Before he signed with WWE, Seth Rollins was nearly TNA-bound.
Appearing on the Edge & Christian Pod Of Awesomeness, Rollins detailed TNA's offer to him and how he was moments away from signing before WWE called.
"Terry (Taylor) calls me and offered me a three-year deal to come to TNA for substantially more money and far less dates than what I was having to do in ROH and a much easier style. I was like, 'Oh, this sounds fantastic.' Dixie Carter is calling me and is like, 'You know Tyler, we want to have you, we're looking to revamp the whole division and the whole company and we want to make you the face of TNA.' I'm like, 'This might be okay. I have friends there and they are on TV.' I get this contract from TNA and I basically agree to it verbally on the phone with Terry Taylor," explained Rollins. "They fax over the contract. Before I sign it, I call ROH and let them know what I'm interested in doing with TNA. ROH is being booked by Jim Cornette. He lost his mind when I told him I was going to sign with TNA. He was so irate. 'Nobody gets over in TNA, they get under.' He hated it. I sent him the contract to look over."
Rollins went on to explain how, while discussing a deal with Terry Taylor and TNA, he had continuously been calling John Laurinaitis at WWE, hoping to sign with them. Unfortunately for Rollins, Laurinaitis never returned his calls. Until he left a voicemail that changed the course of his career forever.
"I called Johnny Ace one last time, he doesn't answer. I leave him a voicemail saying, 'I got this contract from TNA. If I don't hear from you, I'm going there.' Ten minutes later, he calls me back. He makes up all these excuses and is like, 'I'll call you tomorrow around lunchtime.' Cornette gets the contract back to me and changed some things in it," said Rollins. "I send the new contract to TNA so they can re-write it and I'm waiting on this call from John Lauranitis. He finally calls me back, meanwhile, Terry is trying to force me to sign this contract. Lauranitis says, 'We don't give out jobs, we give out opportunities. We have this opportunity in Florida, it's a developmental deal. Nothing is guaranteed.' Immediately, I'm like, 'I'm in.'"
And the rest, as they say, is history.
Rollins went on to become the first-ever NXT Champion before jumping to the main roster and enjoying one of the best runs of any modern superstar. He is currently scheduled to face Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Title at WrestleMania 35.
