Seth Rollins On What Led Vince McMahon To Ban Curb Stomp, Approval From Triple H For Pedigree, RKO
On episode 253 of Talk Is Jericho, 'The Ayatollah Of Rock and Rolla' Chris Jericho welcomed former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins to the show. Among other things, Rollins talked about why he stopped using The Curb Stomp as a finish, how he got permission to use Triple H's Pedigree instead, and the incredible RKO that concluded Rollin's WrestleMania 31 match with Randy Orton.
With respect to The Curb Stomp, Rollins claimed that Vince McMahon banned the move, as WWE's Chairman could imagine a young Shane McMahon attempting to perform the maneuver on Stephanie McMahon as a child.
"It was right after I won the [WWE World Heavyweight] title at WrestleMania [31] and I think it was the first time Vince had thought about it and he just decided that because they're sending footage down to the Today Show to show because I'm there. I took the flight that night and they're showing me and they have the footage to back up when we're talking and stuff like that and a lot of it is me doing the Stomp. Aside from it having a fairly violent name and connotation, right, but just the visional of it, he was watching it and he thought to himself that it is easily [imitable] by young children, which a lot of our stuff is, but, for whatever reason, he had it stuck in his head, as his champion, as a top guy, he just didn't want that to be the lasting image. He didn't want to put any [bullets] in the [guns], so to speak. He didn't want to have any reason for people to be like, 'oh, what the hell?', so he just removed it from the equation."
Apparently, Rollins had to go around Triple H to get approval on switching to The Pedigree as a finishing move.
"The Pedigree was something that I feel very fortunate to have it as a finisher. A) because it has a built in response. Everybody knows that's the end of the match for the most part because Hunter had done it for years and years and years. And there [are] only two guys in the history of the company who've done it: myself and Triple H. So that's good company and it fit with what we were doing storyline-wise. So funny story, I texted Hunter about it when I had the idea and I was like, 'hey, what would you think about me using The Pedigree?' and he made some sort of like Hunter joke that I took as him, like, skirting around it, not wanting to say anything. And I was like, 'hmmm, I've got an idea.' So I went directly to Vince when we were looking for new finishers. I said, 'Vince, what would you think about me using The Pedigree?' and he did his Vince thing where he just sits and thinks about it for a minute and stares off and then he looked at me and he was like, 'I love it. It's great. It's perfect. Fits right in with the story. That's it.' And I was like, 'alright, I win! Excellent!' So I kind of went around Hunter to get to him, but I don't think he cares. At the end of the day, he's going to retire and I did it as a tribute, as a way for his legacy to kind of live on in another generation."
As for the finish to his WrestleMania 31 bout against Randy Orton, Rollins called the popup RKO spot "once in a lifetime", as he will never do it again. According to Rollins, he came up with the idea a week or so before WrestleMania 31. After kicking around the idea with Cesaro and determining that the spot was possible, Rollins pitched the idea to Orton, who was immediately hesitant about it.
"Randy and I kept missing it and missing it. And neither of us were interested in [taking] the bump itself on a Thursday afternoon or whatever, because it kind of sucked, in a practice ring in front of nobody, so we never got it one time practicing that day. We got the popup, but we never actually did the full thing. We come back to 'Mania [on] Sunday and we're talking and we had come up with a Plan B, like he was going to get me out of a springboard or something like that, which we've done and everyone [has] seen it. And Randy's one of these guys who likes to play it safe sometimes. He likes to bat 1000, he said, and I have no problem with that. I have no problem with that. I was like, 'screw it, dude. I get it. You want to bat 1000.' And he was like, 'yeah, you know what? I always play it safe.' He was like, 'I always play it safe. Every time! And that's great, but lets just try it. To hell with it.' And I'm like, 'are you sure?' And he's like, 'yeah! You know what? I play it safe. I have plenty of WrestleMania matches that are fine, but lets just try it. If we can hit it, it'll be awesome. It'll be the greatest thing. Lets just do it.' So we get out there, we're doing the match." Rollins continued, "I ran and I hit. It was just one of those things. 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, he stands up immediately, starts Randy firing up however he does, which was a complete shoot, and I think [John] Cone was our referee or maybe [Mike] Chioda and he's like, 'cover him, cover him!'. He was so excited that it worked."
In addition to these topics, Rollins discussed how Bret 'Hitman' Hart hurt his feelings, crying during Daniel Bryan's retirement speech, and more on this episode of Talk Is Jericho. Click here to listen to the show. If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Talk Is Jericho with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: Talk Is Jericho