After he made his retirement from the sport of soccer, Adebayo Akinfenwa made his debut in the world of professional wrestling, premiering at PROGRESS Wrestling’s Chapter 145 when he would corner Anthony Ogogo.
On November 27, 2022, he will be making his official in-ring debut for PROGRESS. A couple of years ago in 2020, Adebayo spoke about being in talks with World Wrestling Entertainment, even jokingly declaring for the WWE Draft.
Adebayo Akinfenwa Was Interested In World Wrestling Entertainment
Being interviewed by Cultaholic, Adebayo Akinfenwa was questioned about his WWE talks.
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. 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.”
Adebayo Akinfenwa was also asked if Ogogo ever gave him any advice when he became a professional wrestler.
“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.”