THIS former England player wanted to become a WWE star, once clashed with Yuvraj Singh

India.com

8 hours ago

Andrew Flintoff was all set to join WWE after retiring from cricket. Vince McMahon even offered him a major contract, including appearances at Royal Rumble and WrestleMania, but despite the opportunity, Flintoff couldn't make the move to WWE.
Former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff recently revealed that after his retirement from cricket, he got a major offer from WWE. The offer came directly from WWE's co-founder Vince McMahon and included the chance to participate in major events like the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania, with a potential match against The Undertaker.
Flintoff took retirement from international cricket in 2010. After retirement, he began receiving offers to appear on television. During the same time, the WWE opportunity emerged. He seriously considered the idea of fighting The Undertaker in his hometown of Manchester, and the debate around this got centre stage during his appearance on Sky's show A League of Their Own.
After the offer was made Flintoff spent two weeks training at the WWE Performance Center in Tampa, Florida. He had been surrounded by 60 other wrestlers who were also struggling to get a contract of their very own and he observed that some did not like his presence because everybody was competing to get a few positions. The first day saw Flintoff get bruises on his back and injuries on his ribs due to the physical nature of WWE training which, according to Flintoff, was quite intense.
However, upon training, WWE recruited Flintoff and signed him into a three-year deal with an assurance that he would be in the Royal Rumble and the Wrestlemania within 18 months. The monetary package was high. The offer was, however, an extremely tricky one with all the stakes at high and the glamour not to mention, and Flintoff refused the offer not taking up a wrestling career.
When Flintoff appeared on The Overlap on Stick to Cricket he revealed that he had a desire to get back to Dubai life and family came first. His children wanted to continue to be associated with the cricket instead of residing to America, which also made him refuse the WWE offer because it was an enormous opportunity that he could have accepted.
He did not become a wrestler but later chose another avenue to enter combat sport and can be seen in his professional boxing debut in 2012. His narrations make it clear how individual morality and those of the family may count more than some of the most alluring job proposals, no matter how attractive and well-paid or public it is.