MMA star and former Impact Wrestling talent Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal was recently a guest on the In this Corner podcast via CBS Sports. Lawal talked once declining a WWE offer, AJ Styles stealing his move, MMA being easier than WWE, and more.
Here are some highlights.
On MMA being easier than pro wrestling:
“I said this and I’m going to say it again — MMA is a lot easier than pro wrestling. Hands down, hands down. There are times that I fought three times in two nights [in MMA]. Whatever. And then I went home, took a week off and trained again. I did three matches in two days at OVW and I was sore for two and a half weeks. I mean sore. … That’s when I realized maybe wrestling wasn’t for me.”
On turning down WWE offer in 2007:
“The bumps were not a big thing, it’s just hitting the ropes and taking a bump. That’s what got me because when you hit the ropes and you do that little shoulder tackle spot, I missed that a few times and hit the back of my head on the mat. And guess what you people, the mat isn’t soft. It’s wood, metal and a small piece of styrofoam.
“In OVW, they have had the same ring and haven’t changed nothing out of that ring since they first opened. So it’s the same ring they had. I was hurting, the heels are hurting, my neck, back and hips.
“I’ll never forget the second time around Al Snow had us doing five-hour workouts and practices. Body slams, chops, jumping over the ropes and jumping through the ropes, and taking duplexes … I’ll put it like this — I got chopped 30 times during that workout and my chest was bleeding. They don’t feel good at all.”
On AJ Styles stealing his move:
“Let me put it like this — AJ Styles stole my calf slicer move. You can ask Al Snow, we were going over the move and I hit it in the match and got the submission win. Three weeks later, I see AJ Styles hit it. Now AJ Styles is a great wrestler so he can do whatever he wants.”
You can listen to the full interview below.
