Seth Rollins Created Pre-WWE Ring Name By Combining Two Popular Fictional Characters

Before sold-out arenas and stadiums belted out his catchy theme song, Seth "Freakin'" Rollins went by another moniker. Up until he signed his developmental deal with WWE, Rollins was known to wrestling fans as Tyler Black. 

Rollins went live on the radio waves on "WFAN," and discussed the origins of his former ring name, noting he took inspiration from a couple of his favorite films. 

"I combined two of my favorite characters from filmdom, well I guess literature as well – Tyler Durden from Fight Club and Sirius Black from Harry Potter. Yeah, so bang bang, two different worlds, but you know, I'm all over the place," Rollins said. "It's all me, it's always sort of existed in there. I mean, I think back to my teenage years and my childhood, there was always kind of a flamboyance, there was always this kind of arrogance, there was always this kind of attitude that I had." 

The conversation then caused Rollins to reminisce on his pre-WWE days, stating that his performative abilities have evolved so much that he can't even recognize who he was before WWE. While he accomplished a ton in promotions like Ring of Honor, Rollins says it's apples and oranges when comparing his current gimmick to the Tyler Black persona. 

"You go back to my pre-WWE days and you look at any promos I cut as Tyler Black, I mean you're like, that's not the same guy, that can't be the same guy."

Rollins now finds himself in a simmering program with his old faction-mate Roman Reigns, and his long-time bitter rival CM Punk in what could lead to a possible Night 1 WrestleMania 41 main event. 

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "WFAN" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for transcription.