Thanks to Nick Hausman for the following:
Dean Muhtadi, formerly Mojo Rawley, recently sat down with Inside The Ropes for an exclusive interview and covered a number of topics, including how AEW can use the CM Punk situation to their advantage to make good TV, his experience with WWE in Saudi Arabia, Mercedes Moné’s future plans and more.
CM Punk Has “A Lot Of Supporters In AEW”
The former Mojo Rawley was asked whether he had ever seen anything like the situation currently unfolding in AEW. The star began by explaining that the beauty of professional wrestling compared to other sports is that conflict can be manipulated to create on-screen content.
“The great thing about professional wrestling is when there’s real life trauma, and terrible relationships, man, it makes a really good TV. That’s something you can capitalize on in a big way.
I’m not inside that locker room, I never have been, I only have some friends that I worked with personally. So you never know how everybody feels first hand how much of it is maybe exacerbated for potential future storylines. That is something that you kind of subconsciously, always have, in the back of your mind.”
Rawley went on to suggest that this can lead to issues not being squashed immediately so they can be used to make money. The former WWE star added that with regard to Punk, the money, and attention he brings to AEW are impossible to ignore, stating that he also had a lot of supporters in the company.
“If there’s like a beef that you kind of want to let go and maybe squash publicly to move on with your life. Maybe ya don’t, because you can save it for a main event paycheck and a main event spot, you know, maybe you just pump the brakes on that and let it be, you really never know how it is. I mean, obviously, the money that that guy can generate and the amount of merch he sells, you can’t really fully ignore that ever, even if everyone hated him, which I know is not the case, because he does have a lot of supporters over there.
You know, again, it just makes for good TV. It’s really hard for someone that’s been in the wrestling business for a while to question if it’s a shoot, if it’s a work and now being out of the business for a little bit, at least from an in-ring perspective, it’s a little hard to tell from the outside. So just makes it a little more exciting. But again, man, it makes for greater ratings. So I’m very curious to see how that situation goes. I’ll be watching as a fan, no question.”
Full story: https://itrwrestling.com/news/cm-punk-has-a-lot-of-supporters-in-aew-mojo-rawley/
“The Saudi Shows Are On A Par With WrestleMania”
Rawley discussed WWE’s role in Saudi Arabia and what the shows mean to both the nation and the company.
It should be noted that the interview was recorded before Zayn was announced as competing at Night of Champions. When asked about Zayn’s potential involvement in Saudi Arabian events, Muhtadi said that anything was possible, as has since been proven to be the case.
The former WWE star went on to explain that things in Saudi Arabia have progressed a great deal, before discussing his own personal links to the region.
“Things are changing in Saudi on literally, a weekly basis. I mean, I was talking to some of the ladies that have been wrestling out there recently, they’ve talked about how different it is over there. I know from me, from my first show to my last show over there, how much things have changed.
I mean, I’ll always have a kind of a biased mentality on Saudi, half my dad’s entire side of the family lives in Saudi, they’re all there. So that was always one of my favorite shows of the year, being able to go and see family that I hadn’t seen since I was a kid and hang out with and meet their kids and their grandchildren and see all these relatives, and, you know, go experience their culture, I get to practice my Arabic, which three days in Saudi, my Arabic was really good. By the time I left, I get back here, and I start to forget it immediately! [laughs]”
Muhtadi added that the events are also of massive importance to WWE given the sums of money involved and how lucrative they have proven to be. The former 24/7 Champion said that with this in mind, and his own background, he would like to see more wrestling events taking place in the Middle East.
“I always thought that was such a good situation, and with WWE making, I believe it’s like $50 million every time they go over there. There’s a reason why these pay-per-views are valued so highly, I mean, look at what they make for any other show. I mean, the Saudi shows like on par with a WrestleMania. And they’re treated as such for a reason. So I mean, that was a big time deal for the company from a business standpoint, from a financial perspective, looking at the adjustments the stock made after that, I mean, that’s certainly of note.
I mean, for me as someone with an Arab background, it’s been awesome to have like a regular presence with power shows in the Middle East and you know, for me personally, I’d love to see a lot of other Middle Eastern countries start to have more wrestling shows and maybe that’s something that Paragon we’ll have to take a closer look at this coming year.”
Full story: https://itrwrestling.com/news/the-saudi-shows-are-on-a-par-with-wrestlemania-mojo-rawley/
Mojo Rawley Gives Insight Into Mercedes Mone’s Future Plans
With Mone flourishing in Japan, Muhtadi said that he backed her decision to leave WWE even if her departure was a little controversial, adding that he “loves everything she stands for.”
With regard to what’s next for the former IWGP Women’s Champion, Muhtadi said that she hasn’t got her eyes on just one project, and is working on a whole host of things including some outside of wrestling.
“Well, you know, from what I understand, and I absolutely don’t want to speak about her career, because, that’s her decision to make. But, I think she wants to do a lot of things right now. I mean, her star power, I feel like is at an all time high right now even more so than when she was with WWE. I mean, with Mandalorian she just finished her second season with them. I mean, I know she has a lot of stuff cooking right now she’s gotten a lot of requests for other movies, other television shows.
I think this kind of new trend of doing like, you know, three month, limited campaigns with certain promotions has really been fruitful for a lot of people for the promotion, they get to ride the high of having a fresh talent in for a limited run that ends before they get too saturated, and the fans kind of get used to them. But it also allows the talent, you know, some time to stay in wrestling to have a great storyline and then go back to some other new exciting things that they’ve done.”
Reflecting on Mone’s career to date, the former WWE and NFL star said that she’s already accomplished an incredible amount in the ring, but bigger things could be yet to come. Muuhtadi explained that by doing projects outside of wrestling that increase her star power, Mone will become an even bigger name every time she returns to the ring.
“When you look about putting together a body of work, and you know, how your career is going to go for a lifetime, Mercedes has done just about everything there is to do in wrestling. So far, she’s main event at WrestleMania, for crying out loud. So, you know, just doing some other things, doing these other shows and movies, it just raises her star power, so much so that when she does come back to wrestling, there’s way more eyes on the product, not just from a wrestling crowd.”
Full story: https://itrwrestling.com/news/mojo-rawley-gives-insight-into-mercedes-mones-future-plans/
Additional quotes
On a potential in-ring return:
“Man, I’m getting that itch brother. And I’ve had that itch since my last match with WWE, which as crazy as it is to say, was almost three years ago. Obviously that first year I was knocked flat on my back with COVID. Man, there was no chance I could have wrestled the match no matter how hard I tried or no matter, how good of a stretch I had a day a week, maybe even a month of feeling like I was coming out of that thing before it would just crash back down. But yeah, I’ve had these other really cool opportunities that have been keeping me busy. Financially, it’s been better for me. So, it’s been hard to you know, cut back on those situations that are making me more money [laughs] than I was before even but yeah, I missed it, bro. It’s hard to watch recently, I’ve started to watch a little bit more just because I miss it so much. And I’m able to watch without getting not upset or jealous. But you know, you want to be out there. You’re not meant to be on the side-lines when you’re a competitor. So, it’s challenging to watch others when you’re not at that time. But I am getting that itch.
I think if I can find a situation that makes sense, that allows me to continue what we’re working so hard on every day here with Paragon, certainly, what doesn’t make me stop co-hosting TMZ Sports, if there’s a way that I can kind of marry all three of these things together. Honestly, I think it just makes for a better overall package for whoever I’m working with to combine this incredible entity that TMZ is and the reach they have, which is absolutely completely opposite to the WWE audience to kind of try and marry those together. And then you know, be able to work Paragon in, and as well, I think that situation would make a lot of sense. But it’s going to take a little bit of time to figure out what that situation might look like, and how to structure that properly.”
On Drew McIntyre:
“Drew McIntyre. Man, what an incredible guy, looks like a million bucks, goes out there and just goes to war, and works as hard as he can. I don’t think in all the years I’ve known him I’ve ever heard him really complain about anything. Even when something’s bothering him. He keeps that bottled up. For some guys that works, but going on Twitter, and airing out your grievances, is never something I’ve really ever done. Keep it to yourself that comes back to bite you in too many ways. For some, it works. You know, if you figured out how to navigate that audience, certainly go for it. But Drew man, what a hard-working guy. Yeah, hate to see not only the career he had with WWE, but everything he did outside of it, to come back in, how hard he’s worked that he got his major run when there were no live crowds. Your heart kind of breaks for somebody like that, because, yeah, he won the World Title, but it doesn’t feel the same when there’s not all those people in a WrestleMania there to really feel that difference. And you can absolutely feel the difference for sure.”
If you use any part of the interview, quotes or above stories, please credit Nick Hausman and Inside The Ropes with a link back to the original story.
