Seth Rollins: “I Don’t Know If ‘Freakin’ Is Staying Or Going”
The official name of WWE’s Seth Rollins gained a word earlier in 2022, but the former WWE Champion doesn’t know if “Freakin” is staying or going.
Seth “Freakin” Rollins is the official ring name of WWE’s self-proclaimed “Visionary” who is known for wearing elaborate outfits any time he’s on camera while also being regarded as one of the most talented performers in the company.
Many legendary wrestlers have had a nickname that was like a middle name to them like Bret “Hitman” Hart, Jerry “The King” Lawler, Jake “The Snake” Roberts and many others. It was in late 2021 when WWE decided to officially add “Freakin” to Seth’s name.
Rollins was known simply as his two-word name from the time he debuted on WWE’s main roster at Survivor Series 2012 until the company decided to change the name in late 2021. After nearly a year of using the “Freakin” middle name, it’s possible that WWE may change the name because Triple H’s vision as the Chief Content Officer is different from what Vince McMahon did prior to his July 22nd retirement.
Some recent name changes in WWE post-Vince have seen Austin Theory and Tommaso Ciampa get their first names back while Matt Riddle got use of his first name again. In Seth’s case, the name change would see the removal of his nickname.
During a lengthy interview with Ariel Helwani of BT Sport with Rollis admitting that he doesn’t know if “Freakin” will stay with him. Rollins also shared a story of what he told Vince McMahon about using the full name too much in the past.
“I’m not sure. As of this interview, I’m not exactly sure. So even before Triple H took over, this was weeks before, I think, maybe months even. I had gone to Vince specifically because I had watched something back on Raw and maybe it was like a highlight on Twitter, and they said ‘Seth Freaking Rollins’, it had been a dozen times in 30 seconds because Vince was also very big on not using pronouns.”
“So, constantly, he wanted the whole brand [said] every single time I was referenced and I’m like, ‘You gotta stop that. You’re gonna turn people off. That’s not what we want, you know?’ So he was like, ‘Okay. On the commentary, they can refer to you as Seth Rollins.’ I was like, ‘Alright, thank you.'”
“So I don’t know. I don’t know if ‘Freakin” is staying or going. I’ve had many, many names and it’s all fine with me. It’s different. No one’s really working with a strong middle name right now. There aren’t any Bret ‘The Hitman’ Harts, you know?”
On October 8th at Extreme Rules, Rollins will face Riddle in a Fight Pit Match. That match was exclusive to NXT in the past, so Rollins and Riddle will be the first wrestlers taking part in a Fight Pit Match on WWE’s main roster.