In a Digital Exclusive following Tuesday’s episode of WWE NXT, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins addressed his return to the brand following his match against WWE NXT superstar Bron Breakker.

“I’ll tell you what, the reason I come down here to NXT and defend the World Heavyweight Championship is because I love this, and this title deserves the respect, because there are Champions like Harley Race, like Ric Flair, like Bret “The Hitman” Hart, like Mr. five-time Booker T who took pride in taking the Heavyweight title to every city and every town in every single country that they could, and putting on a fight to raise the prestige of a World Heavyweight Champion.

If I can even lace those boots for two seconds, if I can be a part of the lineage, then I’m doing something right, so thank you guys for giving me the opportunity, Booker T, Shawn Michaels, everybody who’s held a title like this before me, thank you guys for giving me the opportunity to fill your shoes. Now, I want to tell you guys just a little story. So, when I was asked by Bron Breakker to come down here and defend my title on NXT and I accepted, I had a lot of people asking me, Seth does it feel nostalgic, are you getting emotional and to be honest with you, it had been so long since I’d stepped foot in an NXT ring, and I’ve been fortunate enough to do so much all across the world that my honest answer was no, it wasn’t hitting me like I thought it would, until I got out here.

That right there, all of you, you guys embody the same energy that I left NXT with a decade ago, you guys are still the proving ground for every single person back there in the back, you guys and your vitality, your love, your energy is what has made me a visionary, it is what has made me a revolutionary, it is what has made me Seth “Freakin” Rollins.”