After two weeks of anticipation, Seth Rollins finally got in the ring with Bron Breakker at NXT Gold Rush, and needless to say, he tore the roof off the Performance Center in Orlando.

Taking the ring second to his familiar war chorus demanding that “The Visionary” does everything in his power to “burn it down” in the ring, Rollins and Breakker opted against slowly feeling the situation out at the beginning of the bout, with the two “top dogs” instead deciding to go right at each other in an attempt to get the match over quickly. Rollins tried to end things early with a Pedigree, Breakker tried to land multiple spears, and the duo brawled in and outside of the ring, with the former hitting a frog splash onto the announcing table – scattering all of Vic Joseph's assorted candies to the wind – while the latter ripped off some of his familial maneuvers like the Frankensteiner and the Steiner Recliner.

Spamming finishers at the end of the bout, Rollins ultimately secured the pin – as he should have – with a potent combination of Superkicks and Stomps before having to deal with a surprise second foe in Finn Balor, who charged “The Visionary” after the 1-2-3 to further damage his ribs ahead of their match at Money in the Bank. Fortunately, Balor wasn't able to get off a trio of coup de grâce this time around, as the duo of Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams ran him off and allowed Rollins to at least enjoy a few moments of his return to NXT before he inevitably turning his attention back to the task to hand.

Was this match good? Yes. Was it the sort of star-making performance that gets Bron Breakker onto RAW next week and holding a championship by the end of the summer? No, probably not hey, Breakker looked right at home in the ring with one of the best performers in the world today, and if that isn't a win, then I don't know what is.

Seth Rollins imparts some wisdom on the next generation of WWE Superstars.

Before Seth Rollins took the ring against Bron Breakker in the main event of Night 1 of NXT Gold Rush, he spent some time in the locker room and was greeted by multiple young Superstars-in-training who wanted to pay their respects to one of the top stars in the world today.

One of those trainees was Nathan Frazer, the British-born high-flyer who worked the indies as Ben Carter before signing with NXT UK in December of 2020. A trainee of Rollins and Marek Brave at the Black and Brave Wrestling Academy in Davenport, Iowa, Frazer wanted to thank Rollins for everything he's done for him in his career and to show off his new NXT Heritage Cup, which he won off of Oro Mensah the previous week.

“Hey, there he is; there’s the kid!” Rollins said. “Congratulations on this giant cup that you have to carry around everywhere.”

“Oh yeah, it’s heavy as h*ll, but it’s also, like, the coolest thing. Hey, congrats to you too, by the way,” Frazer said, to which Rollins thanked him. “Hey, how are you feeling after RAW?”

“Ah, you know, not 100 percent, but you know, that’s on me, I asked for the very best version of Finn Balor; I got the very best version of Finn Balor. Let that be a lesson, and before we talk about lessons, I’m proud of you, man. I’m proud of the performer that you’ve become; don’t forget to pass that along,” Rollins said.

“Will do, I learned from the best,” Frazer said.

After celebrating their shared success in the greater WWE Universe, Rollins was greeted by another member of NXT roster with 10 pounds of gold around his waist – give or take – in Carmelo Hayes – plus Trick Williams – who wanted to get a little bit of advice of his own from the man who considers himself a “Visionary.”

“Seth ‘Freakin’’ Rollins, hey man, I am Carmelo Hayes, and I am the NXT Champion, and this is my boy, Trick Williams,” Hayes said.

Rollins didn’t respond… at least until he broke out laughing.

“Ha, ha, ha, I got cha!” Rollins said. “Guys, I know who you are, I was waiting for you to come and say hi. Champ to champ, what can I do for ya?”

“Hey man, I just want to pay my respects as a champion to another champion,” Hayes said.

“I appreciate that, I appreciate that,” Rollins responded before noticing that Hayes’ gaze lingered just a little bit too long on his WWE World Heavyweight Championship belt. “Hey, hey, eyes up here! If you really want to respect the champ, you worry about your championship. Are you going to beat Baron Corbin next week?”

“I am, Hayes responded. Are you going to beat Bron tonight?” Hayes asked.

“You know I don’t miss,” Rollins answered, leading to laughs and cheers from Williams and the audience assembled for a show in the PC. “Keep wearing (the NXT Championship) well, my friend.”

Did this interaction on its own lead to Hayes and Williams – but, curiously enough, not Frazer – running down to the ring to help defend Rollins when Finn Balor decided to start attacking the victorious champion on his way out of the ring following a brutal battle with Bron Breakker? It’s impossible to know; Hayes and Rollins have both fully transitions into babyfaces after successful runs as heels on their respective shows, and that alone may have influenced the save. Still, if Breakker didn’t save Rollins and then follow him back to RAW as a babyface once more, giving Hayes even more rub alongside the World Heavyweight Champion is exactly why Nick Khan pushed for this idea and why the numbers should show a solid uptick in viewers for Week 1 of Gold Rush.