World Wrestling Entertainment is tapping into the star power of college sports and has signed at least 60 student-athletes to Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals since 2021.
These students, playing various sports, including track, football, and gymnastics, are offered chances to train as professional wrestlers under the WWE. Eight of them have transitioned into full-time wrestling.
One example is Oba Femi, a former shot putter for the University of Alabama, who became WWE’s NXT North American champion for 10 months.
While past WWE champions, like Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Brock Lesner, were college sports athletes, there was no systematic way of recruiting them. The wrestling giant hopes its new NIL programs will change that.
WWE traditionally scouted wrestlers from independent circuits but now actively targets college athletes, thanks to the NCAA’s new rules allowing athletes to monetize their names.
Legendary wrestler Shawn Michaels highlighted the rapid progress of these athletes, cutting down training time from five years to two.