Seth Rollins has reflected on the surprising moment when WWE abruptly banned his signature finishing move, the Stomp.
Back in 2014–2015, Rollins was on a historic run. He won the Money in the Bank briefcase and famously cashed it in during the main event of WrestleMania 31, turning a Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns match into a Triple Threat. Rollins pinned Reigns with the Stomp to win the WWE World Championship for the first time.
However, the celebration didn’t last long. Speaking to Complex, Rollins revealed that WWE specifically Vince McMahon decided to ban the move almost immediately, catching him completely off guard.
“It sucked because I was given no heads up, and it was right after I won the World Title for the first time with that move that I’d been using for years as a finish, and it had built up a ton of equity.”
He explained that the concern wasn’t about his safety, but about kids copying the move at home.
“Then all of a sudden ‘so I don’t think we’re gonna use that anymore’. What the- ‘It’s too dangerous, and I know you’re not dangerous, you’re very safe, but kids can do it too easily at home.'”
“I don’t know what happened, somebody got in his ear and said it was somehow a problem. I’m like dude, it’s wrestling, if any kid imitates any wrestling move they’re gonna hurt; (Becky’s) Armbar, if someone puts an Armbar on they’re gonna snap a shoulder off. The Rock Bottom, all of it, a punch to the nose, if you don’t know how to do it, of course it’s gonna hurt somebody.”
Seth Rollins said the Stomp ban forced him to find a new finisher
Seth Rollins recalled the timing made it even stranger. Rollins described winning the title on Sunday, flying to New York for media appearances, then returning for WWE RAW only to be told the Stomp was gone.
“I thought it was so silly but whatever, it’s not my sandbox, but it was on a whim. Like literally I did the move Sunday, won the title, beat Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar, then fly to New York from San Francisco, do the Today Show, pet a couple dogs, say hi to Katie and Matt, fly back to Santa Clara to do Raw, and I go and Vince is like ‘I gotta talk to you about something, we’re not gonna do that anymore.'”
WWE briefly suggested other finishers, including a Frog Splash, but Rollins shut that idea down. “I went ‘what do you want me to do’. They wanted me to do like a Frog Splash, and I’m like absolutely not, I’m not doing that every single night. I like my knees, I like my elbows, it’s not happening.”
Seth Rollins explains how the Pedigree became his finisher after the stomp ban
Seth Rollins said he eventually landed on the Pedigree after discussions with Triple H, who was mentoring him at the time. “So then it was the process of trying to figure out a new finisher, and thankfully I was in the mentorship of Triple H at the time and no-one else had ever used the Pedigree as a finishing move, and he was not an active performer at the time.
“He was hesitant about it too, he didn’t like it, I think he really hates it now because people kick out of it sometimes, I fully diluted it, but it worked for the time being, it got the desired reaction, it already had the 20 years of equity to it, which is the hardest thing to do with a finisher. Anything can be a finisher, you just have to beat people with it for a while.” [H/T: Wrestletalk]
WWE eventually lifted the ban in 2018, allowing Rollins to bring back the Curb Stomp. Since then, he has used it regularly and won multiple championships with the move once again serving as his primary finisher.
Read More: Seth Rollins Gives An Update On His WWE Status
