A little under a week ago WWE announced its involvement in the NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) program with the NCAA. This program is meant to help not only recruit new talent with diverse backgrounds and skillsets but also help them further develop and monetize their brand. Today, WWE announced the first 15 collegiate signees to the program, and they are as follows.
The inaugural #WWENIL class has been revealed! https://t.co/qf4XVQlje3
— WWE (@WWE) December 8, 2021
- Hanna and Haley Cavinder of Gilbert, Arizona. A pair of 5-foot-6, twin sister basketball players from Fresno State University.
- Carlos Aviles of Ventura, California. A 6-foot-5, 305-pound track and field athlete from Ohio State University.
- A.J. Ferrari of Dallas, Texas. A 6-foot, 200-pound wrestler from Oklahoma State University.
- Lexi Gordon of Fort Worth, Texas. A 6-foot basketball player from Duke University.
- Aleeya Hutchins of Toronto, Canada. A 5-foot-5 track & field athlete from Wake Forest University.
- John Krahn of Riverside, California. A 7-foot, 400-pound football player from Portland State University.
- Glen Logan of Kenner, Louisiana. A 6-foot-5, 305-pound football player from LSU.
- Isaac Odugbesan of Lagos, Nigeria. A 6-foot-4, 275-pound football player from the University of Alabama.
- Mason Parris of Lawrenceburg, Indiana. A 6-foot-2, 275-pound wrestler from the University of Michigan.
- Masai Russel of Potomac, Maryland. A 5-foot-5 track & field athlete from the University of Kentucky.
- Jon Seaton of Hillsborough, New Jersey. A 6-foot-1, 285-pound football player from Elon University.
- Joe Spivak of Lombard, Illinois. A 6-foot, 300-pound football player from Northwestern University.
- Dalton Wagner of Spring Grove, Illinois. A 6-foot-9, 330-pound football player from the University of Arkansas.
- Riley White of Hoover, Alabama. A 5-foot-6 track & field athlete from the University of Alabama.
WWE and NIL Program Overview and Thoughts
Concerning the signings, there’s a lot to consider. Firstly, it is unsurprising that the vast majority of the signings are above 250 pounds, as it has been common knowledge since the revamp of NXT that WWE no longer has any interest in signing wrestlers smaller than this.
What’s also interesting to note is that there are only two legitimate grapplers amongst the 15 signings, A.J. Ferrari and Mason Parris. This more than likely has to do with the company’s philosophy of wanting to build their own stars from the ground-up, trained in nothing but the WWE main-roster style that has become so commonplace in the last decade or more. Finally, the most interesting signings are easily the Cavinder sisters; a young pair of 5-foot-6 identical twins. One hates to draw parallels, but look no further than the Bella Twins to see how successful young twins can be in the WWE, especially if they’re athletic and handled correctly.
Of all the signings, the Cavinder twins are probably the ones to look out for the most. There’s also a concern, however, that these new signings and this new NIL program as a whole. It could lead to a new mindset in WWE of workers blindly accepting bad characters either out of fear of being fired or simply not knowing any better. Then again, there’s certainly something to be said about the benefit of a constant influx of new, fresh talent with diverse athletic backgrounds that could help WWE’s long-time stale product. Ultimately, time will tell how these signings and the overall NIL partnership will go for WWE and the young athletes that sign with them.
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