Seth Rollins Breaks Down Why Vince McMahon Banned The Curb Stomp

Seth Rollins has always delivered intensity in the ring—but there was a stretch of his WWE run where his signature Curb Stomp mysteriously vanished from his arsenal. Now, Rollins is finally pulling back the curtain on what really happened—and how Vince McMahon personally shut it down.

In a conversation with Complex News, Rollins explained how he found out after winning the WWE World Title at WrestleMania that his finishing move had been pulled without warning:

“Ah, it sucked. 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 then all of a sudden, ‘I mean, so I don’t think we’re gonna use that anymore.’”

Rollins said the conversation with McMahon was straight out of left field. Rollins believes someone “got in Vince’s ear,” convincing him the move could be too easily replicated by children. But Rollins wasn’t buying that logic.

“‘You know, it’s too dangerous. I know you’re not dangerous. Very safe… Kids can do it too easily at home.’”

“It’s wrestling. If any kid imitates any wrestling move, they’re gonna hurt – your armbar… They just snap a shoulder off… A Rock Bottom, any of it. It’s silly.”

Even more frustrating? The move had just won him the biggest match of his life—beating Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns for the WWE World Title at WrestleMania. The next day, he was doing press in New York when Vince dropped the news in-person:

“Fly back to Santa Clara to do Raw and I go and Vince is like, ‘Come in. I gotta talk to you about something.’ He’s like, ‘Ah, we’re not gonna do that anymore.’”

When WWE suggested he replace the move with a Frog Splash, Rollins had one response:

“Absolutely not. I’m not doing that every single night. I like my knees and I like my elbows.”

Rollins eventually turned to his mentor Triple H and pitched using the Pedigree, a move no one else had been allowed to use as a finisher at the time. But even that came with resistance:

“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.”

Despite that, Rollins admitted the Pedigree worked when he needed it most:

“It got the desired reaction and it already had the 20 years of equity to it, which is the hardest thing to do with a finisher.”

Rollins is currently out of action after undergoing shoulder surgery in late 2025, but the story adds another layer to his legacy—and to the sometimes surreal nature of life behind WWE’s curtain.

What do you think about Vince banning the Curb Stomp and how Seth handled the situation? Should the Pedigree have stayed exclusive to Triple H? Sound off in the comments and let us know your take.