Image: Wikipedia
Muhtadi told Forbes the idea for the agency had sat in his back pocket for a long time. He said WWE is generous while a wrestler is on the roster, helping with travel, interviews and sponsorship deals, but that talent are then left to start again from the beginning. In his view, wrestling is the sport where everybody is “expendable”; an injury or a dispute with the company can see anyone written off television.
Having arrived in WWE from the National Football League, he spent ten years noticing the gap between the two worlds in representation and in support after a career ends. He watched former locker room friends, who had protected him in the ring, struggle to decide what came next.
Figures from that reporting showed the agency on pace to reach $10 million in revenue by the end of 2022. It represented more than 30 current and former wrestlers, among them Andrade El Idolo, The IIconics, Lana, Nia Jax and Shawn Spears. It had also delivered more than 300 individual payouts through partnerships with the National Football League, Walt Disney and Pepsi. Paragon is working with TJPW, CMLL, House of Glory, Stardom and Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling to stage Slam Fest in Las Vegas during WrestleMania 42 weekend, according to F4WOnline.
Because a wrestler released by a promotion that sponsored their visa must leave the country, muhtadi told The Takedown on SI that the visa work matters. F4WOnline reported that Paragon negotiates contracts and advertising deals and also secures visas for international clients.
Muhtadi, who still owns his Stay Hyped gimmick, told the publication that Xavier Woods set the template through his UpUpDownDown gaming channel. Appearances on that channel, he said, paid cheques the size of pay-per-view payments, without the weekly grind of chasing a match. Kaye told the publication that the deals secured so far have centred on what clients genuinely enjoy, including video games, the energy drinks they take before workouts, apparel and makeup lines. He said his own wrestling background helps him relate to clients, so the role often includes brainstorming creative ideas, acting as a sounding board and sometimes training in the ring with talent before big shows. On money, he said he urges clients to invest from the start, so they finish their careers with more than peers who earned multiples of their salaries. Muhtadi told The Takedown on SI that a full-time in-ring career is no longer possible for him, though he added: “Never say never”. He said a single good opportunity, most likely an event Paragon itself puts on, could justify a one-night comeback.
Paragon encourages clients to earn from their own authenticity rather than depend on the wrestling business alone. He explained that this organic enthusiasm comes through in their social media posts. That can mean walking away from a spouse, a partner and an established life at the same moment as losing a job.
