Mojo Rawley Reveals How Much Pro Wrestling Training Rob Gronkowski Has Done
Mojo Rawley and Rob Gronkowski have been scrapping since before either man stepped anywhere near WWE. In an exclusive interview with Wrestling Inc., Rawley talked about Gronkowski's future in the wrestling business and how much training he's actually done.
"I gotta think he'll go back to football before he comes to wrestling full time," Mojo said. "I've always said 'I don't think Rob is done.' He gets too bored too quickly. He's another one that likes a lot of excitement, is always doing a lot of things. He retired once before, it didn't last that long." Gronkowski had made appearances in the WWE right after his initial retirement from the NFL.
"I would love to see Rob come back [to wrestling.] I don't know what his master plan is here, I don't even know if he even has one. I know he wants to enjoy some time off." Mojo thinks that Gronkowski still has a lot to offer the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, saying that he could be biding his time until the second half of the season, as hits are "harder to shake off" at Gronkowski's age.
Despite Gronkowski's appearances in WWE, his training was limited by the brevity of his tenure. "He's had some training. No formal in-ring training. We had that in the ropes. We never got to that because [Tom] Brady went back to the [Buccaneers] and the offer was too good for Rob not to go back."
While Gronkowski never formally trained for any of his physicality, the former-WWE 24/7 Champion was responsible for helping Mojo get his chest chop-ready for the big leagues.
Rawley said their group of friends would always chop him when they were out partying
"We haven't done any real in-ring training, but I will say for the past ten years, every time we go out partying, Vegas, Miami, Atlantic City, wherever we are, we would break out into wrestling matches," Mojo Rawley said. "Not just me and him but our buddies too." Rawley said that club security would approach their shenanigans with tasers drawn, thinking they were genuinely fighting, "ready to jolt us."
"But that was practice, especially at the very beginning of my career. We would go out partying and I would make the whole team chop me in the chest as frequently as possible to get me ready for WWE-style chops. That's why when you see people chopping me in the ring, I always did that chopping no sell spot."
While Rawley doesn't see Gronkowski going back to wrestling full time, he does feel that the success of former NFL punter Pat McAfee is proof of a new route that celebrities can take in WWE, as McAfee is able to handle his WWE responsibilities without having to ignore his more lucrative projects. "WWE...they pay well but other places pay better, so it's hard to give that up for an extended period of time."