The story of Mojo Rawley’s wrestling journey just isn’t altogether unfamiliar — that of a soccer hopeful compelled to contemplate a special path after a career-threatening damage.
Talking on “Conversations with Brisco & Bradshaw,” the previous “Hype Bro” admitted that soccer was all the time his past love, however he all the time loved watching wrestling.
“When I began taking part in soccer, any [wrestler] that kinda did each was proper up my alley,” Rawley stated. “After I was tremendous younger, Final Warrior was my man. Simply the vitality and the colours. Goldberg was one other huge one with the spear. I simply appreciated these actually intense guys, bodily, brawling brutes.”
After spending 18 months recovering from a grotesque calf damage sustained through the Arizona Cardinals coaching camp, Rawley stated he had to decide on between searching for one other NFL contract — which was removed from assured — or attempting his hand at wrestling. He revealed that it was the patriarch of the Gronkowski household who helped open the door for him.
“I used to be speaking to the Jets and Raiders, truly, and I used to be considering I used to be gonna go to one in every of them, when I had this chance to satisfy with WWE,” Rawley stated. “It seems, [Gordon Gronkowski] was school roommates with Mike Rotunda [aka IRS] at Syracuse. So ‘Large G’ referred to as over to Mike [and] that they had a dialog.”
This connection led to an invite for Rawley to attend his first stay WWE stay occasion. Taking within the motion from the entrance row, Rawley was blown away by the spectacle and knew it was one thing he needed to attempt. Additional talks with WWE earned him an invite to coach at Florida Championship Wrestling in 2012. He made his “WWE NXT” debut on Could 29, 2013, receiving his important roster call-up in 2016.
