During his recent guest appearance on the “SHAK Wrestling” podcast, former WWE Superstar Dean Muhtadi, better known as Mojo Rawley, discussed the origins of Paragon Talent Group, an agency he founded, and his thoughts leading up to its inception.
Alongside his wrestling career, Muhtadi now holds the position of talent manager at Paragon Talent Group, where he manages contract negotiations with his previous employers at WWE.
Reflecting on his inspiration behind Paragon Talent Group, Muhtadi said, “I’d estimate that the seed was planted about halfway through my professional wrestling career. The idea has been something I’ve held onto for a long time. With my earlier experiences in the NFL before coming to WWE, I saw the level of representation that guys had. Having an agent, a manager, a publicist, and a whole team working to elevate and monetize your brand is the norm. But we didn’t have that in pro wrestling. Even in the NFL, players earning millions, some manage to pull in even more from other ventures. But in pro wrestling, particularly in WWE, once you’ve signed up, you can’t work outside of wrestling, period. At that time, most of the wrestling rooster didn’t have an agent or a manager and external help was not allowed. Opportunities outside of wrestling were rare unless you were a big name like The Rock or John Cena or Ronda Rousey.”
Muhtadi spoke further about the genesis of Paragon, saying, “I noticed this glaring gap and knew we had to fill it. The day after I finished with WWE, I set up the company. I called one of my closest friends, Steve, shared my idea, and he was immediately on board after our 15-second conversation,” referring to his business partner Steve Kaye, a recent participant on the FOX reality show, The Floor. “We got things rolling together, and it exploded in ways we couldn’t have envisaged. Yes, we put in a lot of effort, and we think we’ve done a solid job and that we’re ideally suited to this business. But fundamentally, this remarkable growth reflects the market demand and, more importantly, the talent. It’s truly amazing what skills pro wrestlers have compared to athletes in other sectors.”
Paragon Talent Group now has a wide roster of celebrities, representing stars like Samoa Joe, Ric Flair, MVP, Mercedes Mone, Taya Valkyrie, Jordynne Grace, Darby Allin, and Harley Cameron.