Vince McMahon is an ECU alum and MANY wrestlers are ex-football, basketball and baseball players.
Many wrestlers also have a background in high school, college and Olympic wrestling, which also makes for a drastically easier transition.
Also comes with a ideal body type, already in peak form at that. It’s a smart play all it takes is one of two to become really big and the whole experiment pays for itself
I nominate Derek Parris. His wrestling nom de plume will be THE SACKMAN.
Gable Stevenson already signed his WWE NIL contract after his ncaa championship last spring. He comes back to defend his senior year.
He does backflips after he wins.
And he has a gold medal.
No Cougars, unfortunately.
A friend I train with that made the UFC as a heavyweight and wrestled in college was invited to the wwe scouting tryout. Loved his athleticism. Loved his abilities. Told him to get more camera time and more ‘smack talking’ ability. So much of it is about the salesmanship.
Yes it is. The charisma is what gets people over as a top star in WWE, as well as buy in from the boss.