WWE are looking to recruit rugby players to be the next superstars

“The kind of athlete they’re looking for is exactly in rugby union’s wheelhouse.”

Is the next Stone Cold Steve Austin or John Cena lining up alongside you on a Saturday afternoon? Maybe you fancy yourself as a potential superstar? Either way, WWE are looking to recruit rugby players to be the superstars of the future.

In the most recent episode of JOE’s House of Rugby, Alan Dymock joined host Lee McKenzie and the panel of Jonathan Davies and Alex Goode.

Dymock is an ex-professional rugby player with Glasgow Warriors who now works as a journalist. He told the panel how he has chatted to WWE’s head honchos regarding a pathway into the squared circle for rugby players.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ_xQfLFDrx/

Dymock said he initially noticed the WWE’s offer when scrolling through a rugby recruitment website.

He said: “My interest got piqued because, over the last couple of years, we’d seen rugby recruitment sites saying ‘I don’t know if you know this, but the World Wrestling Entertainment [WWE] are trying to get hold of former or current rugby athletes between the ages of 24 and 28. Do you think you’d be up for it?'”

The ex-Glasgow Warriors prop then contacted the WWE to see if the rumours were true.

“I went directly to them and they said ‘Yep, absolutely, this is 100% legitimate, do you want to talk to Triple H about it? He’s pretty keen to explore the avenue.”

Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque has won the WWE title nine times, and now works as the company’s Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy & Development.

“48 hours later,” Dymock says, “I was on a phone call with him talking about it all and I realised that there were lots of different avenues.”

In the latest issue of @Rugbyworldmag we delve into the world of WWE and lay out the pathway open to elite rugby players who want to break into wrestlinghttps://t.co/cvGVx8I3VJ

— Alan Dymock (@AlanDymock) January 7, 2021

Dymock said there is a great deal of crossover between the type of athlete WWE are looking for, and the skill-set rugby players possess.

“The kind of athlete that they are looking for is exactly in rugby union’s wheelhouse.

“They’re looking for men or women who are mature enough yet in their mid to late twenties, who have the right physical attributes, know how to graft, can do a bit of teamwork, don’t mind touring and that ticks a lot of boxes with rugby.”

Rugby World Cup winner Tendai Mtawarira has previously spoken of his desire to one day compete in WWE.

The Springbok legend won the World Cup in 2019, but told WWE superstar Kofi Kingston he’d love to set foot in a WWE ring at some point.

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Mtawarira told Kingston: “To actually get the opportunity to come to the WWE, even on a once-off appearance, I would be so excited. Let’s see what happens man, maybe you can open some doors!”