10 Backstage Tales About Seth Rollins Fans Should Know

WWE has witnessed Seth Rollins become one of the faces of the company, and this will likely continue for the better part of the next decade. Rollins took advantage of any opportunity given to him to cement himself as a top superstar. Any talent to have as important of a career as Rollins will find their name in headlines.

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Rollins found himself in quite a few juicy stories from the backstage side of wrestling. Fans eventually learn the behind-the-scenes drama in wrestling promotions can be just as fascinating as anything we watch on-screen. The following backstage stories will provide a different look at Rollins outside of the ring.

10 Shield Members Showed Up Earlier For Debut That Never Came

WWE Originally Expected To Debut Them In Hell In A Cell PPV Main Event

• Shield Almost Debuted In HIAC Match
• WWE Pushed It Back By One Month
• Still Worked Perfectly To Get Them Over

Survivor Series 2012 was the night that Seth Rollins made his debut with Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose in The Shield. However, WWE considered having the same debut come one PPV earlier at Hell in a Cell 2012.

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All three Shield members traveled to the PPV with the hope of having their debut attacking Ryback to help CM Punk retain the WWE Championship over him. WWE instead went with the finish of a shady referee screwing Ryback and introduced The Shield later.

9 Had A Worked Backstage Moment Upset About CM Punk's Return

Punk’s Recent Shocking Return Placed Rollins In Interesting Position

• Rollins Trashed Punk In Interviews For Years
• WWE Used Punk's Polarizing Reputation For His Return
• Rollins Tried To Make People Think He Was Going To Fight Punk Backstage

Survivor Series 2023 will be talked about for years as an all-time shocking moment when CM Punk returned after a decade of bad blood. Seth Rollins was one of the biggest critics of Punk after he left WWE accusing him of abusing the business for himself at the expense of others.

WWE decided to play off their real-life issues by having Rollins work an angle backstage. Seth was visibly upset in the gorilla position trying to sell it to other employees. Fans watching the show noticed Rollins livid when Punk’s music hit, so he just continued it backstage without Punk present.

8 Made Peace With Riddle After Bad Blood

Rollins’ Most Heated Rival In Recent Memory Ended Peacefully

• Riddle's Wife Insulting Becky Started Tension
• Seth Also Felt Riddle Was Disrespectful To Legends
• Made Peace During Their Feud

Seth Rollins genuinely had personal issues with Matt Riddle after Riddle’s then-wife made insulting comments about Becky Lynch. Riddle fanning the flames with his own controversial comments about various wrestlers rubbed Rollins the wrong way as well.

WWE placed them in a feud a while after all the drama, and they utilized it with worked shoot promos. Rollins has admitted that he and Riddle made peace during their program with apologies from Matt being enough for Seth to be professional.

7 Led "Awkward" Locker Room Speech After WWE Controversy

Saudi Arabia Show Led To Rollins Trying To Speak Up As Locker Room Leader

• WWE Locker Room Hit Rock Bottom After Controversial Saudi Arabia Show
• Rollins Tried To Lead Locker Room With Meeting
• It Was Described As Too Awkward To Work Effectively

Morale in WWE is reportedly better than ever before with everyone getting along and working well together. However, that wasn’t always the case, as WWE has been known for having backstage drama for decades.

One of the Saudi Arabia shows hurt the morale of the locker room after confusion over their travel and fears of the situation. Rollins tried to rally everyone in the locker room the next week, but whoever leaked the story claimed it felt awkward and forced.

6 Jim Cornette Helped Him Join WWE Over TNA

Seth Almost Signed With TNA Over WWE Developmental Deal

• Rollins Had Great Relationship With Cornette In ROH
• Cornette Helped Seth Gain WWE Connections For Contract Over TNA
• Seth Lost All Love For Cornette When He Made Sexist Comments About Becky

Jim Cornette is among the most controversial names in wrestling, and even Seth Rollins has spoke against him in defense of his wife Becky Lynch. However, Rollins will admit he owes a lot to Cornette over a few things helping his career in Ring of Honor.

Once Cornette realized that he couldn’t get Rollins to stay in ROH for low money, he told him to not sign with TNA and to give him time to reach out to WWE connections. Rollins received a WWE contract offer for FCW, and the rest is history.

5 Vince Forced Him To Re-Film Match With Kofi Kingston

Rollins Changing Script Led To Most Embarrassing Moment Of Career

• Rollins Wanted To Give More Respect To Kofi
• Vince Demanded They Film The Match Again
• Rollins Almost Quit WWE Over This

Seth Rollins was upset when Vince McMahon booked a match for him to squash Kofi Kingston. The respect Rollins had for Kingston as a future Hall of Famer saw him giving Kofi some extra moves before Seth won the match.

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Unfortunately, this was the era of taped Smackdowns, so Vince demanded that they go back out there and re-do the match in the way he wanted. Rollins revealed it was the most embarrassing moment of his career and that he even considered quitting out of anger.

4 Worked A While To Get Curb Stomp Finisher Back

Talking To Vince On A “Good Day” Got Beloved Finisher Back

• Vince Felt Curb Stomp Was Too Dangerous
• Rollins Tried Changing His Mind Many Times
• Vince Having A "Good Day" Was Enough To Approve Change

Many fans were upset when WWE stopped Seth Rollins from using the curb stomp finisher after it helped him get over. Vince McMahon changed the finisher due to feeling that kids imitating Rollins move could be dangerous, even though that could be said about most wrestling moves.

Rollins admitted he tried to change Vince’s mind multiple times, but he finally won him over one night to get it back. There was no rhyme or reason for McMahon agreeing to Seth’s request outside of talking to Vince on one of his “good days.”

3 Set Up Birthday Celebration For Cody Rhodes

Hatred Between Them Was Played Up For Television

• Cody & Seth Tried To Sell Real Life Heat
• Seth Set Up Cody's Locker Room Birthday Celebration
• Became Tied Together With Memorable Feud

Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes tried to make it seem like they had genuine disdain between each other during their feud. Rhodes moving from AEW and getting an instant top spot led to Rollins claiming this didn’t sit right with him personally.

Cody even tried to convince us that they were near real fist fights backstage. However, now that the feud is over, Rhodes revealed that Seth was the one to set up a birthday celebration for him in the locker room going as far as to get a cake.

2 Was Not Allowed To Wear Popular White Gear Again

Vince McMahon Didn’t Understand Why Fans Loved This Gear

• Fans Loved Rollins' Special Gear
• Vince Didn't Want Rollins Bringing It Back
• Seth Called Vince A "Weird Old Man"

Many fans viewed Seth Rollins’ all white gear at SummerSlam 2015 as his best when straying away from the darker gear he always wore. Rollins changing it up with a really cool look led to WWE having enough demand to make specific action figures based off the look.

All this didn’t matter to Vince McMahon when he told Rollins he couldn’t wear it again after that night. Seth talked about how he tried to change McMahon’s mind, but it fell on deaf ears despite the audience loving it. Vince was even called a "weird old man" by Rollins over how he thinks about things like that.

1 Pitched WrestleMania 31 Cash In During Roman Fan Backlash

His Idea Helped Change His Career Forever On Biggest Stage

• Rollins Pitched Using MITB As Fail
• Fans Were Not Happy With Brock Vs Roman Feud
• Became Career Defining Moment For Seth

WWE wanted a predictable WrestleMania 31 main event of Roman Reigns dethroning Brock Lesnar to become the new face of the company. Unfortunately, Reigns got booed out of the building when he won the Royal Rumble match, and the hate grew during the build to challenging Brock.

Seth Rollins had the Money in the Bank contract and pitched an idea to management that he could cash in if the audience wasn’t accepting a Lesnar vs Reigns match. WWE eventually went with this idea for an all-time great moment when it became clear Roman wasn’t getting much crowd support at the time.