Freddie Flintoff was offered 'obscene money' to join shock sport and would've been 'fast-tracked' to the top
Freddie Flintoff was offered 'obscene money' to join a shock sport and would have been 'fast-tracked' to the top.
Flintoff enjoyed a legendary cricket career, notably inspiring England to Ashes glory in 2005.
After calling time on his iconic career, the 47-year-old pursued a career in television, where he became the host of BBC programme Top Gear.
But a horrific crash halted the production of Top Gear, with the BBC eventually cancelling the show.
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Flintoff continues to be a TV presenter, having hosted a Christmas special for Bullseye, with ITV ordering more episodes of the programme.
However, it could have been very, very different for the ex-England star had he accepted WWE's offer as the pro wrestling promotion tabled a lucrative three-year deal.
He claims he would have been 'fast-tracked' and would have competed at Royal Rumble and WrestleMania.
Speaking on The Overlap and Betfair's Stick to Cricket show, Flintoff revealed how he nearly joined the WWE.
“What happened was, it got to a point in Dubai where I was unfit, I'd put weight on and I was just not in a good place. I wanted to get fit again, but I needed motivation," he explained.
“As a kid, I loved WWE, so I came up with this idea, because I was doing League of Their Own with Sky, to fight the Undertaker in Manchester!
“I wrote this treatment up and presented the idea to Sky, it started gathering momentum and next minute it's being passed onto WWE. I was in contact with the WWE, Vince McMahon!
“Dave Roberts 'Rooster' who was a physiotherapist who lived with us throughout my career, lived with us and looked after us. I asked him to send a trainer over to Dubai for six weeks because I needed to bulk up.
“He sent this fella over, I trained my nuts off, got fit and then the WWE flew me to Tampa. Me and the missus have gone over to Tampa, I've got two weeks at wrestling academy.
“They fly us over business class, next morning we get in the car and go to WWE's academy, two massive units all branded. We're sitting in the car and these things are walking past me, like 6ft 8in monsters.
“My missus asked, are you going to be okay? I said, 'yeah, I'll be fine'. I walked in - on the first day, nobody liked me because it's really competitive with 60 of us all wanting a contract with the WWE - then this English lad walked in."
Flintoff walked away from WWE's 'obscene' offer, referencing his family - revealing his kids didn't want to go to the United States.
"So I go in and we do the warm-ups, then they put me in the ring for three hours and I just ran the ropes; I'd run into someone and they'd throw me," he added.
“The second day I went in there, I had lashes all down my back and my missus said 'are you alright with this?'. I was sore and thought something's not right here.
“I said to this physio, 'I think I'm having a back spasm'; so they're all like 'ohh the English lad's got a back spasm'. So they put me on the couch, he's pushing me and I can feel my ribs separating.
"I said 'mate, I think I've broken my ribs'. He said I'd be in so much pain and I was like 'mate, I want to cry but I can't in there'. I went for an X-ray and this fella who puts it up asked 'what do you do' I said 'I'm a wrestler'. He asked, 'how long have you been doing this' and I said 'two days'.
"We did all of that - on the third day you do acting lessons, but I didn't think I was in on it. I was just sitting minding my own business and they said 'Fred, you're up'. I got up, and I had the microphone in my hand saying how hard I am; but I didn't like that so said 'can I do another'.
"I looked out and there were all of these weird and wonderful looking people, so I just tore them all a new one. They were trying to get me to wind up after two minutes but I was not finished.
"Two weeks later, I got an email from WWE, saying 'you can't do your documentary because you'll give the secrets away, 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 go to America, so I just changed it to boxing and had a fight instead.”
Flintoff has since returned to cricket as he is the coach of the England Lions team following his appointment last year.
The England Lions have an upcoming tour of South Africa in August.
Topics: WWE
Nasir Jabbar