Published: Feb 18, 2026 by Liam | Last Updated: Feb 18, 2026 by Liam
Liam has been reporting & analyzing wrestling news since early 2018. Immersed in wrestling for 18 years, he has over 11,000 published articles and led WrestleTalk.com's coverage from 2022 until mid 2026.
WWE
Seth Rollins has commented on former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon banning his curb stomp finishing move after WrestleMania 31.
Mania 31 saw Seth Rollins cash-in Money in the Bank during the main event between Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar to win the WWE Championship.
However, after that match, his finishing move the Curb Stomp – which has since returned – was banned by Vince McMahon, with Rollins later transitioning to using the Pedigree instead.
On Club Shay Shay, Rollins discussed what happened and why he thinks the move was banned. He said:
“He banned it. Literally the day after I won my first world title at WrestleMania. We’re here in San Francisco, at Levi’s Stadium. I win it, I win the title, fly to New York, I do The Today Show, get back on the jet, fly back over here to San Jose for Raw – this is all on the same day.
“I get back to San Jose at the Shark Tank, and Vince wants to see me. So I go to the office and he’s sitting there and he does this thing where he’s like, ‘So, the Stomp, I think we’re gonna move in a different direction, we’re gonna find something else, equally as good and equally as devastating. But I think we’re gonna go in a different direction.’
“Yeah, he banned it. I’d been doing it for years. This is what I think happened – and I don’t have confirmation – he watched The Today Show piece, he sees the Stomp, he sees people referring to the Curb Stomp, somebody in his inner circle said, ‘Hmm, Vince I don’t know about that move, I think it might be a little too dangerous, there might be a connotation to it.’
“I’m like, ‘Brother, we’ve been doing it for years. It’s pro-wrestling. You can call it something else if you want, I didn’t come up with the name, you came up with the name. Call it the Stomp, call it whatever.’
“So yeah, he took it away with no explanation at the time, just, ‘We’re not gonna do it.’ And left me with no finish as world champion, with no finishing move for… it took me a couple of months before I decided to steal Triple H’s Pedigree.
“Because he was done at the time and not wrestling anymore, so I was like, ‘Alright, I’ll take it.’ I was his protege anyway so it made sense.
“I tried to use a couple of different things and none of them really took. I was afraid – not afraid – but I was like, ‘If I ask Triple H if I can use the Pedigree, I feel like he’s gonna say no.’ He was the only person who’d ever used it.
“So I was like, ‘Here’s what I’ll do – I’ll ask Vince about it, and then I know Vince will say yes, just to spite Triple H, and Triple H can’t say nothing about it.’ It was a good idea anyway. I was a bad guy, Hunter was my mentor, I was his protege, he wasn’t wrestling, it was a good way to carry on a legacy of the move.
“So yeah Vince okay’d 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.”
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There is currently a storyline on WWE TV where a mystery masked man is using Rollins’ Curb Stomp to attack members of The Vision.
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