Kevin Owens and a Finn Balor. And they wouldn't have the faith to look at EVOLVE and work with Gabe Sapolsky and stuff like that if it wasn't for guys who he had recommended becoming top stars. So I think some of us from the previous years will go down as heroes in that regard for helping pave the way, I think, from Punk all the way up to where we're at now with Neville and Finn Balor and Samoa Joe."

The latest episode of the PWI Podcast also features Al and PWI Senior Writer Dan Murphy discussing the post-brand split WWE landscape and the top matches booked for SummerSlam. The PWI Podcast is available for streaming at pwi-online.com or on iTunes.

- The Star has an excerpt at this link from Pat Patterson's upcoming book, Accepted: How the First Gay Superstar Changed WWE. In the excerpt, Patterson discussed coming out to his parents for the first time.

- The Miz will be appearing at the Cricket Wireless Store in Fresno, Ca this Sunday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 6460 N Blackstone Ave Suite 101, ahead of that evening's live event at the Save Mart Center.

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