Mojo Rawley is Taking the Second Half of His Pro Wrestling Career Through Uncharted Waters (Exclusive)

Everyone remember the Hype Bros?

Yep, the wild and energetic NXT tag team that featured Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley. Those Hype Bros. Would you believe me if I told you that one of those off the wall guys that ran around NXT rings like they were on fire, was now a shrewd businessman that may change the industry forever?

Well, believe it.

Dean Muhtadi, formerly known as Mojo Rawley as part of the Hype Bros in WWE, isn't running around wrestling rings anymore. Instead, he's running around for talent and building a legacy for the industry that's more important than championship belts.

In an exclusive interview with The Takedown on SI, Muhtadi discussed his transition away from being an active pro wrestler, the future of talent representation in wrestling, Slam Fest during WrestleMania weekend in Las Vegas, and much more. Muhtadi's story begins with a little something called the Paragon Talent Agency.

"(The Paragon Talent Agency) was an idea that I had halfway through my WWE career," Muhtadi said. Playing in the NFL, albeit briefly, was a huge asset for me, and being able to compare the two industries. What worked best about each one? Which league might have been deficient in (some areas.) Really looking for opportunities in the future. One thing with that was the representation game.

"In the NFL, you got an agent. You got a manager. You got a union. You got a publicist. While you're with WWE, essentially the company does everything for you, but there are still places where you might need individual representation that is standing up for just you, as opposed to the collective whole. Seeing that there's no union and there was very, very, very limited representation in the space, I always knew that this was going to be my next move whenever wrestling came to an end... Paragon was always going to be the next step."

Mojo, Paragon Talent Agency, and representation

Mojo Rawley and Gronk | IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

Paragon Talent Agency is a full service representation agency for talent. It's more than just contracts. The business works for talent across multiple opportunity platforms.

"We started this thing in 2021," Muhtadi said. "Almost five years later, we did paid deals for over 500 talents last year, thousands of bookings. We also pride ourselves on providing a unique product offering for our talent. It's not just contracts. It's not just autograph signings, which was essentially what the vast majority of everyone in the space was doing. We do third party brand deals and sponsorships.

"We represent pro sports leagues as a whole. We do visas for the international talent, which we're very proud of as well. When people get that call from the bigs and they're now fired, they not are only losing their employment, but they also have to leave the country and go back to where they came from. Some of these people have spouses or significant others, I should say lives that have been established here. And to lose everything simultaneously is tough. So, you know, we've worked really hard to pivot based off of what our talent need."

Why is Muhtadi the man for this job? Easy. He's been there before.

"To my knowledge, I think I'm the only representative in the space that had an in ring career," he said. "So, I can relate to the talent firsthand. Some of what we do isn't just negotiating the contract, but it's coming up with creative and being that sounding board. Sometimes it's getting in the ring and training with these guys or girls before big upcoming shows.

"Sometimes it is venting. Sometimes it might be assistance with financial advice. Making sure talent know that this isn't going to last forever and you're making this money, but you got to be smart with it. You got to invest it from the start and that's how you end up having more money when you're done than the people that were making multiples of your salary while you were still in the game."

Muhtadi opened up on the business available to pro wrestlers. He said he believes that in the future there will be a point in time where outside business makes more for talent than their actual wrestling contracts.

"Wrestlers are master content creators," Muhtadi said. "When you're trying to find these outside brand opportunities, wrestlers get it more than anybody else. They know how to entertain ... Hopefully, it gets to the point where talent are making more for the outside stuff than they are for their wrestling contracts. We probably had 20 talents where we made them more in outside money than in their best years in WWE and their highest contracts."

Slam Fest 2026 in Las Vegas

In addition to repping talents in the pro wrestling industry, Muhtadi is becoming a man with the opportunities in his back pocket. He and his Paragon Talent Agency are presenting the second Slam Fest pro wrestling festival this year at The Palms in Las Vegas during WrestleMania 42 weekend. If you want to support wrestling talent that won't be on the big WrestleMania stag, this is the place to go.

"You got a lot of fans that are in town for a week," Muhtadi said. "They're flying in from all over the world. They are going to be looking for more than one thing to do. They're going to have the big wrestling shows, but maybe they want to see other wrestling shows with completely different styles. Maybe they want some up close, really intimate experiences getting to know the wrestlers. Dance with them, sing with them, play games with them, eat with them, drink with them.

"We've put together a very conscious lineup of a very diverse set of events to give the fans something different. We're not doing any kind of duplicate events here. Everything is going to be one of one and we're thrilled to bring that back to The Palms."

@ParagonTG AND @palms PRESENT SLAM FEST LAS VEGAS! #CMLL @tjpw2013 @wwr_stardom @HOGwrestling @MapleLeafPW Headline 4-Day Wrestling & Entertainment Festival Extravaganza | April 15–18 | TICKETS ON SALE FRI FEB 27 at 10am PT / 1pm ET https://t.co/QAG1W5T9Ea pic.twitter.com/r1GPY7mbaf
— Dean “Mojo” Muhtadi (@MojoMuhtadi) February 25, 2026

Slam Fest takes place April 15 through April 18 from The Palms in Las Vegas. The Pearl Concert Theater is the home for all the wrestling shows, which include TJPW, CMLL, Stardom, House of Glory, and Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling. On WrestleMania Saturday, Slam Fest will feature a pool party with entertainment, merch tents, contests, and appearances by various wrestler stars.

Is Muhtadi going to "get hyped" and throw on the wrestling tights again? As always in the wrestling business, never say never.

"I think I'm done with an in-ring career full-time," Muhtadi said. "Never say never. If we have one really good opportunity, and I'll be straight up, it's likely going to be an event that Paragon puts on. That would warrant a comeback for one night, but I think at this point, a full time return to an in-ring career is just not possible."

Talent representation it is. It's the future and it just might make a difference. That's how you stay hyped.