Mojo Rawley opens up about his long battle with the lingering effects of COVID-19.
Early in 2022, Mojo Rawley took to social media to reveal that he was working on a comeback to professional wrestling after a long layoff and being released by WWE. he also shared that he had tested positive for COVID a year-and-a-half previously leading to a long battle with the lingering effects of the disease.
Appearing on The Sessions with Renee Paquette, Mojo spoke in greater detail about the disease and the road to recovery he has had to walk.
“The first few days weren’t so bad, it was just kind of like the on-and-off spotty fever, like the chills and whatnot, I think most people get it. I’m not sure what happened from there,” Mojo began. “My fever spiked to 104, I was overheating, it was so crazy. I remember taking an ice-cold shower to try and get my body temp down and the freezing cold water would touch the top of my head and by the time it touched my neck, it was like boiling hot. I was like that’s crazy that this amount of distance was causing freezing water to boil,” Mojo continued.
Eventually, he would go to the hospital but that was only the beginning of the lingering issues.
“I went to the hospital they checked me out and checked my temperature, they didn’t have anything to do but have me sit in a cold room to bring my temperature down but after that, I just started developing this cough and these breathing issues,” Mojo explained. “I was coughing so bad that the blood vessels in my eyes burst so my eyes were bloodshot. Of course, as a wrestler, the first thing I wanted to do with start taking pictures to document it like we do. I just couldn't breathe, I couldn't get a full breath in. I get like these little half breasts where the air would kind of get to here and it would stop before it gets up to a place you can actually really get it in, so I couldn't lay on my back couldn't lay on my side. I couldn't wear T-shirts because it would suffocate me, that extra pressure on my lungs was just awful.”
Mojo also explained how COVID affected his sleeping habits, which he says he was never a great sleeper to begin with.
“I had to learn how to sleep sitting forward in a chair. I was having to take NyQuil and all of these melatonin sleep aids combined together just to kind of pass out for a little bit. On certain days, it got so bad that I couldn't speak. I just couldn't get enough air in to talk and it's like every breath for weeks months was an active process, something that I had to actively do. It was scary because I kept seeing the doctors and everyone was like, ‘This is brand new. We don't know what to tell you. We don't know how to treat this. We can clearly see that your lungs are bad,’” he recalled.
Talking about wanting to eventually return to WWE despite what he was dealing with, Mojo says he pitched many different ideas, including working in the corporate office but it was decided that it would be best for him to stay home until he was 100%.
“I don't know what's better: to try and go back with them knowing that I'm recovering, just to do something, or to wait until I'm 100 and then get back to business as usual,” he explained. “I remember pitching ‘Hey, what if I was someone's hypeman, a manager role, a bodyguard, commentary, announcing, anything. Shoot, send me to the corporate office and let me use my business degree and let me essentially do what I'm doing now for you guys’. But, and I agree with them on this, it was decided it was better to just stay home until I was ready. What was the point of rushing it and, you know, maybe making me worse or taking a step back to try and take one step forward? It just wasn't worth it. So there was just kind of all these things going through my head and I was just like, I don't know what to do. I'm lost. I have no idea how to handle this,” Mojo said.
Now, he is on the mend and moving on in life if you recently revealed on social media that he is now engaged to be married.
During his time in WWE, he was able to capture the WWE 24/7 Championship and be featured at WrestleMania 36 alongside Rob Gronkowski. A few years earlier at WrestleMania 33, Mojo would win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
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