$10 Million Led To WWE Cancelling SummerSlam Plans

WWE

Former WWE star Mojo Rawley has recalled scrapped plans for Rob Gronkowski at SummerSlam 2020.

The August 23, 2020 premium live event was one of the first shows in the WWE ThunderDome, during the height of the pandemic.

Speaking with WrestlingNews.co, Rawley, real name Dean Muhtadi, revealed that there were at one point plans for him and the Gronk to team at the event.

Noting that plans were nixed after  Gronkowski decided to return to football for one more season, on a big money deal, Muhtadi said:

“Rob was hanging it up from football. The plan was to do a tag match with me and him at SummerSlam because it was in Boston that year. I think we were going to work with Miz and John Morrison.

“They were throwing around some names. There was, you know, potentially The Revival we were talking about. Obviously, it’s their call so they were going to do what they think.

“Any one of those guys would have made that match an incredible match and Rob was ready to come in and work.

“But yeah, he came in, he signed the contract. From Boston, I think I was going to turn on him and then we were going to have the one on one, no DQ match in Saudi Arabia where my dad’s whole side of the family lives, was kind of like the storyline.

“After I turn on him, you beat the crap out of me in my hometown in front of my family. I’m gonna do the same to you in Saudi at one of these big matches, and I thought that was gonna be dope.”

“He would have had enough time to come in and train like, you know, Bad Bunny and Logan Paul, guys that train every single day in the ring for three, four or five weeks, you know, and they’re training for one match.

“They’re not training for a different match every night. So when you’re training for one match, you can get anybody there to go in and kill it with enough training if they have a good athletic pedigree, which of course Gronk has.

“That was the plan, but then I was sitting with him in his trailer before a SmackDown when Brady and Drew Rosenhaus called him and told him that (Tom) Brady was, you know, gonna go to the Bucs.

“Rob had, I believe 10 million or more on the table to go back for one season left on his contract and it was just like, it was a no brainer to come back.

“He was feeling good. He’s feeling fresh. Go back for one last run. Of course, they won a Super Bowl, so he made the right decision. I can’t knock him for that.”

Gronkowski had hosted that year’s WrestleMania 36 event, at which he won the 24/7 Title from Muhtadi.

Muhtadi was let go by WWE in April 2021.

Transcription via WrestlingNews.co.

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• Rob Gronkowski
• mojo rawley
• SummerSlam
• wwe

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