In an interview with FOX Sports, WWE SmackDown Live superstar Mojo Rawley commented on his victory in The Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 33, his friendship with Rob Gronkowski and whether “Gronk” has a future in professional wrestling, Zack Ryder’s injury and more.
Highlights of the interview are below:
On winning the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal: “I look at it as a springboard. I look at it as a jump-start. I plan on having a really good year. I’ve been working really hard in this business for a very long time and I’ve had my share of ups and downs – and to be honest, most of them have been downs. It’s a motivation point. I don’t want to focus on one big win, you’ve got to use that as a springboard to the next thing. And, you know, the pressure’s on now. I had that awesome opportunity and I had that big win, so it’s going to be one of those situations where all eyes are on me now, and it’s going to be my moment to either seize or let slip through my fingers. And I plan on working as hard as I possibly can to make the most out of this opportunity and do my part in adding to the prestige of that trophy, of that honor.”
On his friendship with Rob Gronkowski and Gronk’s future as a professional wrestler: “Well let’s call him a blue chipper, baby. The guy’s done his homework. That’s my best friend and he’s been supporting me, coming to the shows since we were down in FCW in Tampa and there were seven people in the arena and my buddies were like five of them. He’s done his homework, he’s been to these matches. He’s progressed through the ranks, he’s very familiar with the process works. He’s very familiar with the lifestyle because he’s been there every step of the way with me as a fan. And to have him be able to get in the ring and deliver a big shoulder tackle and be front row at a lot of these shows… the guys all cued up. Not to mention all the fun that we have outside of both of our jobs. Practicing moves on each other and watching it together and having a blast. The guy’s cued up for a career, man. You look at everything he’s done with his life outside of the gridiron, he’s got WWE superstar written all over him.”
On Zack Ryder’s injury: “That was a big night for us, because Zack and I had kind of had an unconventional route to the main roster. a lot of teams, they either get called up together or they’re formed when they’re already on Raw or SmackDown, but not often has there been a team where one guy was currently in NXT and one guy was up on the main roster. So right away, we kind of had a disadvantage from the start – never really getting to see each other, being booked separately and whatnot. You fast forward through a year or so of hard work, of trying to make this team work, but never having it be easy or convenient for us to. We’re stringing together a bunch of wins, but there hadn’t been any really career-defining wins. And now we come to Washington D.C., my hometown, where I was born and raised five minutes from the arena. And we have this No. 1 contender’s battle royal. It was a pretty crazy match, in the end we ended up winning – and I didn’t know that Zack got hurt on the last move of the match.”
The interview is available in full at this link.
