The WWE has always had a history of former college athletes' making the transition over into professional wrestling. The most notable name that comes to mind -- and quite possibly the most famous wrestler in the promotion's history, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, used to play football for the Miami Hurricanes back in their heyday in the late '80s and early '90s.
The wrestling giant is now creating a pipeline for college athletes to potentially join the company after their playing days are over. The company has signed 15 amateur athletes to take part in the inaugural version of the 'Next in Line' program. The 15 new participants join Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson, who was a star wrestler at Minnesota and signed a deal with the WWE back in September.
The two most notable names to sign with WWE, Fresno State's Haley and Hanna Cavinder, two twins who have been fully taking advantage of the NCAA's new name, image, and likeness. The two are both stars on the basketball court and on social media. Over the summer, they signed deals with Six Star Pro Nutrition and Boost Mobile, among others.
Here is the list of the athletes that were selected:
Under WWE's 'Next in Line' program, athletes will have access to the companies performance center in Orlando, FL. In addition to this, athletes will have access to pretty much every resource at the company, including brand building, media training, communications, live event promotion, creative writing and community relations. Upon the completion of the NIL program, athletes will have to opportunity to be offered a contract with the WWE.
The new NIL rules allow WWE to work directly with college athletes now more than ever and will make it easier for them to transition. I mean just think if they had this program back when Brian 'The Boz' Bosworth was at Oklahoma, he would've been the most hated -- while being the most paid wrestler in history. Current WWE champions Roman Reigns and Big E were both college football players prior to joining the company, while other wrestlers were participants in other sports before transitioning over the world of professional wrestling. to their wrestling careers, while many other current WWE stars took part in other sports before transitioning to the world of professional wrestling.
“The WWE NIL program has the potential to be transformational to our business,” WWE executive Paul “Triple H” Levesque said last week. “By creating partnerships with elite athletes at all levels across a wide variety of college sports, we will dramatically expand our pool of talent and create a system that readies NCAA competitors for WWE once their collegiate careers come to a close.”
Follow Jasper Jones on Twitter: @jonesj2342
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy Sports
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram