There are no more secrets, and Mojo Rawley is here to spill it all. The former 7x WWE 24/7 champion is on the Lights Out Podcast to comment on his departure from the WWE. Rawley is ready to discuss his new venture, acting! Listen as Mojo describes his scenes in the new movie Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins. And listen as Shawne and Mojo take a trip down Terpain lane as the guys break down how dominant Maryland Football will be this year.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Are you ready for this? Jean Merriman a one hand effect.
Boom boom boom, out go the light. This his Lights
Out with Sean Merriman. What's up? Guys were back again
with another Lights Out podcast Me Shawn Merriman and today
is you know, I say we've got some special people
on some time, and we do. We got some great guests, guys,
(00:22):
come on, always shown love sharing these great stories. Uh.
For me is someone who were probably more closer to
a family member than anything else. My Maryland terrapint brother.
Uh w w E let's say former WW superstar because
he you know, was just released in party ways. But
w W Superstar Mojo rally, um, one of the most exciting,
(00:45):
most charismatic, most energy, always keeping it hype guys that
I've ever came across No Mojo in his family for years. Um,
he was just released by the w W. Sometime agost
we'll get into that. We'll talk a little bit about
his uh his next move for one, and also his
past in the NFL career and how he uh can
make that correlation isn't the same with night. So I
(01:07):
got a good convo coming up with my boy here.
Mojo rally. What's up brother? How you feeling man? Man? Big?
What's gonna see you with that? Lights out to you on? Man?
Come on, man, this is my favorite one right here.
I rocked this thing very frequently. It's my go to.
I know you sent me a lot of stuff which
I also wear, but this was my favorite one, so
(01:30):
you know, we had to bring it on the cat.
I've probably seen you with that shirt on in five
different countries at least. I was like, look. I was like,
look at my man overseas rocking man, showing love. That
share brings me luck. Baby, I'm not gonna actually look
at it, but uh yeah, but how you feeling, man?
(01:50):
A bunch of changes you have? You guys had some
stuff coming up, a bunch of changes that you're going
through right now, right with the release and everything. How
you feeling about that? Bro? I feel great, man. You know,
I wasn't expecting to be feeling this good this fast.
You know, like I just got released. I don't even
what is the July seven or like a month a
month ago or something like. And and I'm filling up quick, man.
(02:14):
I'm more busy now than I feel like I've ever been.
And you know, just a lot of good things coming up.
You know, I'm in the new G I. Joe movie
Snake Eyes, which I'm stoked about, and that comes out
in July, twe so that'll be big. Yeah. And just
so you know, I started a business with some buddies,
you know, representing former w W wrestlers, getting the marketing,
gigs and appearances everything, the Paragon and Talent Group and uh, dude,
(02:38):
the best part about being free now is the freedom.
You know, I can do everything. I can do anything.
I don't have to ask permission anymore to post on
my Instagram or do anything, bro, And I'm just loving
it doing honestly, on all the years that I've known you,
and we go back and we'll talk about the Maryland
time and everything else, but out of all the years
I've known you, I don't think I've ever seen you
(02:59):
in a bad move ever. I mean, even even times
where I'm like, dude, he got to be piste off
about that, Like, Nope, not not not one time, and
not not one single time I've ever seen you in
a bad move there. You know, you used to have
to work hard to keep it that way, and then
eventually it just becomes a state of mind and you know,
roll with the punches, as you know, and you know,
(03:21):
sometimes things suck and get out of your control. I mean,
what are you gonna do. You're gonna complain and cry
about it, complaining online and just you know, smiling and
moving and keep it moving and find the next gig.
You know what's you know what's crazy about that? Because
and I tell anybody this, I don't care if you're
w W W entertainment, if you're with NBA, NFL, doesn't matter.
At some point in time, you're gonna get cut, released, traded.
(03:46):
And so did you at any point because obviously you play,
you had a short stint in in in the NFL,
so that was your first time like okay, you know what,
I'm being released cut or I didn't make the squad
or something. Did that prepare you at all for like
something like this to happen or you just like okay,
that's that's one part. Oh yeah, absolutely, man um. You know,
(04:07):
going into Green Bay as an undrafted rookie, you know
you're fighting an uphill battle. And for me, like it
was the first year they were switching to a A
three four from A four three, So they had way
too many d linement as it is. So you know,
I knew no matter how well I played, you know,
it wasn't gonna be anything personal against me. It's just
you know, they already they already got their guys. They
(04:27):
had a first round pick at my position anyway, So
you know, you just enjoy the experience. You work as
hard as possible so you're getting no regrets later. And
then you know, I go to Arizona and I had
a calf injury which kind of ended that run. So
kind of two different ways of of exiting a team. Um,
but you know that kind of like rejection and you know,
even being a college walk on and stuff like all
(04:49):
that kind of stuff just just prepares you for these moments.
You know, it's not you know, it's not your first rodeo.
This isn't the end of your existence. You know, if
you would have told me when I got when I
got cut in Arizona for that injury, that I was
gonna go off and have almost ten years in the
w w E, like, I wouldn't have been upset one bit.
Like That's it's a pretty good transition right there. So
(05:11):
I was kind of looking at this the same way, man, Like,
these these things happen, like you said, it's gonna happen
to everybody, And when your name gets called and it's
your turn, just keep rocking, and you know, prepare yourself.
You know, when you see that the writings on the wall,
be realistic with yourself, know that this could possibly happen,
and start to put play b in place. What which
(05:32):
which better? The locker room in the NFL, but on
the locker room in the w W, Because I noticed something, man,
with my time that I was around a lot of
the talent, around a lot of the announcers and and
people to work there. I think the w W locker
room is tougher. I mean in my opinion, right as
far as like you might have your older vents, right,
(05:53):
so when you walked in the locker room with Green
Bay and ever, like you might have your older vents
and you're like, okay, you get the hazing and all
that stuff. That's that's part of it. But I felt
like there was a there was a lot more tension
and maybe personalities is what I can't don't I can't
really put a finger on it. But it was a
different feel being in the locker room with in the
w B that I'm definitely with you on that. I mean,
(06:17):
you know how it is a football man, everyone's kind
of kind of boys. Even if you're like competing with
a guy, um men, you want his job or he
wants yours, you kind of understand it's part of the game.
It's not as dirty. You don't take it as personal,
you know. Um, you know, it's a little bit more
of a brotherhood. I mean, w W you have that too. Um.
And of course all it takes is one one bad
(06:39):
dude in the in the locker room to kind of
ruin it for everybody. But there's just a lot of
like unspoken rules like traditions that um, you know they
might the vets might not check you on or alert
you to but you know you'll get buried for that stuff.
Like for example, like every time you walk in the
locker room, you're supposed to shake everybody's hand in locker rooms,
(07:00):
say hello, greet everybody individually, you know, for like football players, man,
we see each other every day the same way. So
it's like, man, that's no, you don't dude, you don't
have to shake my hand fifty times. But I don't
want to shake forty hands before this practice starts. Man, Like,
all right, man, I'll see you over there. But wrestling,
you know, it can be like that too. But sometimes
you just never know dudes. Dudes might take that that
(07:21):
mad personal and there's just there's a little bit more
of a learning curve and you know, growing pains, uh
coming in and um, it just can get it can
get trickier. Man. I'm not gonna say it's necessarily better
or worse, but there it's a lot more complex. I'll say, yeah, no,
it's definitely I'm gonna use the word hell man, less friendly,
you know. I like, like you said, man, it's just
(07:43):
less friendly when you're getting there. And I don't know
if everybody's like kind of getting ready for the show
they you know, getting ready for going character whatever it is.
But to me, I was like, man, this is I'm
gonna walk around and say what's up? You know, if
I see you, are you doing whatever? I'll keep molki on,
kind of keep it moving. And I didn't get a
lot that over there when when I with my time's
working there. But it was definitely an experience. So you
(08:04):
you said you got the you got the movie coming up. Yes,
sir July, I know I've seen it. I've seen a
small clip you showed me some time ago. But when
does that drop? Yes, sir, So we filmed at the
end of nineteen I think, and dude, it was just
it was dope. Bro. I was so excited. You know.
I literally just got a call out of left field
(08:24):
and got asked if I wanted to be in the movie.
It kind of came as a complete shock to me.
So for me, I was like, hell, yeah, I want
to be in the next g I Joe movie? Are
you kidding? Me? Huge fan as a kid. And you know,
we just went out there and we did our filming.
It went great. It was so fun. Everyone, the director,
of the producers, all the actors that you know I
(08:45):
got to work with. We're all just great people, very friendly,
uh you know, curious, you know, coming in and the
former football player and a wrestler at the time. You
know how it is when you walk into a locker
room sometimes guys might look at you like, Yo, this
guy's going in for my job. Screw him. You know,
I don't want anything to do with this guy. Didn't
get that by it at all. It wasn't like any
(09:05):
rookie hazing or anything. I think they just looked at
me as here's a guy that you know, comes from
a different industry who's put in his time there, but
you know he can add value to this movie maybe,
And you know that everyone was just all aces bros
a great time. Man. I'm just stoked it's finally announced
some in so I can talk about it, and I
think it's gonna be dope. I mean, this movie was
(09:26):
really exciting and the trailers look incredible. H Henry gold
in the League was just top notch to work with. Bro.
I literally felt like this dude was coming in, you know,
after a football or wrestling career, like he's a great athlete.
I kind of wasn't expecting that, you know, for someone
that's you know, been in Hollywood. You know, you can't
really expect all those guys to be great athletes. But
(09:48):
he was. Man, he he was awesome to work with.
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports
Radio dot com and within the I Heart Radio app
search that's are to listen live. So many guys are
making that transition from wrestling to the big screen. Right,
so you had you know, Hawk Hogan obviously a long
(10:09):
time ago, but you know Stone Coast, Steve Alston lately,
you know day Bautista, Um, God, obviously you know. And
at the Rock, right do you start looking at a
lot of these guys say, you know what they they
did it, I can do it too. Was like, you
know what, I'm making my own way in this thing,
you know, I think, um, a little bit of both man.
You know, like it shows you it can be done.
(10:30):
So that's always good. I think that's even more important
for the rest of the world to see that, Hey,
these wrestlers. You know, it's a very different business, but
there's a lot of similarities and a lot of cross
over here, and these these guys can come in and
be successful. Um. I think that's that's more important for
the for the world to see than even like some
of us to know. No, it's possible because you know,
(10:52):
if you're worth your salt and you're an athlete and
a professional, you're gonna at least believe in yourself a bit.
To an extent, I mean that you're not gonna be
successful you have no self confidence. But yeah, man, I
also want to come in and I want to do
my own thing. I think, um, my skill set and
what I'm good at is a lot different than than
some of those guys. Um. You know, of course there
might be some crossover, but you know the you've heard
(11:13):
the Rocks say there's only one the Rock. You know
the same thing from Mojo. I know there's only one Mojo,
one guy out there that has the combination of my assets,
And it's just finding a way to to research that business,
to study it, to become a student, and um, take
take what I'm good at, hang my hat on it,
and find a way to transition in. So I'm definitely
(11:34):
looking forward to more for sure. No, Look, I know
you've got plenty of stuff lined up because I know you.
I know you're long enough to say you know what
he's he If the writing was on the wall already,
I know you had to start to sniff around and look,
you know, I know the opportunities whatever, man, So I
know you got the movies and and businesses and everything
(11:54):
you know going right now, it's a possibility you could
be stepping back in the ring. Uh, Honestly, I I
hope so I want to. I definitely think that will
happen because that's I mean, that's your that's I mean,
you built what you've done, you Aloyse Tagures, you built
a name for yourself, and you build a fan base audience,
it will almost be crazy not for you to at
(12:15):
least test awaters. But at this point, like being fresh out,
you know, I want to kind of diversify, expand myself,
like try these new businesses and these new industries that
I haven't been able to do while I was under
contract before. You know, with nine years, we can't really
do anything outside of uh, outside of the company. So
at this point, in the short term, I want to
(12:37):
heal up. I want to get my body feeling a
hundred so I can get back in the game and
make the biggest flash. But yeah, one my I don't
think my wrestling career. I don't want my wrestling career
to be done. I definitely plan on returning at some point.
I just want to make sure that when I do,
it's with the biggest impact um and I can I
(12:57):
can do the most, you know, like doing all these
other things is only gonna get my name out there
more kind of increase my star power. So when I
come back you know it can be and hopefully a
more a more favorable position. I built my equity up
more so I can get a little bit more of
a rub, a little bit more of an opportunity than
I have before. What you're gonna miss about it, though, man,
because obviously it's politics and all this ship, right, it's
(13:21):
you know, when you play in NFL, you you canna
ask everybody. You're gonna miss the locker room, right, You're
gonna miss being around the guys. But what what's like
some of the things with some of the people or stories,
like you're gonna miss kind of being around the thing.
I'm this is a no brainer for me. Bro. The
international tours were just the best, man. So it was
like two and a half three weeks of travel every
(13:44):
single day. You're doing a show every single day in
a different country or a different city. You'll go in
the Middle East for two three days, and then you
trek over to you know, maybe the United Kingdom, and
then you're hitting Europe and you might finish an Asia.
Like you're you're all over the ice and it's a
lot of travel, but man, it turns into one big
NonStop party the whole time because you know, that's the
(14:07):
only time of the year where we don't have to
get rental cars ourselves. You know that we're paying for
to transport us from show to show where we're we're
doing the actual drive, and that's that's like, all right,
we're on this this charter plane or or the charter
bus and they're driving us around half these shows are
you know, the streets. The traffic moves in the opposite direction,
(14:28):
so that would be a disaster if we tried to drive.
But you're just pretty much you're usually wrestling the same
same guy or the same couple matches the whole tour,
so you can get a good chemistry and a good
field with somebody and and really go out there and
kill it and have a good match. And you're you're
wrestling similar matches in front of different crowds every single night,
so you're getting to see how they react. And then
(14:49):
during the day or even afterwards, you're either going out
and partying in Spain, or you know, you're going out
and you're touring room and seeing the colosseum before the match,
and then you then you go to the show, wrestling
in front of a room crowding then you go party
in a row, that being around the boys, that locker rooms,
feel on the road, traveling a bunch and just doing
(15:12):
what's like literally everything that I love every single day
for three weeks straight. I mean that was that was it.
My first tour was the best time of my life. Yeah.
I've heard some of those stories. We talked about it,
some incredible ones. All right. So so so the last thing,
what is all dirty churchs Maryland Terrapin is gonna do
this year? Man? What what we what do we got
(15:33):
going on? Man? Like, there's a lot of excitement with
obviously Mike Locksley and those you know, the Mike Locksley,
head coach of the University Maryland Terupins. Well we both
me and Moja we're home grown over there. Um, there's
a lot of height going on right now with recruitment
and just what they're building on over there. What what
are you feeling that's gonna happen this year? Now? I
(15:55):
know on my end when I feel, But what are
you feeling over there? Bro? We're about to have a
breakout year man. And I mean, you know, it's a
tough situation when you're coming in as a new coach
for locks to come in and the the guys that
he's taken out on Saturdays, they're not the guys that
he hand picked. It wasn't the team he put together.
I mean, those guys will become like sons to him,
of course, but you know now that he's been able
(16:16):
to be there for a little bit and spend some
time with his troops, and now they're his and he
can put his stamp on him and he's killing it
in the recruiting game, which we all knew was coming
the second the second they announced that he was going
to be the coach. That's like the first place you
know my mind when it was like, yo, finally all
this homegrown talent is gonna finally start to stay, you
(16:39):
know at Maryland. You know, because the d m V
is one of the most talented areas in the country
and it drives me nuts when our five star guys
bounce out to other other schools. When you got just
this this massive school that has something for everybody that's
in the nation's capital, with that media outlet there and
those all that opportunity and of course the best jerseys
(17:02):
in all of sports. I got my little uh terp
swall over there. And then come on, here we go.
But yeah, dude, I'm stoked. Man. I think Loxley was
the man for the job, and uh, it's time to
get rocket man. They've already put up some big wins
against big teams while he's been there, and now that
he's got some time with him now to you know,
(17:23):
we can be more consistent with that and showing everybody
what we got. I say this all the time, and
people argue with my ass and say, look, if everybody
from the d MV area stayed home and went to Maryland,
we can compete with anybody in the country Texas, Georgia, Florida, California.
It doesn't matter. We have just as many athletes, if
(17:44):
not more than everyone else. Now we might miss out
on some of the five star offensive linement or you
know one one of you know, one of those positions.
But I said, pound for pound, player for player, skill
for skill, if every student athlete and at DC Maryland
Virginia stayed at home and what to Maryland will be
number one, Oh, no doubt in my mind. I mean,
(18:06):
they put out the top high school you know athletes,
the number one you know what, Gatorade Player of the
Year or whatever it is in the d m V.
That guy is always in the DMV, you know. Uh,
there's just so much talent, bro, And I'm right there
with you and for me, like I'm actually not from
you know, as you know, I'm not from Maryland. Originally,
I'm from Alexandra, Virginia, which is um, you know, the
(18:28):
border of you know, Nova, the border of the d
n B. But like I never wanted to go to
Virginia Tech or uv A even though those were technically
the the end state schools, Like I paid double in
the beginning as a walk on to go to Maryland
because it was less than a half hour from my
house and that was always the hometown schools for me. Like,
you know, forget what the state says, this is the
(18:50):
region the d m B. I claimed the d m
B DC Maryland, Virginia, not the rest of Virginia. That's
a whole different states to me. So yeah, I'm with you,
man to keeping them hometown boys home. And uh there
there's nobody that can touch us if that was the case. Absolutely,
my dude, my brother, Hey, I appreciate you for coming
on man as always, Uh tell your pops, man, I
(19:12):
love your pop. Well, dude, he's been upstairs waiting for this,
was he Oh my god, But I had the funniest thing.
I was standing out standing Mojoe's trip and I was
just sitting there kicking, and he got this love seat.
I don't know if you call that in your living
room love cushion, love love love sack. There you go.
I fell asleep the damn love sack that thing is.
(19:33):
I sat down for two seconds and that was the
last thing I remember. Uh So, anyway, man, I appreciate
you as always tell you, Pops, I said, what's up?
And I'll be down here soon. Bro. You know we're
always holding it down for lights out. And you know
too that every time before I hit that big forearm
knockout shot my you know my w W Matches, which
was my finisher right before I hit it, it was
(19:54):
always lights out the lights out. Man, Dude, you're the
best bro. I appreciate ate your brother. I'll hit you
when we get off. You got a brother. Thanks guys
for listening to another lights Out podcast. Me Sean Merriman,
Um and cool. We have good story some of those
stories we left off, we got some really good ones
(20:14):
we had. We had some good time. So I appreciate
Mojo for coming on, and thank you guys for listening always. Um,
and we got a couple of guests man, probably come
up within the next week or so. And I'm gonna
keep bringing some heat, So thank you guys. Keep leaving
those great reviews, keep leaving um you know those comments, man,
I love it. And then those reposts always help on
social media because more people get a chance to see.
(20:36):
So we'll be back next week again, Thank you guys.
Are you ready for this? Jean Merriman a one hand effect.
Boom boom boom, out go the light. This his Lights
Out with Sean Merriman. What's up? Guys were back again
with another Lights Out podcast Me Shawn Merriman and today
is you know, I say we've got some special people
on some time, and we do. We got some great guests, guys,
(00:22):
come on, always shown love sharing these great stories. Uh.
For me is someone who were probably more closer to
a family member than anything else. My Maryland terrapint brother.
Uh w w E let's say former WW superstar because
he you know, was just released in party ways. But
w W Superstar Mojo rally, um, one of the most exciting,
(00:45):
most charismatic, most energy, always keeping it hype guys that
I've ever came across No Mojo in his family for years. Um,
he was just released by the w W. Sometime agost
we'll get into that. We'll talk a little bit about
his uh his next move for one, and also his
past in the NFL career and how he uh can
make that correlation isn't the same with night. So I
(01:07):
got a good convo coming up with my boy here.
Mojo rally. What's up brother? How you feeling man? Man? Big?
What's gonna see you with that? Lights out to you on? Man?
Come on, man, this is my favorite one right here.
I rocked this thing very frequently. It's my go to.
I know you sent me a lot of stuff which
I also wear, but this was my favorite one, so
(01:30):
you know, we had to bring it on the cat.
I've probably seen you with that shirt on in five
different countries at least. I was like, look. I was like,
look at my man overseas rocking man, showing love. That
share brings me luck. Baby, I'm not gonna actually look
at it, but uh yeah, but how you feeling, man?
(01:50):
A bunch of changes you have? You guys had some
stuff coming up, a bunch of changes that you're going
through right now, right with the release and everything. How
you feeling about that? Bro? I feel great, man. You know,
I wasn't expecting to be feeling this good this fast.
You know, like I just got released. I don't even
what is the July seven or like a month a
month ago or something like. And and I'm filling up quick, man.
(02:14):
I'm more busy now than I feel like I've ever been.
And you know, just a lot of good things coming up.
You know, I'm in the new G I. Joe movie
Snake Eyes, which I'm stoked about, and that comes out
in July, twe so that'll be big. Yeah. And just
so you know, I started a business with some buddies,
you know, representing former w W wrestlers, getting the marketing,
gigs and appearances everything, the Paragon and Talent Group and uh, dude,
(02:38):
the best part about being free now is the freedom.
You know, I can do everything. I can do anything.
I don't have to ask permission anymore to post on
my Instagram or do anything, bro, And I'm just loving
it doing honestly, on all the years that I've known you,
and we go back and we'll talk about the Maryland
time and everything else, but out of all the years
I've known you, I don't think I've ever seen you
(02:59):
in a bad move ever. I mean, even even times
where I'm like, dude, he got to be piste off
about that, Like, Nope, not not not one time, and
not not one single time I've ever seen you in
a bad move there. You know, you used to have
to work hard to keep it that way, and then
eventually it just becomes a state of mind and you know,
roll with the punches, as you know, and you know,
(03:21):
sometimes things suck and get out of your control. I mean,
what are you gonna do. You're gonna complain and cry
about it, complaining online and just you know, smiling and
moving and keep it moving and find the next gig.
You know what's you know what's crazy about that? Because
and I tell anybody this, I don't care if you're
w W W entertainment, if you're with NBA, NFL, doesn't matter.
At some point in time, you're gonna get cut, released, traded.
(03:46):
And so did you at any point because obviously you play,
you had a short stint in in in the NFL,
so that was your first time like okay, you know what,
I'm being released cut or I didn't make the squad
or something. Did that prepare you at all for like
something like this to happen or you just like okay,
that's that's one part. Oh yeah, absolutely, man um. You know,
(04:07):
going into Green Bay as an undrafted rookie, you know
you're fighting an uphill battle. And for me, like it
was the first year they were switching to a A
three four from A four three, So they had way
too many d linement as it is. So you know,
I knew no matter how well I played, you know,
it wasn't gonna be anything personal against me. It's just
you know, they already they already got their guys. They
(04:27):
had a first round pick at my position anyway, So
you know, you just enjoy the experience. You work as
hard as possible so you're getting no regrets later. And
then you know, I go to Arizona and I had
a calf injury which kind of ended that run. So
kind of two different ways of of exiting a team. Um,
but you know that kind of like rejection and you know,
even being a college walk on and stuff like all
(04:49):
that kind of stuff just just prepares you for these moments.
You know, it's not you know, it's not your first rodeo.
This isn't the end of your existence. You know, if
you would have told me when I got when I
got cut in Arizona for that injury, that I was
gonna go off and have almost ten years in the
w w E, like, I wouldn't have been upset one bit.
Like That's it's a pretty good transition right there. So
(05:11):
I was kind of looking at this the same way, man, Like,
these these things happen, like you said, it's gonna happen
to everybody, And when your name gets called and it's
your turn, just keep rocking, and you know, prepare yourself.
You know, when you see that the writings on the wall,
be realistic with yourself, know that this could possibly happen,
and start to put play b in place. What which
(05:32):
which better? The locker room in the NFL, but on
the locker room in the w W, Because I noticed something, man,
with my time that I was around a lot of
the talent, around a lot of the announcers and and
people to work there. I think the w W locker
room is tougher. I mean in my opinion, right as
far as like you might have your older vents, right,
(05:53):
so when you walked in the locker room with Green
Bay and ever, like you might have your older vents
and you're like, okay, you get the hazing and all
that stuff. That's that's part of it. But I felt
like there was a there was a lot more tension
and maybe personalities is what I can't don't I can't
really put a finger on it. But it was a
different feel being in the locker room with in the
w B that I'm definitely with you on that. I mean,
(06:17):
you know how it is a football man, everyone's kind
of kind of boys. Even if you're like competing with
a guy, um men, you want his job or he
wants yours, you kind of understand it's part of the game.
It's not as dirty. You don't take it as personal,
you know. Um, you know, it's a little bit more
of a brotherhood. I mean, w W you have that too. Um.
And of course all it takes is one one bad
(06:39):
dude in the in the locker room to kind of
ruin it for everybody. But there's just a lot of
like unspoken rules like traditions that um, you know they
might the vets might not check you on or alert
you to but you know you'll get buried for that stuff.
Like for example, like every time you walk in the
locker room, you're supposed to shake everybody's hand in locker rooms,
(07:00):
say hello, greet everybody individually, you know, for like football players, man,
we see each other every day the same way. So
it's like, man, that's no, you don't dude, you don't
have to shake my hand fifty times. But I don't
want to shake forty hands before this practice starts. Man, Like,
all right, man, I'll see you over there. But wrestling,
you know, it can be like that too. But sometimes
you just never know dudes. Dudes might take that that
(07:21):
mad personal and there's just there's a little bit more
of a learning curve and you know, growing pains, uh
coming in and um, it just can get it can
get trickier. Man. I'm not gonna say it's necessarily better
or worse, but there it's a lot more complex. I'll say, yeah, no,
it's definitely I'm gonna use the word hell man, less friendly,
you know. I like, like you said, man, it's just
(07:43):
less friendly when you're getting there. And I don't know
if everybody's like kind of getting ready for the show
they you know, getting ready for going character whatever it is.
But to me, I was like, man, this is I'm
gonna walk around and say what's up? You know, if
I see you, are you doing whatever? I'll keep molki on,
kind of keep it moving. And I didn't get a
lot that over there when when I with my time's
working there. But it was definitely an experience. So you
(08:04):
you said you got the you got the movie coming up. Yes,
sir July, I know I've seen it. I've seen a
small clip you showed me some time ago. But when
does that drop? Yes, sir, So we filmed at the
end of nineteen I think, and dude, it was just
it was dope. Bro. I was so excited. You know.
I literally just got a call out of left field
(08:24):
and got asked if I wanted to be in the movie.
It kind of came as a complete shock to me.
So for me, I was like, hell, yeah, I want
to be in the next g I Joe movie? Are
you kidding? Me? Huge fan as a kid. And you know,
we just went out there and we did our filming.
It went great. It was so fun. Everyone, the director,
of the producers, all the actors that you know I
(08:45):
got to work with. We're all just great people, very friendly,
uh you know, curious, you know, coming in and the
former football player and a wrestler at the time. You
know how it is when you walk into a locker
room sometimes guys might look at you like, Yo, this
guy's going in for my job. Screw him. You know,
I don't want anything to do with this guy. Didn't
get that by it at all. It wasn't like any
(09:05):
rookie hazing or anything. I think they just looked at
me as here's a guy that you know, comes from
a different industry who's put in his time there, but
you know he can add value to this movie maybe,
And you know that everyone was just all aces bros
a great time. Man. I'm just stoked it's finally announced
some in so I can talk about it, and I
think it's gonna be dope. I mean, this movie was
(09:26):
really exciting and the trailers look incredible. H Henry gold
in the League was just top notch to work with. Bro.
I literally felt like this dude was coming in, you know,
after a football or wrestling career, like he's a great athlete.
I kind of wasn't expecting that, you know, for someone
that's you know, been in Hollywood. You know, you can't
really expect all those guys to be great athletes. But
(09:48):
he was. Man, he he was awesome to work with.
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports
Radio dot com and within the I Heart Radio app
search that's are to listen live. So many guys are
making that transition from wrestling to the big screen. Right,
so you had you know, Hawk Hogan obviously a long
(10:09):
time ago, but you know Stone Coast, Steve Alston lately,
you know day Bautista, Um, God, obviously you know. And
at the Rock, right do you start looking at a
lot of these guys say, you know what they they
did it, I can do it too. Was like, you
know what, I'm making my own way in this thing,
you know, I think, um, a little bit of both man.
You know, like it shows you it can be done.
(10:30):
So that's always good. I think that's even more important
for the rest of the world to see that, Hey,
these wrestlers. You know, it's a very different business, but
there's a lot of similarities and a lot of cross
over here, and these these guys can come in and
be successful. Um. I think that's that's more important for
the for the world to see than even like some
of us to know. No, it's possible because you know,
(10:52):
if you're worth your salt and you're an athlete and
a professional, you're gonna at least believe in yourself a bit.
To an extent, I mean that you're not gonna be
successful you have no self confidence. But yeah, man, I
also want to come in and I want to do
my own thing. I think, um, my skill set and
what I'm good at is a lot different than than
some of those guys. Um. You know, of course there
might be some crossover, but you know the you've heard
(11:13):
the Rocks say there's only one the Rock. You know
the same thing from Mojo. I know there's only one Mojo,
one guy out there that has the combination of my assets,
And it's just finding a way to to research that business,
to study it, to become a student, and um, take
take what I'm good at, hang my hat on it,
and find a way to transition in. So I'm definitely
(11:34):
looking forward to more for sure. No, Look, I know
you've got plenty of stuff lined up because I know you.
I know you're long enough to say you know what
he's he If the writing was on the wall already,
I know you had to start to sniff around and look,
you know, I know the opportunities whatever, man, So I
know you got the movies and and businesses and everything
(11:54):
you know going right now, it's a possibility you could
be stepping back in the ring. Uh, Honestly, I I
hope so I want to. I definitely think that will
happen because that's I mean, that's your that's I mean,
you built what you've done, you Aloyse Tagures, you built
a name for yourself, and you build a fan base audience,
it will almost be crazy not for you to at
(12:15):
least test awaters. But at this point, like being fresh out,
you know, I want to kind of diversify, expand myself,
like try these new businesses and these new industries that
I haven't been able to do while I was under
contract before. You know, with nine years, we can't really
do anything outside of uh, outside of the company. So
at this point, in the short term, I want to
(12:37):
heal up. I want to get my body feeling a
hundred so I can get back in the game and
make the biggest flash. But yeah, one my I don't
think my wrestling career. I don't want my wrestling career
to be done. I definitely plan on returning at some point.
I just want to make sure that when I do,
it's with the biggest impact um and I can I
(12:57):
can do the most, you know, like doing all these
other things is only gonna get my name out there
more kind of increase my star power. So when I
come back you know it can be and hopefully a
more a more favorable position. I built my equity up
more so I can get a little bit more of
a rub, a little bit more of an opportunity than
I have before. What you're gonna miss about it, though, man,
because obviously it's politics and all this ship, right, it's
(13:21):
you know, when you play in NFL, you you canna
ask everybody. You're gonna miss the locker room, right, You're
gonna miss being around the guys. But what what's like
some of the things with some of the people or stories,
like you're gonna miss kind of being around the thing.
I'm this is a no brainer for me. Bro. The
international tours were just the best, man. So it was
like two and a half three weeks of travel every
(13:44):
single day. You're doing a show every single day in
a different country or a different city. You'll go in
the Middle East for two three days, and then you
trek over to you know, maybe the United Kingdom, and
then you're hitting Europe and you might finish an Asia.
Like you're you're all over the ice and it's a
lot of travel, but man, it turns into one big
NonStop party the whole time because you know, that's the
(14:07):
only time of the year where we don't have to
get rental cars ourselves. You know that we're paying for
to transport us from show to show where we're we're
doing the actual drive, and that's that's like, all right,
we're on this this charter plane or or the charter
bus and they're driving us around half these shows are
you know, the streets. The traffic moves in the opposite direction,
(14:28):
so that would be a disaster if we tried to drive.
But you're just pretty much you're usually wrestling the same
same guy or the same couple matches the whole tour,
so you can get a good chemistry and a good
field with somebody and and really go out there and
kill it and have a good match. And you're you're
wrestling similar matches in front of different crowds every single night,
so you're getting to see how they react. And then
(14:49):
during the day or even afterwards, you're either going out
and partying in Spain, or you know, you're going out
and you're touring room and seeing the colosseum before the match,
and then you then you go to the show, wrestling
in front of a room crowding then you go party
in a row, that being around the boys, that locker rooms,
feel on the road, traveling a bunch and just doing
(15:12):
what's like literally everything that I love every single day
for three weeks straight. I mean that was that was it.
My first tour was the best time of my life. Yeah.
I've heard some of those stories. We talked about it,
some incredible ones. All right. So so so the last thing,
what is all dirty churchs Maryland Terrapin is gonna do
this year? Man? What what we what do we got
(15:33):
going on? Man? Like, there's a lot of excitement with
obviously Mike Locksley and those you know, the Mike Locksley,
head coach of the University Maryland Terupins. Well we both
me and Moja we're home grown over there. Um, there's
a lot of height going on right now with recruitment
and just what they're building on over there. What what
are you feeling that's gonna happen this year? Now? I
(15:55):
know on my end when I feel, But what are
you feeling over there? Bro? We're about to have a
breakout year man. And I mean, you know, it's a
tough situation when you're coming in as a new coach
for locks to come in and the the guys that
he's taken out on Saturdays, they're not the guys that
he hand picked. It wasn't the team he put together.
I mean, those guys will become like sons to him,
of course, but you know now that he's been able
(16:16):
to be there for a little bit and spend some
time with his troops, and now they're his and he
can put his stamp on him and he's killing it
in the recruiting game, which we all knew was coming
the second the second they announced that he was going
to be the coach. That's like the first place you
know my mind when it was like, yo, finally all
this homegrown talent is gonna finally start to stay, you
(16:39):
know at Maryland. You know, because the d m V
is one of the most talented areas in the country
and it drives me nuts when our five star guys
bounce out to other other schools. When you got just
this this massive school that has something for everybody that's
in the nation's capital, with that media outlet there and
those all that opportunity and of course the best jerseys
(17:02):
in all of sports. I got my little uh terp
swall over there. And then come on, here we go.
But yeah, dude, I'm stoked. Man. I think Loxley was
the man for the job, and uh, it's time to
get rocket man. They've already put up some big wins
against big teams while he's been there, and now that
he's got some time with him now to you know,
(17:23):
we can be more consistent with that and showing everybody
what we got. I say this all the time, and
people argue with my ass and say, look, if everybody
from the d MV area stayed home and went to Maryland,
we can compete with anybody in the country Texas, Georgia, Florida, California.
It doesn't matter. We have just as many athletes, if
(17:44):
not more than everyone else. Now we might miss out
on some of the five star offensive linement or you
know one one of you know, one of those positions.
But I said, pound for pound, player for player, skill
for skill, if every student athlete and at DC Maryland
Virginia stayed at home and what to Maryland will be
number one, Oh, no doubt in my mind. I mean,
(18:06):
they put out the top high school you know athletes,
the number one you know what, Gatorade Player of the
Year or whatever it is in the d m V.
That guy is always in the DMV, you know. Uh,
there's just so much talent, bro, And I'm right there
with you and for me, like I'm actually not from
you know, as you know, I'm not from Maryland. Originally,
I'm from Alexandra, Virginia, which is um, you know, the
(18:28):
border of you know, Nova, the border of the d
n B. But like I never wanted to go to
Virginia Tech or uv A even though those were technically
the the end state schools, Like I paid double in
the beginning as a walk on to go to Maryland
because it was less than a half hour from my
house and that was always the hometown schools for me. Like,
you know, forget what the state says, this is the
(18:50):
region the d m B. I claimed the d m
B DC Maryland, Virginia, not the rest of Virginia. That's
a whole different states to me. So yeah, I'm with you,
man to keeping them hometown boys home. And uh there
there's nobody that can touch us if that was the case. Absolutely,
my dude, my brother, Hey, I appreciate you for coming
on man as always, Uh tell your pops, man, I
(19:12):
love your pop. Well, dude, he's been upstairs waiting for this,
was he Oh my god, But I had the funniest thing.
I was standing out standing Mojoe's trip and I was
just sitting there kicking, and he got this love seat.
I don't know if you call that in your living
room love cushion, love love love sack. There you go.
I fell asleep the damn love sack that thing is.
(19:33):
I sat down for two seconds and that was the
last thing I remember. Uh So, anyway, man, I appreciate
you as always tell you, Pops, I said, what's up?
And I'll be down here soon. Bro. You know we're
always holding it down for lights out. And you know
too that every time before I hit that big forearm
knockout shot my you know my w W Matches, which
was my finisher right before I hit it, it was
(19:54):
always lights out the lights out. Man, Dude, you're the
best bro. I appreciate ate your brother. I'll hit you
when we get off. You got a brother. Thanks guys
for listening to another lights Out podcast. Me Sean Merriman,
Um and cool. We have good story some of those
stories we left off, we got some really good ones
(20:14):
we had. We had some good time. So I appreciate
Mojo for coming on, and thank you guys for listening always. Um,
and we got a couple of guests man, probably come
up within the next week or so. And I'm gonna
keep bringing some heat, So thank you guys. Keep leaving
those great reviews, keep leaving um you know those comments, man,
I love it. And then those reposts always help on
social media because more people get a chance to see.
(20:36):
So we'll be back next week again, Thank you guys.
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