Former WWE star Mojo Rawley has recalled his Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal win at WrestleMania 33, and when he knew he was winning it.
Rawley recently appeared on "Stories With Brisco And Bradshaw," where he talked about his win at "The Show of Shows," and what Vince McMahon told him about his character.
"Maybe it was a week or two before," he said about when he knew he was winning the match. "I had just started my solo, babyface run, and you know, they’re trying to take advantage again, trying to find the best way to deliver my energy to the crowd, which was something Vince always told me, he was like, ‘I really don’t know how to book you. I’m not sure what to do; we have everything we need but I really don’t know what to do with it.’"
After being told he would be winning the match, Rawley said he and WWE tried finding new ways to bring more attention to the match.
"They told me I was going to be winning the Andre, they had been kinda building to it. I was kind of on this undefeated run and I was the first to declare for the Andre that year. They called me into the office and they told me I was going to be winning and we were trying to find like the way we could hype it up the most, where are we going to go from here, and how can we take this battle royal that. I think at that point it was starting to become a pre-show kind of a thing already. We’re trying to find the ways to maximize it."
He pitched the idea of bringing in NFL star Rob Gronkowski to the event, who was interested in being involved in WWE. Gronkowski helped Rawley win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal match, and returned to WWE a few years later, even winning the 24/7 Championship. Rawley also added they had decided to put the match on the pre-show to draw more viewers to the main show.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Stories With Brisco And Bradshaw" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
