Andrew Flintoff: I rejected obscene money to be a wrestler in WWE
The legendary England all-rounder retired from the international game at the end of the 2009 Ashes because of injury and, in his words, 'stumbled' into a career in TV.
'I fell out with it [cricket],' Flintoff told the Stick To Cricket podcast. 'I thought my best years were in front of me at 31, especially as a bowler. I was bowling the quickest I'd ever bowled and my batting was coming back.
'I thought the next three years were my years, but I never got that. I couldn't be around it. You know what it's like. You retire, and everything moves on, but you are left behind. That's not a criticism, it's just how it is. I couldn't watch cricket, I didn't want to be around it.'
Flintoff and his family moved to Dubai as he 'avoided' cricket and explored a career in TV, which included coming very close to joining the US wrestling circus.
'I nearly joined the WWE,' he said, adding that his name in the ring was due to be 'Big Fred'.
He added: 'I was unfit, had put weight on, and wanted to get fit again. I needed a motivation. I loved WWE as a kid, so I came up with this idea because I was doing [panel show] A League Of Their Own with Sky, to fight the Undertaker in Manchester.
'I wrote this treatment up, as you do in TV. You write an idea up and you present it. I presented it to Sky, and they loved it, so it started gathering momentum. Next thing it's passed to WWE and I'm in contact with them, with Vince McMahon.
'I trained my nuts off, got fit. The WWE flew me to Tampa. Me and the missus have gone over to Tampa, and I've got two weeks at wrestling academy. They fly us over from Dubai on business class, the limo picks us up, takes us to the hotel.
'Next morning, we go to the WWE Academy, it's two massive units, all branded. I'm sat in the car and these things are walking past me. They are like six foot eight, seven-foot monsters. My missus says 'are you all right with this?'. I said I'd be fine.
'I walked in, and nobody liked me because it's really competitive. Sixty-odd people all wanting a contract with the WWE, and this English lad has walked in.
'I do the warm-ups, and then they put me in the ring for three hours. I'd just run into someone and they'd throw me! After lunch I was in the middle and they were running at me. Then I started running the rings again. I got so tired that I jumped on this lad's legs and couldn't lift my head. I went straight through the apron and smacked my face, nose went, legs akimbo.'
Flintoff said he feared he had broken a rib and was left with 'lashes all down my back, and was getting beaten up left, right and centre'.
The 47-year-old continued: 'Two weeks later, I got an email from WWE, saying 'you can't do your documentary because you'll give the secrets away, but we want to put you on a three-year contract'. They said 'we'll fast-track you and in 18 months you'll be at WrestleMania and Royal Rumble'.
'The money was obscene, but we wanted to move back from Dubai. The kids wanted to play cricket and didn't want to move to America, so I just changed it to boxing and had a fight instead.'
Flintoff went on to have an eclectic TV career, including documentaries about subjects as varied as fish and chips, boxing and his battle with bulimia, as well as presenting Top Gear. It was while filming the BBC motor show in December 2022 that Flintoff suffered a life-threatening car accident. During his recovery, he has reconnected with cricket, and is now head coach of England Lions, the national team's second string. On Tuesday, he joined the Test team for training at Edgbaston ahead of the second Test against India that starts on Wednesday.
'Taking a step back from cricket has helped,' Flintoff said. 'You go out into the world and it's a very different place. You come back into it, and you are so grateful for the game. You think 'why have I not been here for so long?''
Flintoff also confirmed that he recently completed recording a third series of his hit BBC show Field of Dreams, featuring three new teams: two boys' sides, from Bootle in Liverpool and Newton Heath in Manchester, and a girls' team in Blackpool.
'All the boys are doing well,' said Flintoff. 'But what I didn't envisage is what I got from it. What happened with the accident, then going to India with these boys. That helped me so much. Even doing what I am now in coaching.
'We've just finished another one. I don't know what's going to happen after that. It's getting bigger and bigger, I don't know where it's going. But what it's highlighted is that if you give kids a chance, they are all right aren't they? Kids are good!'
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