The third class of WWE college athletes signing name, image and likeness agreements with the promotion include NCAA champion soccer players and Georgia softball player Jayden Fields, sister of Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields.
Announced Thursday, the class of 15 includes the first WWE competitors in football, tennis, women’s wrestling and softball. A WWE program called “Next in Line” identifies promising college athletes who remain eligible and introduces them to WWE events and training before discussing potential development contracts to launch their careers as a professional wrestler.
The new group includes Pennsylvania state wrestler Greg Kirkvliet, two-time American champion at 285 pounds; four-time NCAA hurdling champion Turner Washington of Arizona; and Alia Armstrong of LSU, NCAA hurdling champion. Four players signed contracts: Kentucky running back Dee Beckwith, Penn State offensive lineman Nick Dawkins, Rutgers defensive lineman Isaiah Eaton (a recent transfer from Ole Miss), and Arkansas defensive lineman Landon Jackson.
Peyton Prussin, a 109-pound high school student at Life University in Georgia, becomes the first female wrestler to sign an NIL contract with WWE. There are also freshmen in football (Abby Jacobs of South Alabama), tennis (Alexandra Jaxek of Mary Washington) and softball, where Jaden Fields has started the past two seasons for Georgia and has a .332 career hitter. This class includes athletes from all strength conferences and two from Pennsylvania State with Kirkleet and Dawkins.
The WWE NIL program was launched in 2021 by Gable Stevenson, a Minnesota NCAA wrestling champion and Olympic gold medalist who trained at the WWE Performance Center. Other former NIL signings include former Northwestern linebacker Joe Spivak, who has a development contract with WWE and competes in NXT under the name Tank Ledger.
Source: www.espn.com
