In search of its next star, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is setting up shop on O‘ahu this weekend.
WWE, the world's most prominent professional wrestling promotion, will have a recruitment booth at the Hi Fit Expo, which takes place the Neal S. Blaisdell Exhibition Hall on Saturday and Sunday.
A member of the WWE's talent development team will be present to speak with individuals interested in learning about the process of joining the organization.
"It's kind of like a job fair, just educating them about the business and making that first contact," Nick Alvarez of the WWE's communications team told Aloha State Daily.
Alvarez confirmed that the WWE's presence at the Hi Fit Expo this weekend will be the organization's first time in the Islands openly recruiting in an organized capacity.
When NCAA athletes became permitted to earn money off their name, image and likenesses (NIL) in 2021, the WWE followed suit by launching its own NIL program in 2021. The WWE's NIL program, short for Next In Line, is a developmental program in which the organization identifies current college athletes that are deemed as a potential fit once they are done playing their original sports. Athletes in the WWE's NIL program are then compensated financially and promoted.
"We kind of express to an athlete that has that natural rhythm in their life of waking up, training, lifting, recovery, and then whether their careers end or when they start thinking about what's next, we've found that there's a lot of similarities between a training schedule for an Olympic athlete or a ball sport athlete and what we do in the ring and what our wrestlers do in the ring," Alvarez said. "What we've done over the last couple of years is reach out through our NIL program or just reach out to college kids directly."
Alvarez points to current WWE stars Tiffany Stratton, Bron Breakker and Oba Femi as just a few of the developmental success stories. Stratton (born Jessica Woynilko), 27, competed in gymnastics before crossing over to wrestling. Meanwhile, Breakker (born Bronson Rechsteiner), 28, played college football for Kennesaw State and briefly signed with the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent before switching sports. Femi (born Isaac Odugbesan), 28, signed with the WWE's NIL program in 2021, back when he was an SEC shot put champion at the University of Alabama. All three appeared in WWE NXT, the WWE's developmental program, before matriculating to the WWE as full-timers.
"These are people who were found through their athletic career and then transitioned into wrestling, because a lot of that showmanship just carries over," Alvarez said. "What our great talent development team does is try to find those outlets where there's room for expression, and room for that kind of great fertile ground of athletes. That's why they're heading down to Hawai‘i, in addition to the beautiful weather — to kind of make contact there and kind of establish a presence in the region and start trying to attract some of those talents to potentially join our developmental program."
Despite its success with collegiate athletes in recent years, all comers are welcome this weekend.
"I would say the net is as wide as you can imagine, just because there's really no one-size-fits-all for a wrestler," Alvarez said.
If the WWE were to find its next prominent wrestler in Hawai‘i this weekend, the process of getting that wrestler to achieve stardom will take time given the nuances of the sport.
"I'm not gonna say it's seamless, because it's hard work," Alvarez said. "From the physical aspect, taking a bump or hitting someone in the ring, you have to like that, and you're going to have to be good at it, and then we can work on a character, we can work on finding that next level for you to present yourself. But if you have that look that's natural, or there's an athlete who's naturally charismatic, that makes sense, too."
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Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
