WWE has a long history of turning ex-college athletes into superstars. The list ranges from Ron Simmons (Florida State football) to Dwyane "The Rock" Johnson (Miami football) to current stars such as Roman Reigns (Georgia Tech football), Bianca Belair (Tennessee track and field), Brock Lesnar (Minnesota wrestling) and Ettore "Big E" Ewen (Iowa football).
The promotion is looking for more talent in familiar spots. On Wednesday, WWE will launch its "Campus Rush" program, an eight-stop recruiting blitz where college athletes can learn about careers in professional wrestling. The tour begins at Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi, before moving to Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Thursday. Additional stops include Clemson (Oct. 25), Boise State (Nov. 8), Arkansas (Nov. 9), Ohio State (Nov. 15), Kansas (Dec. 6) and Penn State (Dec. 7).
Belair, the current Raw women's champion, and Big E will join former college athletes Tolulope "Omos" Omogbehin (ex-basketball player at South Florida and Morgan State), Michael "Madcap Moss" Rallis (Minnesota football) and Raquel Rodriguez (Sam Houston State and Texas A&M-Kingsville basketball) on the tour. They will speak with college athletes about WWE's name, image and likeness program, called "Next In Line," which launched in December and already has 25 active athletes with NIL partnerships.
In addition to the NIL program, WWE has held tryouts at its major events where more than 100 college athletes have participated and nearly 50 signed with the promotion.
The WWE's current NIL group includes Miami basketball players and twin sisters Haley and Hanna Cavinder along with athletes competing in football, volleyball, gymnastics and cheer and dance.
Three college athletes who signed NIL agreements with WWE -- Gable Steveson, the Olympic gold medalist wrestler and NCAA champion at Minnesota, former Northwestern football player Joe Spivak and former Alabama track and field thrower Isaac Odugbesan -- are already training at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando.
"The talent pipeline from college sports to WWE has proven to be effective, as evidenced by current champions Roman Reigns and Bianca Belair," James Kimball, WWE's head of talent operations and strategy, said in a statement. "We are looking forward to visiting major college campuses around the country to introduce ourselves in a new way."
WWE's "Campus Rush" tour will continue in 2023 with stops at Florida, Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Auburn, Illinois and Northwestern.