Seth Rollins On Why Vince McMahon Banned The Curbstomp And Changed His Entrance Theme
Recently on Sam Roberts' Wrestling Podcast, professional broadcaster and pro wrestling enthusiast Sam Roberts recently spoke with one-half of the WWE RAW Tag Team Champions, Seth 'Freakin” Rollins. Among other things, Rollins discussed his new entrance music, why he had to stop using The Curbstomp as a finish, and who he would select as a tag team partner if The Shield needed a female member.
On the subject of his new entrance music, Rollins shared that WWE Chairman Vince McMahon did not like the long pause in the song and finally decided to do something about it. 'The Kingslayer' explained that he had a handful of variant versions of his existing theme from which to choose and went with the "best option available".
"I heard it before the show two or three weeks ago the first time it debuted, yeah. It was a weird thing where I got to RAW that day, [Rollins is told] 'we need to do something with your music.' 'What do you mean? I've been using the same song for like three years. Well, what's the problem?' 'Vince doesn't like that pause.' He has been hearing the same music for three years! What are we talking about? So they played five different entrances and three of them were just soundbytes, like, [imitates artificial sound effects and guitar riff from entrance song]. And one of them said, 'Kingslayer' and it was very seductive almost, like, [whispers 'Kingslayer'], so, like, the 'burn it down' was the best option available, so I was like, 'okay, do it.' But it actually worked out well and last week, they put the fire in my entrance video, so I was like, 'alright, whatever.'"
According to Rollins, he was "very sad" when he was told he could no longer do The Curbstomp and divulged that the move will "never come back". 'CrossFit Jesus' says McMahon did not think the finish was a good way for Rollins to represent the company.
"No more blonde and The Curbstomp is gone, guys. It's not my fault. Trust me. It's not like I was [saying], 'oh yes, I want a new finisher.' No, they snatched it from me. They took it from me. No, so this is what happened, okay? After WrestleMania, I had won the [WWE] title, and I flew across the country to do the Today Show. For the Today Show, they put together a package of all of Seth Rollins' awesome maneuvers. At the time, my finish was The Curbstomp.
"So Vince McMahon is sitting wherever Vince McMahon sits on a Monday morning and he's seeing me on the Today Show and I look good in a suit. I'm representing the company. I look good in a suit. And I'm wearing the title and then he sees this package of me stomping another man's head into the ground and it being called The Curbstomp on national television. And he thought to himself, 'well, that's not a good representation of what I want my top guy to do,' so he just had a meeting with some of his people, and they decided, 'well, we don't need it – we can figure out another finish for you' and the rest is history. I get it. I hate it. I think it's silly, but it is what it is and it's not my company. I'm doing the best I can with it."
Rollins added, "I get it from a marketing standpoint. I totally understand it. I hate it because it was such a great finish. It was easy and could do it to everybody, but, hey, so it my cool knee now, so let's start liking that."
When asked what female talent he would pick to replace Roman Reigns in The Shield, Rollins went with former WWE RAW Women's Champion Sasha Banks.
"Why am I replacing Roman? Alright. Well, she's in the back. 'The Boss,' back there, would make a hell of a tag team partner. I think we'd be alright. So yeah, I'll go with her for now because she's here."
Shill, Roberts, shill. If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit Sam Roberts' Wrestling Podcast with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: Sam Roberts' Wrestling Podcast