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Seth Rollins Reveals Which WWE Hall Of Famer Gave Him His Name

Originally posted on Wrestling on SI | By Jon Alba | Last updated May 9, 2025 3:17 PM ET

Seth Rollins is well on his way to the WWE Hall of Fame, and it turns out, another WWE Hall of Famer is the one who saw his potential more than a decade ago.

Rollins, a noted tortured Chicago Bears fan, appeared on their podcast this past week to discuss his WWE career, and opened up about the origins of his name. As it turns out, "Seth Rollins" indeed came from a dream.

The American Dream, that is.

"I had a little bit of say. My name, Seth Rollins, was given to me, bestowed upon me. I made a list. I made like two lists, first names and last names, when I first got hired by WWE, right? They want to own your brand. They want to be partners in owning your brand." Rollins said.

"So, look, when I was on the independents wrestling before WWE, I was Tyler Black. I decided that all by myself. When I got to WWE, they wanted to own me. Like I said, I own the brand, so I made two lists."

That's when the WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes stepped in, as he had been the head of NXT at the time. He immediately saw a big future for Rollins, and christened him with the name.

"The late, great American Dream, Dusty Rhodes, was the one who gave me my name," he said. "'Seth Rollins, baby.' He had a lisp. If you don't know Dusty, he had a lisp. He's a southern boy with a lisp. 'I see it on the marquee now. I see it. It's Seth Rollins, baby. Main event of WrestleMania. I love it. I love it, baby.'"

Rhodes died in 2015 shortly after Rollins won his first WWE Championship, cashing in Money in the Bank in the main event of WrestleMania 31 in one of the most shocking moments in WrestleMania and WWE history.

H/T Fightful for partial transcript assistance.

This article first appeared on Wrestling on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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