WWE's Seth Rollins Explains How He Decided To Become A Pro Wrestler

In the present day, wrestling fans know Seth Rollins as "The Visionary," a decorated champion and veteran in WWE. Rewind to the 1990s, though, and fans would see a young Rollins simply dreaming of meeting his favorite WWE Superstars.

While sitting down with "The Viall Files," Rollins opened up about his journey from being a wrestling fan to a wrestler himself. "I was a fan growing up," he said. "You mentioned a lot of those guys. I was a fan of those guys growing up. My dad took me to a show when I was like four-years-old and I just became fascinated by the idea that these were like real-life superheroes, [Hulk] Hogan, [Ultimate] Warrior and Legion of Doom. Then there were real-life villains.

"These people that you could reach out and touch as opposed to comic book heroes like Batman or Spider-Man or whatever. That never really resonated with me the way like, oh, he's right there. Hulk Hogan's sweat could fly on me, like he's right there. He really beats up these bad guys, so I became obsessed with it."

In the mid-1980s, Hulk Hogan rose to prominence as the top babyface in WWE, so much so that the Hulkamania movement went mainstream. "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Ultimate Warrior emerged as notable foes to Hogan, with "The Hulkster" famously unseating Savage as the WWE Champion at WrestleMania 5. According to Rollins, Savage remains a heavy influence in his wrestling work, particularly when it comes to his current persona.

As Rollins entered his teenage years, he recalled stars such as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, and Mick Foley finding success during WWE's Attitude Era. Meanwhile, Rollins took on a mix of athletic and performative activities with the aim of one day reaching the same level as them.

"Wrestling is just massive at the time. It's sort of invaded pop culture," he said. "Also, it's the advent of the internet and you can connect with people from all over the world. Also, backyard wrestling became a big thing. Me and my friends started doing it in our backyard. We put on shows, we'd give out flyers, and I was just obsessed.

"I told my folks like 'I'm done playing basketball, man. This is what I'm going to do for the rest of my life.' In high school, I started taking acting classes, taking public speaking classes, got gym memberships so I could get in some sort of shape. Then I was doing these backyard shows for my friends. Once I turned 18, I was like I'm going to get trained, so I went and got trained."

Initially, Rollins set out to hone his pro wrestling skills with CM Punk, another future WWE Champion, in Philadelphia. Due to a lack of money, however, he moved back to the Midwest to train with Danny Daniels out of Chicago instead.

Fast forward to February 2026, Rollins now has over a decade of experience working under the WWE banner alone, and according to a new report, he's viewed as one of the promotion's biggest stars.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "The Viall Files" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.