Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Mojo Rawley on betting on yourself and staying hyped after his WWE release

Episode Date: July 6, 2021

Mojo Rawley (Dean Mutadi) is a professional wrestler, entrepreneur, actor, and former NFL player. He joins Chris Van Vliet from Orlando, FL to do his first interview since being released from his WWE contract. He also talks about his NFL career and how a calf injury caused it to end early, going from football to WWE, his friendship with Rob Gronkowski and his brothers, why he didn't like wearing face paint during his heel turn, winning the Andre The Giant Battle Royal at WrestleMania, his role in the new GI JOE movie "Snake Eyes" and much more! Submit your Blue Wire Hustle application here: http://bwhustle.com/join If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests. For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://chrisvanvliet.com Follow CVV on social media: Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All right, here we go, and welcome back to another audio adventure here on Insight. I'm your friend Chris Van Vle. Thank you so much for coming back each and every episode. And I hope you're hyped for this one. I know I'm hyped for it. Mo Joe Raleigh, aka Dean Mutati, is just oozing with charisma. And his charisma will ooze out of your speakers and out of your headphones and just hype you right up.

You can see him in the new G.I. Joe movie called Snake Eyes, which hits theaters on July 23rd. And if you watch the trailer, if you've seen the trailer, yeah, that's Mojo Roly that you spot in there. We talk to him about how he's been bitten by the acting bug. We talk about his NFL career. And yeah, we talk about what's next for him after being released from WWE and so much more. This is a guy who bets on himself. And if you listen to this story, bets on himself in all. always wins. Give him a follow on social media. He's at Mojo on Instagram. Funny story behind that,

which we get into during this interview. He's at Mojo Mutati on Twitter. That's M-U-T-A-D-I. Give me a follow. I'm at Chris Van Fleet, and I'd also super appreciate it if you could give the show a follow wherever you're listening right now. And if that happens to be Apple Podcasts, thank you so much to everyone for the over 2,000 five-star reviews. we've received on Apple Podcasts. Like I mentioned last week, yeah, we're bringing back the reviews, and I'm going to be reading one on every single episode

as my way of saying, thank you so much for being on this ride with us. Yeah, the shout-outs free. Just leave a review on Apple Podcasts. It could literally be as simple as the fire emoji. Hell, it could be the poop emoji. Just anything would be great. This one is from Wally,

Bo McBlogginnoggin in the UK. That is an impressive username. Wallyboo McBlogginnoggin. That's so good. He says one of, if not the best podcast on here. Chris Van Vleet is an amazing interviewer who asks some amazing questions and seems like a respectful and laid back guy who always finds a way to make his interviews interesting and seems genuinely like a runner up for the nicest guy in the world.

Well, thank you for the kind words, Wallymoo McBlogginboggin. I said that wrong. Wallymu, Wallybu, McBlogginnoggin. There it. What a name. Wow. And I'll take it. I'm guessing that the actual nicest guy in the world, if I'm the runner up, which is

very kind, but I'm guessing the actual nicest guy in the world would be Tom Hanks or the Rock. So I'm okay being runner up to them. So I've been talking with Mojo about doing this interview for the last few months. We've been trying to set this up. He told me that he would 100% do it. He just needed to find the right time. And that time, my friends, is right now.

So please welcome the one and only Mojo, Rale. Oh, man, I am so hyped for this. I'm so glad we're doing this. Thanks for having me on. BV, baby, baby. Mojo in the house. I didn't get hype for this interview Mojo. I've stayed hype for this interview. Damn right. I can't even imagine you with any less energy. Have you always been this way? Yes, since birth. I've heard this is how I came out, very loud, very obnoxious, always a pain in the butt.

I decided that's how I wanted to do things. So we just stayed constant over the years. You're just like an 11 out of 10 all the time? Yeah, yeah, 11, 69 out of 10, something like that, you know, got to up the end, you know, we're establishing new boundaries and new ceilings, you know. With all that said, is there ever a time in your life where you feel shy? Where I feel shy? Yeah. Not, shoot, man, I don't know, not too often.

I mean, I definitely know when I need to shut up and not be so aggressive or so out there, you know, I know it can be very off-putting to some. That was always fun, especially in the beginning of my career. You don't want to go into a new locker room, you know, loud and out there, people can misinterpret your enthusiasm for just, you know, a lack of respect or, you know, you know how it can be in a locker room. Sure. It's all about, you know, showing respect, shaking hands, you know.

And I imagine if you come in with the amount of energy that you have, it could be misinterpreted, like you said. Yeah, got to put a cap on it sometimes. Congratulations, man. You're in a G.I. Joe movie. You're in Snake Eyes, which as we sit here right now comes out in a few weeks, July 23rd. Dude, right? Yeah. First of all, how incredible is that? I mean, grew up, probably had every G.I. Joe toy there ever was. And now I'm in the movie years later. Like, oh, man, I couldn't believe it. When I got the call, I was just so excited.

I didn't really think it was true at first, you know. It just kind of just got out of a yoga class, and I had this voicemail mentioning it, and I was like, you're kidding. I'm in my Zen right now. So much for that. So much for my Savasana, but, man, it was an incredible experience. And, you know, it was really difficult not saying anything about it,

you know, for a while. You know, we filmed that a bit back now, and it's finally coming out. So I'm just all ready to talk about it. finally. So how did this all come together for you? Well, apparently, I guess the director was, the director and one of the producers were on YouTube and I guess they found me or a clip I had done. Maybe it was my Instagram, but that's literally how this started just seeing a clip and then they're like, yep, we want that guy.

And that was it. So it's just crazy. You never know everything you put out there what it's going to lead to, you know, especially in the wrestling world, like, You know, you never know which promo is going to get you a push and all this. I mean, now it's like what social media post is going to get you a movie. Was this a wrestling post, do you think? I think it was a wrestling-related post, if I recall. Okay, so break this down. When we go to see Snake Eyes, what are we looking for?

Where will we find Mojo in the film? Well, I can't tell you too much about it. You definitely got to go see it, of course. But you saw the trailer. and how cool was that? I mean, I hadn't seen a single frame of this thing since we filmed it. So seeing it all kind of come together and to kick off the big trailer, I mean, I was losing my mind.

I thought it was awesome. And that's just like, you know, a small part of what we got in the movie. And the rest of it is 10 times that, you know, it's going to be so good. I'm just so excited to see. I mean, not only because I know what I'm looking for, but just to see how it came out and how the rest of the movie comes together. And I mean, I had an incredible time.

I mean, what an awesome group of people I got to work. I got to work with, you know, from the director to Henry to shoot all the extras, just everybody on set. It was just such a family feel. Man, we had an absolute blast film in it. I don't want to say too much, but, man, I'm telling you got to see this one. So have you been bitten by the acting bug now, do you think? Oh, yeah, for sure.

I mean, there's so, with wrestling, there's such a large acting component to it that you would think it would be a relatively smooth transition. I mean, of course, they, you know, in Hollywood, they filmed things a very, very different way, and, you know, you're going to have a very different type of acting that you're going to be putting forward. But, yeah, I mean, I had just such a good time with it. I can understand why so many wrestlers, you know, want to do that either. during or after after their careers. I mean, it was just such a, a fun thing and, you know, such a related business that, you know, why not? I mean, follow me on this one. You're in a G.I. Joe movie?

The Rock was also in a G.I. Joe movie. Oh, I'm aware of that. I've been talking fresh nonstop to my friends and family since it came out, you know, making sure they know I'm a huge movie star now and just, you know, the Rock. better watch out because Mojo's coming through. How will you be credited in this film? I actually don't know. Did you tell him I want to be Dean or are you Mojo or, you know, are you some sort of mixture between the two now?

Yeah, I have not a clue. I didn't even ask. I was just so excited to be in the thing. It was like, shoot, I don't care what name you put on it. Let's run with it. I guess that'll be another surprise for me when it comes out. Right. So, I mean, you walk on to Seth.

you obviously have a ton of experience in the ring. You know how to make stuff look great in terms of making stuff look real. Movie fighting is so different from pro wrestling. So how much did you have to learn? You know, not too much. We went in for the first day of training and we just ran it. It was so funny because they showed me the scene and I watched it once. And I was like, all right, cool, let's run it. Like, I got it. They were like, wait, what? I was like, guys, if you only knew what we went through on TV day every week. We're script changing and matches changing every 15 minutes and then it gets thrown out the window and you're standing in gorilla and then your music hits and then they change the whole

thing. It's like, yeah, we can pick up a script on the fly. I mean, that part didn't take too long. Of course, that, you know, that fighting element, you know, more of like being in a real kind of like street fight is different than, you know, what we do in wrestling. I mean, we try to, you know, incorporate that into our matches, but there's wrestling moves and there's wrestling spots, and it's different. I mean, I can tell you I was really sore the next day.

I mean, I did an entire day of filming nonstop. I mean, you know, there were short breaks, but I told everybody on set, I'm the hype, man. I hate rest. I don't want to take any breaks. Like, let's just, let's rock. And they thought that was pretty funny, and they were about it. But, I mean, it was a lot.

And, you know, a lot of different movements. I mean, fairly similar, but at a different pace, a different cadence. You know, it'll take a lot out of you. It felt like I was pretty sore the next day. Took a red-eyed-drawn, had to wrestle in Boston on no sleep. But that's kind of standard protocol in my life. So I was all about it. Had a better match for it.

Oh, man. So you filmed this back in 2019. Is that right? Yeah, the end of 2019, I believe. And I'm guessing this might have come out last year. if the world was a little bit more normal? Yeah, I think it was supposed to come out July last year. And then, yeah, with everything, we, you know, we had to push it back, which was, which was tough as well.

But I'm also glad, you know, because you want to see this in theaters and you want the big screen. And I have, like, you know, like a home home theater with a screen here, but it's nothing compared to go into the theaters. You know, that was always, you know, my favorite thing to do, especially in my football career, was on an off day, go see. two or three movies in a row back to back to that. Like that was my thing. So being a big movie guy, definitely wanted to wait. It was well worth it to wait for it to come out in theaters and couldn't be more excited about it.

I too am a big movie guy. So I'm curious what's, I mean, it might be tough to just narrow down to your top, you know, favorite movie. What are your top three movies? Well, I can tell you, number one, without a doubt is remember the Titans. There's no question about that. That's where I went to high school. That's where I played my football.

The guys from the movie, like I know all those guys. They helped, you know, coach me, raise me, all that stuff. I mean, I have my little wall of narcissism here in the house right here, and I have some stuff framed from the movie from Coach Boone. And that was just incredible for me. You know, I love the movie Invincible and Rudy, these underdog stories of guys that, you know, came from nothing and made it. I mean, that's how I've always, you know,

looked at my path being the undrafted guy, the scout team guy, the guy that had to come up from nothing and didn't get a lot of looks. And second, you get that small, little smidge of an opportunity, you got to take and run with it. And, you know, that's why I resonate

with those movies so much. But I can tell you right now, without a doubt, Snake Eyes is going to be number one. I'm so sorry to the T.C. Williams community. I think this one got to take the number one spot for me. You know, if we go back, obviously, I mean, remember the Titans is a fantastic movie, but with that, like, influence on your life, did you want to grow up and be an NFL player? Was that the goal?

Well, the first thing I ever wanted to do, to be honest with you, was being the WWE, was to, you know, be a big wrestling superstar and champion. I mean, I watched every single week with my. with my dad and my brother and, you know, we're sitting there, like, wrestling each other. And my mom would come in and get all upset. My dad's not really paying attention because he's watching the show. I mean, I was watching when I was so young. I didn't realize that the WWE and WCW were different companies.

I just, it was all wrestling. I didn't realize, you know, like I just, there's football, there's basketball, and there's wrestling. I didn't realize different companies within it. So that was the first thing I ever wanted to do. but then, you know, you go to school and you can't sign up for wrestling as a sport. So, you know, I went the football route and, you know, worked really hard for that. And it, you know, just worked well with me.

And, you know, I was able to have a solid run there and have some success there. So I plugged away with that. And then, you know, it took an injury when I was with the Cardinals, one that I thought at the time was going to be a career ender to kind of reevaluate things. And then that's when I had this opportunity at a tryout with the, with the WWE. And I took that. You know, I was in talks with, I believe it was like the Raiders and the Jets at the time about, about going back. And then this happened. I just ran with it.

You know, it was a big risk at the time. Huge pay difference. That's for sure. But, yeah, you know, I bet on it and ran with it. And, you know, I'm glad I did. You're a surprisingly big guy. I don't know if everybody realizes this. You're a little over 6-3, almost 3.

300 pounds, were you always the big kid in high school? Yeah, in middle school, high school for sure, one of the biggest, if not the biggest kid in class. You know, a lot of work went into that, you know, lots of time in the weight room, trying to break all the records and whatnot. Even when I went to my D3 school for two years, I was one of the bigger guys on the team. Um, wasn't until I got to Maryland, um, that, you know, I saw giants and monsters for the first time. I mean, the first guy I saw when I reported to camp, all right, so let me paint you a picture here. I go to a division three school.

I'm on a full academic scholarship. I'm the first ever freshman captain. I broke all the weight room records year one. I'm an officer in the leadership program, the honors program, da-da-da-da-da. and I gave it all up to walk on at Maryland to pay $35,000 to $40,000 a year with no guarantee of a roster spot just to have a shot at, you know, taking this thing to the next level. And I report to camp already like, man, did I make the right decision? This could cost me six figures and amount to nothing. And the elevator opens.

And the first guy I see when I walk on was this guy named Jared Gaither, who's 6'9, 370 pounds with abs, who ran a 4-8 in the 40, who jumped a 35 or 36 vertical, five-star recruit, and literally had a full ride to any school in the country for both football and basketball. And I see this guy and I was like, I think I made a terrible mistake. Nice this guy. You know, I'm so glad to have the reps against him. I think he was the only guy in the country that shut down Mario Williams a year he was drafted number one overall. And like he was going half speed. I feel like against him too.

It was unreal. Anyways, yeah, it was a risky move. But, hey, man, that was my first taste of seeing Jackson. I'm glad I did because there's a lot of them in wrestling. But all of this, it seems to come back to the same point. And that point is you bet on yourself. You bet on yourself when you went to Maryland. You bet on yourself when you maybe could have stayed in the NFL

and you decided to go with the WWE. Where does this mentality come from for you? I don't know, man. I just, you know, I feel like I've been very good over the years at, not necessarily staying in my lane because I don't really like. that saying, you know, you have your own lane and this is all you're entitled to, but just being more like real and open with myself, I know what my strengths are, I know what my weaknesses are, I know when I'm in a place where I'm getting a push that I don't deserve, and I know when I'm

not getting one. And, you know, it kind of makes it easy to know what you want, and if you think you can, you really have the work ethic and the skills to attain it. So I think, I think, you can, I think that's definitely aided me over the years and, you know, betting on myself. Because, yeah, there's been a couple of very, very, you know, big bets I took. I mean, the year I could have gone back to the NFL, I would have been making, you know, 500 grand at the time, you know, and that was the minimum salary. And then now I start in NXT or FCW at the time. I was making $39,000 a year. And I came in with, you know, $150,000 in student. in debt. So it was actually costing me $1,000 a month to be there. And it, yeah, it was risky,

you know. Part of me was like, dude, go back for one year, get on your feet financially and then come in. But this was an opportunity I wasn't willing to wait on or roll the dice on. I didn't know if it would be available later. So, you know, all things considered, I was like, we got to do this and we got to do this now. So you had the opportunity in front of you. Actually, you had two opportunities in front of you, NFL and WWE, and you basically said to yourself, WWE is what I've always wanted to do. That is the childhood dream. And if I go back to the NFL a year or two or three from now,

this WWE job, it might not be here. Yeah, and you know what? The funny thing is the third option. So I used to intern at Morgan Stanley from when I was 11 through college, like summers and after work. So that was always like my real life career. my, you know, my, my safety, what I'm going to go to after sports. So I actually accepted a job with Merrill Lynch.

And after I was released from the Packers, I signed with Merrill Lynch. I was supposed to start on Monday. That Friday, the Cardinals called me and signed me. So I had to call Merrill Lynch and ask them if they were cool with putting my contract on hold. They were like, go for it. We'll see you after. So after I thought I had a career. and with the Cardinals, I called Merrill Lynch again, and I was like, hey, guys, if the offer's still

there, I'd love to come back. And then the WWE happened. I had to call them again after signing the contract. And you're like, hey, do you guys if I go do this down there? Again, they were super cool about it, thankfully. And I'd turn them down as well. That was kind of like, you know, the safe career, something, you know, my background was in that I could have went into risk-free. I had some family at the time telling me that was my move, enough abuse on the body, take the guarantee.

All being said, I probably would have made more money there than I did in football and wrestling, maybe combined. There's a lot of money in finance, of course. But yes, again, there was a lot of options, but WWE was the move. That's what I wanted to do. And again, man, what a fun run I had over nine years. You know, you always want your career to go differently at certain ways, but you got to sit back and look at everything you had and, you know, weigh the opportunity cost.

And, man, I had a blast, man. I had so much fun. Do you think that if you hadn't had your calf injury with the Cardinals that you would have then started in some NFL games? You know, I think about that all the time. I really got cut down kind of at my peak. You know, it was really a good situation for me there. And, you know, I'd spent all my time in college D3, D1, undrafted, you know, to try to get this one opportunity in a scheme that fit my strengths and a team that understood me. And it finally happened, you know, like, they love a good off-season conditioning program with that staff.

And I came in and I broke some of their weight room, like, competition records or whatever on, like, day one. And so I already, they already knew who I was on the first day. They called me the Iron Sheik because they saw my last name and thought, you know, they're like, oh, that's, that's Arab. It's like, oh, you're the Iron Sheik, you know, strong guy, Arab guy, you're sheikh. So no one knew my name when I was in Arizona. It was Sheep. Like, that's how it was written on the depth charts, like everything. Wow.

Which was great because I love the Iron Sheik. and they really had a good opportunity for me there. And, you know, I think they even had me penciled in as goal line fullback, which I was stoked about. So, yeah, I mean, I think there was an opportunity there, if not to start, but definitely see a lot of playing time. And, yeah, that injury just could not have come at a worse time or so I had thought because, you know, I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason.

And without that, I don't get this. So maybe, you know. Yeah, and I'm not trying to draw another parallel here to the Rock's career, but, you know, the Rock's dream was to play in the NFL. Couldn't make it happen. And then look at the career he ended up having after that. Exactly. Everything happens for a reason, man.

You never know where life's going to take you. And that's why you don't just got to have a positive outlook. That's where my whole stay hype mantra came from. I mean, I had that from early on in football well before I came to wrestling. You know, just being that last string guy trying to fight just for a spot on the bus and whatnot. That was my only way, you know. Not only do I have to outperform the guy in front of me by one play, I got to beat him in the weight room. I got to have the highest GPA on the team.

I got to be first to show up, last to leave. Like, I have to dominate that person in every aspect of life for them to choose a walk on, a guy they didn't want over their preferred five-star recruit. I mean, that's what it is. It's all you can do, man. And the only way you're going to do that is by keeping a smile on your face every step of the way. I imagine that's pretty hard to stay hype when you have an injury that could potentially end your career. Yeah, that was pretty tough, man.

I mean, there's been a couple of places in life where, man, just everything felt like it was collapse and, you know, go from sitting here thinking I finally found my place in football to having a career ending. injury to not being able to walk to having permanent damage i think my um girlfriend of 13 years at the time we broke up almost right after that so it's just like my whole life just implode and it's like what the hell happened and you know happened for a reason it sucked them but it makes me appreciate every little thing i get now and i couldn't be more grateful for for all of it and all of it happening at the same time. I love it. How did you end up finding out about the WWB tryout and how did you get in? It was such a strange thing because so you guys, you know, Rob Grancowski, one of my best friends, his brothers are like my brothers, his dad's like a dad to me. He was college, the dad,

Mr. Gromk, was college roommates with Mike Rotunda. Okay. At Syracuse. So I guess They were just having a conversation catching up, and my name came up somehow, and IRS was like, man, this is a guy we'd like to take a look at. They sent me to see a house show in Buffalo with the boys, had a blast. They had me go to Raw and D.C. We meet with Mr. Regal, talk with some of the guys to see the whole thing backstage, and then that was it. They offered me, you know, the developmental deal right there on the spot, and I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but we ran with it. But it all started with like a phone call that I wasn't even on. So you picked up your entire life and moved to Florida just like that?

Just like that, man. I mean, when you got an opportunity, you can't wait on it. You never know how it's going to be. Like, you just got to just got to rock with it. If it comes now, if I get a phone call, you know, as soon as we finish up this interview, and it's a great opportunity, I'm out of here. I'll leave this house, no problem, whatever. So you sign with WWE, you're a huge.

WWE fan growing up you're I mean you're living the dream at this point you must be thinking like all right what can I do to get to the top what can I do to become that champion yeah it was um it was interesting because um you know I knew w.dbdh as a fan but I didn't know what training was going to be like I didn't know what becoming a superstar would entail I mean I came into this thing blind And, you know, I came in. I was trying to display my personality while simultaneously, like being respectful. And yes, sir, no, sir, quiet, whatever's asked. I wanted to be the first guy to show up and last to leave every day.

That whole thing is kind of everything that got me to that point. But I didn't really know the best way to get a push from an insider's perspective. It was just hustle. So, yeah, man, it was pretty crazy. I mean, you know how difficult it can be. to get a good run and a lasting run in the company. So it gets tricky, man. So how long was your actual training

before you were able to work a match in front of a crowd? So this was a thing that was both a plus and a minus for me, I think. I came in and with this personality and with the football background. And I think they were really high on me in the beginning. And, you know, they're like, we just need a team. teach this guy, you know, a few things and just let his hype take care of the rest. So I actually had my first match at a live event seven weeks after my first day. Wow.

And, yeah, it was very, very quick. I remember backstage some dudes were not happy about that, which was so funny because there's seven people in the audience. It's like, guys, who cares? Come on. But yeah, like, they were like, this guy, this is our opener. you know big baby face gets the crowd hyped you know we'll keep his matches basic because in nxd at the time the opener was supposed to have a lot of constraints of just basic match no false

finishes you know super generic match just get the crowd hyped up and save all the high spots and all the you know pretty stuff for the rest of the card as it builds the card so they plugged me into that spot and i got stuck there for a long time man so i was grateful to get the reps but I feel like I was I was pigeonholed almost from the get-go where it was so so tough to get out of that. Don't get me wrong, opening's a great spot on the card. If you open every show,

what a career you're going to have. But at the time, like, after a while, it just, it got tough, man. I remember having nightmares about it because I was seeing some of the guys I started with start to pass me and, you know, getting opportunities because I was always, always that's mojo that's your opener and i opened every show for like years in nxte like that's just like every single show so again i was grateful but i felt like i wasn't getting challenged and

i couldn't couldn't really grow because i i think matter of fact i think my first match with with a near fall in it might have come when i was on the main roster wow how about that wow It might have been like a live event. Yeah. I don't think it was a TV match, but yeah, that was kind of my point. It was like, you know, and I remember vocalizing it at one point. I appreciate the spot. I'm in.

All due respect, but, you know, I feel like I need to get outside the box here a little bit. And I didn't want to complain because I had a great opportunity. And I know where my coaches were coming from there. Like, we want you to focus on your selling. That's all you need. You need to be hyped and you need a lot. learn how to sell and you're going to be golden. It was almost like the John Cena philosophy. They always called the NXT's John Cena when I got started. I was like, how cool is that? But yeah, eventually,

yeah, man, it just, it just got tough. And, you know, I was so grateful when we finally started to to break out of that, finally. Were you the one that came up with the name? Did you come up with Mojo Raleigh? No, actually. So Rob Naylor was a creative assistant we had at the time. He was like Dusty's right hand man. And he came up with the name. And I think he came up with it for me after like a week of knowing me. He's like, dude, you should be Mojo. And I was like, no. Like, who's going to take a guy named Mojo seriously? Like that is ridiculous. I could not have been more against it. And he was like, he kind of explained it to me a little bit. And he's like, take some time and think about it.

So I did. And I started chopping it up from like a marketing perspective and thinking about, you know, all the, you know, crafty, attach phrases we could come up with. You meet Mojo one time, you're going to remember that guy, especially after meeting me. You know, you're never going to forget the name. And I was like, you know what? Let's run with it. But let's tag, you know, a real life or a more real life.

real life name on on the tail end so it's not just mojo because the thought at the time was to be just mojo so that's when we came up with raleigh and I was like oh we can do like you know Monday night ralee you know which of course 30,000 people have done

and the funny thing is is we actually never used Monday night raleigh ever so it's kind of point of but yeah man that's kind of where the name came from I'm glad he talked me into it because now even even after not being with the company anymore. Mojo, that's

it is what it is. You're allowed to use that name now? Well, not Mojo Rowley, but Mojo Mutati, Dean Mojo Mutati is what we're running with. Yeah, what is the name that you're going to go with? Probably Mojo Mutati, man. I mean, really, I respond to everything, but

I guess we'll really iron that out when I resurface my first wrestling match. I'm fascinated by like the idea of branding and I love the idea of Instagram names. And the fact that you have just at Mojo on Instagram, it just excites me so much. How are you able to get that?

Brother, first of all, there's two parts of that, which is really funny. Okay. But I have a manager that I have worked with over the years, a great guy, and he calls me up, Brad Cutler. He calls me up one day and he goes, bro, at Mojo's available on Instagram. I'm going to get it for you right now, if you give me the okay and i was like do it do it right what were you using at the time what's that what was your name at the time at mojo rally wwee so he gets that for me and he gets me verified so

outside of sina i was the first wrestler to be verified and i remember zach rider and the miss going nuts about it because both of them had like over a million followers but i I was verified with not even like 10% of what they had. And I think Ms. brought that up, and he's the one that got the rest of the company verified. Wow. But the funny, the other part of this is I'm so glad, you know, Brad got me at Mojo because I thought it was a joke at first,

but someone hit me up recently, maybe a month ago, and literally offered me $100,000 for at, Mojo on Instagram. They didn't want my account. They just wanted the name at Mojo. And I said, like a brand? It's a company that wants that name? There must have been some Mojo business or company or something that that's their slogan or whatever that wanted it. And this person was acting on their behalf. But yeah, said no. If they're willing to pay you 100K, they're also willing to pay you a million dollars probably. knows, man. But either way, I don't even know if you can legally do that with Instagram, but I'm at Mojo.

That's my page. That's my brand. And, you know, again, you got to bet on yourself sometimes, man. I'm starting this new exciting chapter, you know, that's my handle, baby. And every time I go to your page, I audibly laugh out loud because you only follow 69 people. bro i you have no idea how much of a struggle this has been for me bro i've literally been on a date before obviously this one wasn't meant to be and the girl said i need you you got to follow me right now i just followed you and i was like uh yeah i can't do it you know if this thing works of course i'll do it then can't do and she was like if you don't follow me right now you don't follow me right now, then this date's over. And it was, check please. Oh, my gosh. Dude, I've had to unfollow my

family. I think I had to unfollow my mom at one point. Dude, it is brutal. Brutal. I mean, you must, so, you know, there's got to be people over the next six months year that you're going to have to follow. So does this mean that you have like a lower, you know, five or lower 10 people that are like, all right, if I have to follow, you know, the director of my new movie or something. Sorry, Aunt Kathy, you're out. The bottom five was weeded out probably like five years ago. Now I usually unfollow whoever's not going to get upset about it. Do you follow every Grankowski brother?

I think so. Okay. I'm going to have to have a talk with them in the group chat. Somebody's got to go. Whoever's like not getting it done. or whoever doesn't post you know whoever posts the least maybe maybe you could follow 169 people

you know I was actually going to do an Instagram post about this today funny you bring it up because it is really getting tough posting well because if I'm going to do 169 that that sucks so I think I have to go all the way up to 669

now that's a lot I don't know. Now no one feels special and it's not that funny. And with the amount of people that deactivate and reactivate accounts, it's never going to stay at that number. I think you should stay at 69. That's the plan, my man.

I mean, people DM me and they're like, bro, you're only following 68 or you're only following 70 now. Like, you've got to make this adjustment. It's automatic. My inbox floods when this happened. How ridiculous. United States Soccer Federation present the U.S. Soccer Podcast. My name is David Goss, and I'm joined by my co-host, Megan Klinemberg.

And now we're giving people an inside look at the World Cup. Time's ticking. I think you can feel the intensity. All the guys are wanting to really take their claim, and they want to be on that World Cup roster. There's no doubt about it. Hosting the World Cup on the home soil comes with its pressures, but we're just really excited just as the people are.

The U.S. Soccer Podcast, presented by Henco. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. You know, since we've mentioned the Grongs a few times, how did that relationship start? And which Grankowski brother did you become friends with first? So I played at Maryland with Dan and Chris. I had Chris on the show recently. Oh, you did? Yeah.

Oh, that's right. And I have an ice shaker to show for it. So good. That guy turned down a ride to go to Harvard, by the way. So everyone that thinks they're a bunch of dummies, three of them had like 4.0. GPAs. Jeez. Wow. Rob and Gord were too busy partying, so

there wasn't as high. Well, they had a 4.0 in partying. But yeah, Dan and Chris played with me at Maryland. Rob was still in high school. Their brother, Gord, was kind of like the guy that would come down to the games. He was like the cool one that would show everybody around. But Dan is the only brother

that's like a real human being. Like that the family guy, I mean, Chris has kids now too. He's not as much of a wild man as he used to be, but Dan's like the real one of the group, the other guys of these party animals. But I was friends with Dan. Dan was like one of my best friends in college. And this just shows you how I was. I thought he was a crazy party animal back then because I didn't drink. I didn't party. I didn't go out. Like, you know, I was still like this hyped up crazy guy, but like I didn't do any of that other stuff. So I thought Dan was crazy. Now, fast forward, I might be the most wild one out of the punch.

Yeah, you can probably blame them for a good part of that, maybe 69% of that. So is because of you that Gronk was able to work his way into WWE? Yeah, I mean, those guys were always a fan. And I was actually with them when I got my email from Canyon that they were going to bring me in. we were, where the hell were we? South Padre Island, I think for spring break or somewhere partying, and we went nuts. We went absolutely bananas when that happened. So many good stories there, but yeah, man, we got Rob in.

We used to practice when we were partying before I started. I'd have everyone at the club line up. I'd pull my shirt off and had everyone go down the line and just chop the crap out of me all night. I was like, I got to toughen up, man. I got to be ready for this. And that's literally why I would always tell people, like, chop me as much as you want, put me in the ropes. You think it's a prank on you.

It's going to be a prank on me. It's going to be a prank on you because I'll eat chops all day. And I even had spots where people would just chop me a ton and I would just, you know, get hyped up off of it. But he started, Rob started coming in. We set up the mania spot. They were always backstage or they came to the shows. I remember we had a FCW show when there was literally seven people there and the Gronks were five of them.

Wow. And I remember EC3 coming out to wrestle. It was just so funny because there's no one in this like grungy gym. And he's like, what the hell is that gronk? What's the kind of thing? Everyone was just cracking up. But yeah, man, very supportive. And we got to have some fun over the years.

years. We're actually setting up some matches with him before he went back to football in the world shut down. So again, at some point, we're hoping to get this done because I know he wants to get in the ring and actually partake. And, you know, it'll be a fun, fun thing for everybody. So you think when he retires again, he'll be back in WWA? Well, I guess that depends where I'm at. You know, we just wanted, we wanted to have some fun together. that's what it was always about. So, you know, if I'm, if I'm wrestling at the time and he wants in, then we'll definitely do something together.

If not, we'll figure it out. But, yeah, that match is coming somewhere at some time, I can tell you. Yeah. Well, I mean, you've got this taste of Hollywood. I'm sure this is not the last film that you're going to be in. Is wrestling still going to be a big part of your life moving forward? Do you still want to wrestle full time? I want to do everything right now.

Right now, you know, this is, almost 10 years, I just put in. And you know how the commitment to WWE is. You can't really do anything outside of it. So right now I want to do any and I want to do everything. You know, I do want to wrestle in the future. There's no doubt about that. Right now I just, you know, need a little bit of time for me to, you know,

get all of my stuff in line. I got a lot of things I'm working on right now that I just want to, you know, work on and really just let my body recover. you know, I think that's important. Just, you know, I mean, ask Rob. I mean, he took one year off from football, and now he feels like he can go another tent. Sometimes getting hurts, the best thing that can happen to you, man,

because, you know, while you're rehabbing that calf, it gives you enough time to heal up the rest of your body, let your brain catch up, you know, any other nagging, lingering injuries that you've had over the years, they can finally heal and you can have some time away to rebrand, to redevelop, to look at everything from a fresh perspective and, you know, see what that entails and where that's going to take you. And that's kind of where I am right now. And, you know, luckily that'll give me some time to explore, you know, acting and getting into that world.

I mean, I literally wanted to do everything right now. I can't believe it, but I'm busier now than I ever have been. I mean, it's been insane. Like, I have no free time. I'm on the road more now than I was when I was traveling for wrestling. And, you know, I'm just loving. I love to grind. I don't like to be home. I don't like to be resting. I hate getting a full night's sleep.

Like, it's awful to me. And I'm just in a good place right now, man. It's a cool thing. I know it can be scary and very daunting, you know, leaving that, you know, that constant career and that guaranteed paycheck and that stability and security that being a full-time, you know, employee essentially can give you, but I'm loving the flip side of that right now.

And you've got an endless amount of freedom now. It's kind of weird to get used to, to be honest. I keep thinking I've got to ask permission before I do things. You've got to remind myself I don't have to anymore. You know, you mentioned a rebrand, and I want to talk about your heel turn in WWE. Whose idea was this, and did it play out the way that you wanted it to play out? You know, I can't remember whose idea was. If it was mine or Vince's, I know I had my, Zach got hurt and I had my singles run and I had a good stretch there for a time.

And then Zach came back. We tagged and I knew everyone knew we were going to break up because we prefaced it for months. But I don't think anyone knew who was going to turn on who. That was kind of our saving grace for that. And we didn't really know either. And then the thought came down to have me do the heel turn. And, you know, I was all for it. I know they wanted me to get away as far away from the whole hype persona as possible.

They didn't want me even mentioning the word hype at all. And we had a good run there for a while. I was a little, I would have preferred if Zach and I could have had our run for a bit. I mean, I turned on them, and then they aired a dot-com exclusive detailing the breakup. And then we had our one match on the kickoff of a pay-per-view. And when you're doing a kickoff match or some of these other matches, you have so many handicaps on it. Like you can't swing for the fences and show people what you got. I mean, that's why, like, Zach and I were like, dude, let's just go at each other on social.

a couple of promos on my cell phone in my garage that got really good, good traction, and he had some great clapbacks as well. But that was it, man. We turned, and then we had a, you know, the kickoff match, and then that was it. They broke it off. And then, you know, I had like one of my, we like to joke around the classic semi-push where you start to set up the push and then the push never comes. You know, we had some good moments. I would have loved to have done more with it is what it is. You take what you can get. And, you know, at the end of the day, you just got to be comfortable and happy with what you put out there and know that as long as you feel like you did all you could, given the circumstances, like that's what's going to propel you through the years. You never want to have any lingering doubt.

Like, oh, I wish, you know, like I want to focus up more or, you know, worked harder. I mean, I always worked as hard as possible at all times, you know. Like, even when I was partying, like, it was like, all right, I'm going to go out and get some content. put on my social, I'm building my character, I'm making connects. Hopefully that'll let the company see that, you know, I have traction outside of this place, and maybe that'll convince them to, you know, give me a run here. But, you know, at the end of the day, you just got to be happy with what you got. And, you know, I think there's some things we could have been, could have done differently,

but they didn't. And, you know, can't have any regrets at the end of the day. What was the idea behind the face paint when you were heel? I'm so against that. I really didn't want to do that. Truthfully, though, the way the sketches came back, they didn't look half bad. And I was like, I hope when I wear this,

it looks this cool. And it couldn't be further from. We had these promos. I pitched this idea of like, you know, everybody looks at themselves in a mirror everybody hipes themselves up everyone has that degree of vanity let me run with it let me let me let me cut promos berating someone for any shortcomings and failures and you don't know who who i'm talking to you know you might think it's that you might think it's whoever i'm going into a program with drop settled hands you find out later it's me and now

you know we can take this whole new attitude and run with it there was a couple ways we were going to go with it. Somehow that morphed into me losing my mind, drawing on my face, and I don't know what it became. We literally did one match with that character. Me and Apollo were paired together on a Europe tour, and I remember

I was like two and a half weeks of everyday working together, and we put on some great matches. Him and I always had great chemistry. I thought there was so much there that we pitched together and against each other. But we put on like matches that nobody was really expecting out of us and that the fans really gravitated on. And it's hard when you got two guys who have zero TV time who it's a cold match and you're going out there following all these rivalries.

And it was in the reports every night by the producers like, hey, these two are really, really on to something. Let's give them a run. And so they booked Apollo for my debut match in this character. And we were all, we were stoked. We're like, dude, this is it for us. Let's go out there and kill it. Show everybody what we got.

This is going to be our first real opportunity to not do like one of these two-minute TV matches where you can't show anybody anything. And then we found out it was a 60-second match that was more or less written out entirely for us. So two and a half weeks of killing it turned into that. We were just like, and then that was that. Yeah. Character over is like, all right. And the character was over just because of that match?

No, no. I mean, we did everything that was asked. I mean, I just, I don't know how those meetings go. It's just, that's not what they wanted or they had other things. I mean, honestly, I think sometimes they just forget about what they, what, you know, what's going on because they have so much, you know, they have so much that they're thinking about weighing inside, like on the show and outside. of the show, so you never know. But that was that. I was like, great. I just painted my face like an idiot for weeks for nothing.

I felt like you really had the chance to take things to the next level when you won the under the Giant Battle Royal. And then nothing really came of that. Were there plans after, I mean, that's a huge WrestleMania moment. Were there plans after that for it to turn into something? I think the plans all went into that. You know, I've come to learn that when you win the Andre, it's not to start a push afterwards. It's either the lead-in for a great moment sometimes, or it's a reward for a guy that's quietly been busting his ass and here's a thank you.

It doesn't always mean it's going to amount to a push. I don't know, you know, what their thoughts were at the time. I know I was, they put me on this path to win it. And leading, especially in retrospect, looking at the weeks leading up to that, it made sense that I was going to take it. And when I heard that it was probably going to be me, that's when I had the idea.

I was like, oh, man, let's bring in Robbie G. And just hype it up even more and make even bigger moments. Because I always try to focus on big picture. It's like, all right, well, I can do this myself. and it's going to be, you know, people are probably going to look at it as an average Andre moment, or we can make it bigger than it is and get it out to more eyes and make it a bigger moment. They even moved it to the pre-show, which a lot of people were upset about, but the pre-show was on cable, the pay-per-view was on the network,

the pre-show gets more views by a mile than the actual show did. So I was looking at it as a plus all around. But then afterwards, man, it just, you know, they didn't know what to do. do us i think i was doing some like strange promos with with kids or something um honestly man i think that's just what my whole career kind of boiled down to was like we got this guy he's perfect for this one spot high energy hyped up dude yeah we're gonna put him in this space and then we don't know what to do with him after that because i remember meeting with Vince one time and I mean, I was like, I felt pretty boosted after it, but I also felt like, I felt mixed about it, but he literally sat me down.

He's like, all right, you know, you may be, you're one of the best athletes in the company. You're one of the strongest in the company. You have one of the best attitude, one of the best work ethics. And he literally went down the list of all these superlatives where I was number one or top three. And then he was like, we just got to figure out what to do with you. And I remember thinking of myself, I was like, well, I think you just said it. How do we not use that? Like there's so many things we can do with it.

But, you know, you never know what's going on behind the scenes. And all you can do is work your butt off. I was submitting pitches constantly. You know, very seldom does that amount to anything, if anything at all. But yeah, man, you never really know what's going on. And at the end of the day, again, you just got to do your best and put everything out there. And that's all you can take home. You were one of the superstars who ended up losing your last name, your character last name.

Do you think that helped? Did that hurt? Or did that not matter at all? Losing Raleigh? Yeah, weren't you just Mojo? I know they flirted with that fact, but I don't think they ever dropped it on TV. And maybe they were just calling you Mojo because almost everybody, Seth Rollins, Reigns, maybe it was just because everybody knew you as Mojo. Well, you know, to that point, yeah, sometimes they do that where it's like, all right, his

name's Mojo, Raleigh, don't mention Raleigh on TV ever, you know. He's just Mojo and, I guess, but yeah, you're right. They did do a lot of that. But so, I mean, it definitely helped a lot of people had their name taken away. And I feel like with what you said earlier in this conversation where you didn't want to just be mojo. It's kind of coming full circle now where it's actually great that you're just mojo now. Yeah, I think by the end there was actually, now that you're talking about it, I think there was a discussion at some point about just making it mojo. But yeah, at the end of the day, Raleigh was so irrelevant to the name. It didn't even matter. Yeah, it was just mojo.

Yeah. You survived a whole bunch of rounds of cuts. lot of your friends, a lot of your colleagues, ended up getting let go. I mean, there was a huge release last year at the start of the pandemic. You survived that. Did you think you would survive this most recent round of cuts, too? Truth be told, there's some other things going on there. You know, all I can say is I'm grateful to have been with the company as long as I was. I mean, putting in almost a decade, that's, you know, that's a hell of a run. And all I can say, too, is that, you know, I'm just, I'm truthfully happy it happened. You know, it was time for a change.

And sometimes you never want to be the one to necessarily initiate that, but you needed it to happen. And it's, it was a thought that was kind of going through my head for a while. It's like, you know what? Let's give this thing another year or two. If this amounts to nothing or very little or doesn't change the trajectory. trajectory of the course I'm currently on, then yeah, it is time for a change because I'm going to turn 35 here shortly. And when you're talking about starting over in another industry, the longer you wait, the less is less is off the table later. And again, I got pigeonholed

a lot as being like this big, hyped up guy that very much did a lot outside of the ring. I was one of the few guys that used for a lot of these community service drives, public speaking, like red carpet events, like all those kind of things, because surprisingly, there aren't a lot of guys in the company that can do those. You know, Titus O'Neill is the poster boy for that stuff. I mean, honestly, in my opinion, I think Titus's top three most valuable people in all of WWE. I know that might come as kind of a shock to some people,

but we got tons of guys that can wrestle. Almost everyone on the roster can put on a hell of a match if given the right push and the right opportunity, but how many guys do we have that can really go out there and make change and bring in a new fan base from doing all these promos that he does? And there's no one I've ever met that does more in that space than Titus. So, you know, I was kind of, I felt like used for both, you know.

But again, sometimes those guys don't get the big Roman Rain's career. So eventually, you know, it's, you see where you're at. You're grateful for you where you're at. But, you know, change needs to happen, whether it comes from you or them. I feel like people think they know who Mojo is because they've, you know, got to know this character over the last decade. What do you think would be the most surprising thing that we would find out about Dean that we'd go, no way he does that. Probably anything about Dean. The only thing you know about Mojo is hype and partying.

Like, we kind of worked pretty hard to really paint that picture. Of course, I'm going to have to work to get out of it, man. But, you know, I don't know. It was just, you know, the whole financial background, you know, that's kind of an affinity for investments and making sure all my friends are being smart with their money. You know, I was one of the, you know, probably me and Titus were the two guys behind the scenes that were constantly getting guys.

business to whatever extent. We could, you know, when we do shows, we get hotel rooms comped and fun nights lined up or, you know, just all kinds of stuff set up, set up for the boys. And that's actually, you know, something that leads me into one of my projects I'm doing now. You know, I started a company, the Paragon Talent Group, with some other buddies that I have to represent, you know, wrestlers in their transitions. in real world life, getting them, you know, paid gigs, marketing gigs, new careers, everything, because I just have so many friends that when they leave this company, they're lost,

you know? And these are guys that maybe wrestled their whole lives. They only know wrestling. They haven't done anything outside of it. They don't know how to manage their money. They don't know how to do anything but get wrestling gigs. And I have so many guys that reached out to me just asking for help. you know with managing their money income streams how to market themselves and whatnot so i was

like well shoot you know why would i not just start a company and help guys out so we've signed you know 12 uh full time you know full time guys on our roster that were former w w wrestlers and you know working with some guys in other industries too just to to kind of help them out so we can all just kind of come together and grow and help one another to to set up next steps so yeah i mean if you're asking about, you know, what are the things people are surprised about? It's probably just any element of Dean, you know, when the heights turn down and you're getting the, maybe the business side of me, because I don't want to say the mojo and the hyped up, excited part of me isn't me. That is 100% me. But, you know, there's a lot of layers here,

I guess, is what I'm trying to say. I mean, so many wrestlers struggling. I'm sure you've seen this with your friends, they struggle when they leave WWE or when they leave wrestling because their entire identity is that they were a wrestler. And I feel like you're already ahead of the curve here. Your identity wasn't just that you were a wrestler. Your identity is mojo. Your identity is that you had like charisma oozing out of every pore of your body. And I feel like you're going to be completely fine here. Yeah, I'm not worried about it one bit. Like I said, you know, there's, of course there's benefits of being there, but there's a lot of benefits of not being there too.

And you just got to see what's the right fit for you. And it comes down to being honest and open with yourself. I mean, you got to know when it is possible that you could potentially be cut. I mean, a case I could make right now with Braun Stromen not being with WWE anymore, who wasn't shocked by that? I mean, that blew everybody's mind, but Braun's another guy, Adam, I should say, that, you know, has a good business mind on him and has other things set up and he's going to be just fine. And he's a guy that was a former champion, like the champion, who was the guy and has more like YouTube moments than, you know, 95% of the roster does.

But even he had the wherewithal and the heads up to set up next steps. And, you know, I know he's got a lot he's working on right now. He's going to have a hell of a career. And these are things that if you want to go back later, you know, it's only going to make you an even bigger name. And that's what you got to realize sometime. And I think there's been a recent trend of guys seeing this and seeing the value in other places where you can grow.

And especially in a wrestling world, I mean, AEW, how can you not be thrilled with their existence and their success. I mean, I think everybody in the W.W. The locker room got raises when they started to try and keep guys there. So I don't know if there was anyone that was bigger fans of AEW than the WW locker room secretly. But, you know, it's just great to see that people are starting to think this thing through and next steps more.

When you look back at your entire career, NFL, WWE, how much of you? it do you think was hard work and how much of it was just right place, right time, and just good old-fashioned luck? I think all of it stems from the hard work. I've learned how to have fun through the hard times, which has been a gift for me. None of this comes without hard work. But at the same time, I could name 100 guys right now that work their asses off and get no opportunity. So everybody has to be right place, right time at some point. And the goal is just to work as hard as possible always, to always stay hyped,

to maximize that window and that time frame for you to have a lucky moment. But, you know, everybody needs a little bit of luck here and there. And no one's going to make it by themselves. I don't care who you are. It just doesn't happen. And, you know, that's what it comes down to, man. And sometimes it takes years and years and years of the grind and getting no respect and no notoriety and no money before it finally pays off. And sometimes just having someone in your corner makes the world of a difference.

You know, I used to travel with Fandango. And I remember Dango telling me early on when I first got called up and I'll never forget it. But he's like, dude, I can't tell you how many guys I've seen come and go, how many guys that were flashing the pans, these number one merch sellers, these major champions, that I've outlasted by knowing my place, by working hard,

by not complaining, by doing the right things, and just letting time run its course. And yeah, I've had some cool moments, but it took years to sometimes get to that, and then cool moments don't always last for forever. At the end of the day,

it's a scripted show. Just because you're killing it you're working hard, it doesn't mean that's going to translate to success. So take this business for what it is. If you're not getting a push, don't complain, don't cry about it on Twitter. Look at what you are getting. You might be booked on the live events every weekend. You might be getting a chance to see the world for free. You might have an action figure, a trading card, a video game character. You know, you're still in the limelight. You're behind the shield of this global corporation, there's just so many benefits that come up with us. So who cares if you're

winning or losing? Like, who cares if you go on a 200 match losing streak like Kurt Hawkins did? Because it's going to end up getting you a mania moment in your hometown. And I guarantee you Kurt wouldn't trade that for the world. Who cares about losses on live events and TV when you get a title win at mania in your hometown like what so just stay the course man control what you can control everything you can just let it be work as hard as possible know in your brain that you're doing everything you can so 50 years from now you can take comfort in that as long as you're not getting disrespected and cheapening who you are and long as that doesn't chip away at your identity and your existence just run with it man ups and downs you duck and weave

I love it, man. I've really enjoyed this conversation. This has been so great. I'm pumped to see what's next for you. And every other film that you're going to be in. But I tell you, this movie's going to be so sick. I've been dying for this thing to come out. And by the way, for everybody who saw the trailer and went, ah, that main guy, I know him from somewhere. That's the guy from Crazy Roos Asians. Oh, so that was another point, bro. Henry, so I knew. He was this Hollywood star on the come up and he's killing it. So I went into this movie and I was like, okay, great actor.

My sisters both love him. All my friends have a crush on him. Probably not going to be the most athletic guy. I am definitely going to have to carry you this scene. I was looking at him almost like, you know, I'm the veteran guy doing the job for this burgeoning star, which so many guys did for me. Sure. Man, I showed up.

I was blown away by how athletic he was, how smooth his maneuvers and mannerisms were. And just, dude, the way he moved, I was like, this guy literally is a ninja. It looks like he's been doing this for life. I went back to Ron. I was like, dude, we got to book this guy for a match with me on TV because he's ready right now.

So the fact that he was just leagues above athletically, where I thought him or any actor would be for that matter. I was like, oh, we're going to have some fun with this one. And I'm telling you, y'all are going to love it. Really, check it out. The trailer is nothing. I made my day having all my friends and family

hit me up like, did I just see you in a G.I. Joe trailer? You're damn right, you did. Check it out, baby. I end every interview with the same question. And you've mentioned it a few times during this interview, but I'm a big gratitude guy.

And I want to know what are three things in your life that you're grateful for right now? Three things I'm grateful for in life right now. One, the opportunity to be living, especially in the pandemic we're in. There's a lot of people that have been affected by this thing over the years. I know I've had my fair share with it. just the fact to be to be alive man like what what a time to have to evaluate yourself and to have this this period of time to really take a close look at yourself and you know how you want your life to proceed you know i've lost i've lost friends and loved ones during this time from this

thing and it's it's been very scary for it for everybody so just the fact to to wake up and no matter how bad your circumstances might be for everyone listening, like you're still living and you still have the opportunity for this amazing, amazing comeback story because as much as you're down in the dumps now, you are going to love yourself that much more when you come out of it and you find success. And coming from a guy who's been knocked on his ass a couple of times, those are the moments I take more pride in than everything. So appreciate this ability.

to be living and have a shot at life. Two, just, you know, family and friends, man, like, especially now starting over and transitioning, you see who your real friends are, and you're grateful for it. And for the people that, you know, may have turned their backs on you, it's good to know and good to learn from too,

and it'll be fun to win them back later on, you know, and keep them at on its life. But, you know, just everybody out there that had some sort of influence on your life. Like I said before, you don't get anywhere on your own. And I'm a firm believer of that. And these people can help you through a lot of times. People that you thought may have been acquaintances

or people you barely knew might get you your next career, might get you your next gig, just anything. Or they might just be there for you with great advice or someone for you to vent to if you need it. And the third thing I'm grateful for would be this, interview with the main man CVV. Thank you for having me on, bro. This was so fun.

It was good to chat about some of this stuff. Again, some of it feels so wrong talking about now that I'm a free man again. It's definitely an adjustment and acclamation period. I appreciate you, man. This was a great conversation. I wish we could have done this in person, but I don't know if the internet could handle that much hype at once, you know?

I don't know. It might break, bro. I don't know. Man, I've heard so many good things about you from friends from people. I didn't even know. Listen to your show and they're like, dude, this guy does a great job. He's one of the biggest pros out there and he's a hell of a guy. So 100% get on that thing asap. So I'm glad we did this right away as soon as I was ready to open up and start chatting, man. I appreciate you, man. And I'm so excited for this next chapter of your life, whether that's as Dean, as Mojo, or whatever you want to be. My man, me too, bro. So excited.

Let's keep it popping. Mojo, Raleigh, Dean Mutati, whatever you want to call him. What a guy. And what a story. I love how at every stage of his life, he's bad at himself and it's worked out. So I think that as he enters this next chapter of his life right now, this next chapter of his career, there's no question that he's going to thrive here. as well. Take a screenshot. Share this with someone who needs to hear this message. Tag us on social

media. He's at Mojo on Instagram. He's at Mojo Mutati on Twitter. And give me a follow as well. I'm at Chris Van Fleet. And if you're not already, make sure to subscribe or follow the podcast wherever you're listening right now. And I'll leave you with this from F. Scott Fitzgerald, who says, For what it's worth, it's never too late to be whoever you want to be. I hope you live a life you're proud of. And if you find you're not, I hope that you have the strength to start over again. Be great. Be grateful, my friends. We'll see you on the next one for some more insight.

Jim Rome takes on sports. Why? Because I have a job to do. With rapid fire takes. So I don't want to hear from you, Lava Pigs. on this notion today. No idea what you're talking about. You're complaining more than you like to breathe air. It's like you get up in the morning only to complain and cry and moan on social media about things that you don't even understand.

He's the spitfire of sports smack. Take advantage of it. Get up in here. The Jim Rome Show podcast. What should be? Follow and listen on your favorite platform. You've been warned.