Adebayo Akinfenwa is retired from soccer and entered the world of pro wrestling at PROGRESS Wrestling Chapter 145 when he cornered Anthony Ogogo.
He is set to make his in-ring debut at the November 27 PROGRESS event. In 2020, Adebayo said he was in talks with WWE and jokingly declared for the WWE Draft.
Speaking to Cultaholic, Adebayo was asked how true those rumors were.
"There was conversations. There was truth in conversations. My team sat down with their team. To be fair, me and Triple H had sent messages. These were times when I was still 100% concentrating on football. Now I'm retired, I was lucky enough to play 22 years, now I'm finished, I want to try my hands at many different things and what lands, lands. I'm going to try and enjoy the next chapter of my life," he said. "PROGRESS Wrestling came about, Anthony Ogogo reached out to me, he's a friend of mine, I've known him for years. He made the transition from boxing to wrestling. He reached out and asked if I would have his back. When they call The Beast, The Beast has to come. I enjoyed the first wrestling experience."
When asked if Ogogo gave him any advice when it came to wrestling, Adebayo commented, "You have to want to do it and you have to put your due diligence. I truly believe, I had worked out with Sheamus a couple of weeks, and we had a similar conversation. The due diligence that gets put in, some people don't see. We did a workout, me and Ogogo did a workout, I see it firsthand, what they put themselves through and how seriously they take it. That's the advice they gave to me."
Adebayo said to "watch this space" when asked about a potential AEW appearance.
Fans can find results from PROGRESS Wrestling Chapter 145 by clicking here.
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