Former WWE star Dean Muhtadi (Mojo Rawley) spoke with Shakiel Mahjouri of SHAK Wrestling on several topics, including negotiating deals for his clients with his former bosses at WWE.
Muhtadi said, “It was funny in the very beginning talking to people that used to be my bosses and negotiating contracts on that side, I mean, look, some of these places, they don’t ever want to deal with an agent. They pick up the call and they’re like, ‘Well, this is going to cost me money.’ I mean, if you’re a good agent, you’re only going to make your talent more money.”
On his experience with bad agents:
“I mean, look, I’ve seen my share of bad agents and that was part of the reason we wanted to start doing contracts in the first place because I was hearing all these horror stories from other talent that had signed their deals and at the time, they didn’t even know they were bad deals, they didn’t know how much money and opportunity was left on the table. Once you talk it out and you realize that all of these things could have been negotiated in, it sucks for them, because now you’re locked in for 3 to 5 weeks years and who knows, maybe that’s your last contract and then it’s done.”
On how it can be stressful:
“But yeah, that’s the game right. If you’re an agent, it’s going to be somewhat stressful, it’s always going to be a dogfight in certain places with certain people and that’s the game, man. As long as you can find a way to get your people to where they need to be and you can feel that win and everybody goes home happy, that’s the mission. You’ve got to learn to take your own personal ego out of it and do what’s best for your talent.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to Fightful for transcribing the above quotes)
