Seth Rollins once found himself without a finishing move.
And it all started with Vince McMahon.
Shortly after capturing the WWE Championship, Rollins was forced to stop using the Curb Stomp after McMahon reportedly saw kids recreating the move in a real-life situation and deemed it too dangerous.
The decision left Rollins scrambling for a new way to end matches.
Eventually, he turned to a move synonymous with Triple H.
The Pedigree.
Appearing on Club Shay Shay with Shannon Sharpe (see video below), Rollins opened up about how the idea came together and why he went about it the way he did.
“It took me a couple of months before I decided to just steal Triple H’s pedigree,” Rollins said. “He was done at the time and not wrestling anymore. ‘Alright, I’ll take it.’ I was his protégé. I tried to use a couple of different things, and none of them really took.”
Rollins continued, “I was like, ‘If I ask Triple H if I can use the pedigree, I feel like he’s going to say no.’ He was the only person who has ever used it. ‘Here’s what I’ll do. I’ll ask Vince about it and I know Vince will say yes just to spite Triple H and Triple H can’t say anything about it.’ It was a good idea. It was a good way to carry on the legacy of the move. Vince okayed it. Whether he did it because he liked it or just to take a shot at his son-in-law, I don’t know, but it worked.”
Rollins would go on to use the Pedigree as his primary finisher for a stretch before eventually regaining permission to bring back the Stomp.
These days, the Stomp is once again his go-to match-ender, though the Pedigree still makes occasional appearances during big matches.
