Tyson Fury says he was warned by his promoter, trainer and father not to move into WWE before any proposed rematch with Deontay Wilder.
Fury, 31, will face Braun Strowman on 31 October and will earn a reported $12m (£9m) in his first WWE bout.
He says promoter Frank Warren had no idea of his involvement until he took part in a WWE show weeks after being badly cut in his win over Otto Wallin.
“He was mad,” said Fury. “He said I think this is a really bad idea.”
“Frank along with everyone else in my team was like ‘concentrate on your job, you are not a showman or a movie star’,” Fury told Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show.
“He said you could get injured and what happens if the cut re-opens of if you get injured shoulders.
“If we lived our lives on ‘what if’ we would never do anything. These are once in a lifetime opportunities.”
Fury is slated to face WBC world heavyweight champion Wilder on 22 February if the American defends his title against Luis Ortiz on 23 November.
He refused to say how much he was earning for his venture into WWE but says it has come at a “perfect” time given he cannot box while the cut that required 47 stitches heals.
“It’s a surreal experience,” Fury added. “Coming into this I didn’t know what to expect. Now I really know it’s one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. People say ‘it’s fake’.
“I say please come here and see how fake it is. I am getting thrown around the ring, it’s hard. The ropes are like barbed wire, my back is in bits, I am sore in places I didn’t think I could be sore in. I am thriving. I’m really enjoying the experience.”
Asked about the fact his WWE debut bout will take place in Saudi Arabia – a country heavily criticised over its human rights record – Fury simply said he was a “prize fighter” who will “go where I have to go”.
Since Fury’s WWE bout became official, boxing has seen tragedy after American Patrick Day died four days after suffering brain injuries in defeat to Charles Conwell.
Reaction to the death has seen calls for improved safety in boxing, while brain injury charity Headway re-iterated its desire to see the sport banned.
“We know what we are getting in for, the risk element,” said Fury. “Its not reality until something like this happens.
“It is kind of scary. I go in there, I’m in the heavyweight division with the biggest punchers out there. One of my biggest rivals is Wilder – one of the biggest punchers in heavyweight history – so I have to look at it seriously and ask what if it was me? Terrible times.”
