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Seth Rollins (Real Name: Colby Lopez) has had quite a successful career with WWE and is currently one of the biggest Superstars of the company. Having signed with the company in 2010, Seth Rollins started competing in FCW and soon went on to become the inaugural NXT Champion in August 2012.
A few months after, we saw the debut of probably the greatest faction in modern WWE history as The Shield made their way to the main roster at Survivor Series 2012. The trio of Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns took out every Superstar, team, and legend on their way and had a solid run together before Rollins turned on his brothers and joined the Authority led by Triple H, thus beginning his singles run.
Fast forward to 2020, Seth Rollins is one of the most accomplished and acclaimed Superstars on the WWE roster. He has pretty much won every championship in WWE, while also having a Royal Rumble victory under his belt and being Mr. Money in the Bank 2014.
As much as we have grown accustomed to watching the Monday Night Messiah grace our TV screens on Monday Night RAW every week, there are a lot of interesting stories about him that even his die-hard fans might not know.
So let's take a look at five interesting backstage stories about Seth Rollins. Be sure to comment down and let us know your thoughts on the same. Here we go!
#5 Seth Rollins was forced to redo a match by Vince McMahon
When Seth Rollins turned heel in 2014 and joined the Authority, SmackDown wasn't a live show and did not have a separate roster. WWE mostly used it as a supplementary show for Monday Night RAW. During one of the SmackDown tapings that year in June, Seth Rollins faced and defeated Kofi Kingston. However, Vince McMahon wanted it to be a squash match and felt that Rollins allowed Kingston too much offense and hence he sent both of them back to redo the match.
During an appearance on the E&C's Pod of Awesomeness, Seth Rollins revealed what happened during the above incident.
“I gave Kofi a little bit, made him look good, and I remember coming to the back thinking, 'Yeah, that was alright,' ... Vince is furious about it, just furious. He's like, 'Get over here,' and he's yelling at me, and he's like, 'If you're gonna be my guy, if you're gonna be my guy, that's not what I want,' and he shooed me out of [the] Gorilla [Position].”
#4 Seth Rollins almost got fired from WWE
With Seth Rollins being such a huge star in WWE, it's tough to imagine that there was a point where he almost got fired from the company, even before debuting as part of The Shield. Reason? The coaches thought he had "behavioral issues". Former WWE writer Rob Naylor had the following to say:
"Rollins’ issues were simply that he didn’t always listen precisely to his coaches. He’d be told not to do a move… and then do it. I know that while Rollins was in FCW and NXT, people felt at times he had ‘behavioral issues’. That was never the case in my estimation. Every coach on the staff was just as hungry at one time, so that was overblown. But he was on the bubble to be let go months prior to the Shield angle, based on the perception of some from the office.”
Years later, Seth Rollins spoke to WWE.com and revealed about him almost getting fired from WWE.
“I literally almost lost my job. I had been there for almost two years. I was very frustrated. I couldn’t get along with anyone. I thought I deserved more than I did."
One guy who believed in him and has mentored him throughout his career is Triple H. It was the Cerebral Assassin who had a long talk with a young Seth Rollins and talked sense into him which made him realize his mistakes. The Kingslayer had the following to say:
“We sat down and talked for a good couple hours. That was an eye-opener for me, I think, in a lot of ways, because it really felt like that was going to be it. And if I don’t do this now [and] make this work now, I may not get another chance.”
#3 The return of Seth Rollins' finisher: The Curb Stomp
During his initial days with The Shield and shortly after his heel turn in 2014, Seth Rollins had become quite popular among fans for various reasons. While his unique blonde streak in his hairs was one reason, another one was his finisher - the Curb Stomp.
While he famously used this move initially to win several matches, shortly after WrestleMania 31, Vince McMahon informed him to stop using the move due to the risks involved if the fans at home tried replicating it as it had the potential to be quite deadly.
Thus, Seth Rollins began using the Pedigree and the Ripcord Knee as his finishers for the next few years. It was during an episode of RAW in January 2018 that the Kingslayer surprisingly brought back the Curb Stomp and hit it on Finn Balor, much to the shock of everyone watching. WWE changed its name to just "The Stomp" and Seth Rollins continues to use it as his finisher to this day.
During an interview with The Wrap, Rollins revealed how exactly did the move come back and how did he convince Mr. McMahon for the same.
“When it came down to it, I just went and asked him [Vince] a few years later. I said, 'Hey look, I want to do this. Give me reasons not to and I will tell you why you’re wrong and hopefully, we can meet in the middle.' He was on my side, I caught him on a good day. Luckily it’s back and hopefully, it’s not going anywhere.”
#2 Seth Rollins' WrestleMania 31 RKO spot with Randy Orton
Seth Rollins has made a name for himself as one of the best in-ring workers in not just WWE but the entire world. Seth Rollins' athletic and high-flying wrestling style has earned him praises from fans and critiques alike and has resulted in some amazing spots throughout the years.
One of the best examples for the same was his WrestleMania 31 RKO spot with Randy Orton where the Viper countered Seth Rollins' Curb Stomp, launched him high in the air before taking him out with an RKO (outta nowhere). The spot was so amazing that everyone watching almost jumped on their seats looking at it, with many considering it to be the best RKO performed by Randy Orton in history.
Interestingly, Seth Rollins revealed that the two were unable to get the move right during their practice and it was Orton who made the decision to go ahead with the spot and take the risk. Speaking on Talk is Jericho, Seth Rollins said - (quotes via Fox Sports)
So we never got it one time practicing that day. We got the pop-up, but we never actually did the full thing. We come back to Mania Sunday and we’re talking, And he was like ‘yeah… you know what? I always play it safe. I always play it safe every time. And that’s great, but… let’s just try it. To hell with it…. I have plenty of WrestleMania matches, they’re fine but I want to have [this]. Let’s just try it, if we can hit it it’ll be awesome, it’ll be the greatest thing. Let’s just do it.’
So we get out there, we’re doing the match, it’s hot as [expletive] out there. It’s the middle of the day, right? It’s 5:00 or 6:00, early that day, and the sun’s out, the mats are hot, you’re blown up, hair’s drying out. I’m just like ‘this sucked.’ And we got to the [moment], when I ran, I put my foot, it was just one of those where I hit it and I knew it. I got up in the air, I got super flat, we made eye contact. He hits the thing and he forgets to cover me. If you watch it back, he hits it and he stands up immediately. He was so excited that it worked.”
#1 Seth Rollins wasn't allowed to wear his white gear
Seth Rollins has had many amazing ring attires throughout his WWE career - be it the all-black Shield vests and pants or the Night-King inspired attire at WrestleMania 34. But one of his ring gear which was a huge hit among the fans was the white ring gear that he wore at SummerSlam 2015 during his match with John Cena.
The gear became so famous that many fans started calling him the White Ranger but unfortunately we never saw him bring it back again. During an autograph signing, a fan asked Seth Rollins whether that white ring gear will ever come back, to which he replied that it was Vince McMahon's decision and that he wouldn't let him wear it.
“Vince won’t let me wear it. [Why?] Because he’s a weird old man, who doesn’t understand that people think it’s the coolest gear they’ve ever seen. Yeah. He doesn’t get it. I get that question more than anything else. It’s just huge, man. People loved it I think it’s in the archive. I gave it to our archivist guy, and he puts it up at all the Axxesses and stuff."
One of Samoa Joe's colleagues had harsh words for him HERE
