Seth Rollins Turned Down Triple the Money from TNA to Join WWE

Seth Rollins almost took a very different path in 2009 — and it would’ve sent him to TNA instead of WWE.

While speaking on Club Shay Shay, the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion opened up about how close he came to signing with TNA and revealed he walked away from significantly more money just to get a shot in WWE. Rollins explained that during his Ring of Honor days, he was actively trying to get on WWE’s radar — but wasn’t getting much traction at first.

“This was around 2009 or 2010. I courted WWE a bit in the beginning. I met Joey Mercury… The first time we met, he asked me, ‘Have you ever talked to anybody in New York?’ I said no, I wouldn’t even know how. He told me he’d get in touch with people there for me.”

At the time, WWE wasn’t aggressively recruiting smaller independent wrestlers, and Rollins admitted he wasn’t exactly the prototype they were looking for.

“WWE wasn’t really looking for guys like me then—they wanted big guys, 6'5", 250 pounds. Joey put in a word for me, and I was trying to shop myself around to other companies too.”

While WWE remained silent, TNA stepped up with a contract offer. Rollins had a real decision to make. With his Ring of Honor contract expiring, Rollins made one final push — and essentially gave WWE an ultimatum.

“I wasn’t getting any calls back from WWE… Meanwhile, I had another deal on the table with TNA. I didn’t want to sign it because WWE was where I wanted to be. So I made one final call to Talent Relations and said, ‘Look, I’m going to sign this deal with TNA if I don’t hear back from you.’ It was a Sunday, and I said I’d sign it in the morning.”

What happened next changed everything. Rollins then revealed just how much he sacrificed to bet on himself in WWE, turning down triple the money just to join WWE.

“Fifteen minutes later, he called me back and said, ‘Hey kid, let me talk to my people.’ … Then he called back and said they were going to give me an opportunity. I didn’t care how much the money was. I just wanted the chance. I turned down at least triple the money to go somewhere else. I knew this was where I could make my way.”

That gamble paid off in a massive way. Rollins went on to become a multi-time world champion, WrestleMania main-eventer, and one of the cornerstones of WWE’s modern era. Looking back, it’s wild to think how different wrestling history might have been if he’d signed that TNA deal instead.

What do you think — did Seth Rollins make the right call chasing WWE over guaranteed money, or would a TNA run have changed the industry completely? Drop your thoughts below and let us know.

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