WWE’s second class of collegiate athletes to receive name, image, and likeness agreements includes initial entrants in men’s basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, and cheer and dance, and four from Power 5 football programs.
The group of 15, participating in WWE’s Next In Line program, will train at the promotion’s academy in Orlando, Fla., and receive resources in areas such as branding and media communications. Gable Steveson, the Olympic gold medalist and NCAA heavyweight wrestling champion, officiated WWE’s inaugural NIL class alongside the Miami basketball twins and social media stars Haley and Hanna Cavinder.
The new group includes All-America gymnast Derrian Gobourne from Auburn, track and field star Chandler Hayden from Tennessee, Pac-12 heavyweight wrestling champion Cohlton Schultz and Ole Miss cheer and dance athlete Ali Mattox, the Won a World Championship with Team USA in 2019.
Illinois tight end Luke Ford, a former ESPN Top 100 recruit who started his career in Georgia, leads the football contingent along with Arizona State fullback Case Hatch, Stanford outside linebacker Thunder Keck and Michigan State tight end Maliq Carr, a transfer from Purdue who also plays for the MSU basketball team. The class also includes Hampton linebacker KeShaun Moore, WWE’s first NIL signee from an HBCU program. Hayden and Central Michigan basketball player Mikala Hall are among the attendees with large followings on social media.
WWE started the Next In Line program to identify future Superstars and develop them at a younger age. The promotion has a long history of hiring former collegiate athletes, including former standouts Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (Miami Football) and College Football Hall of Famer Ron Simmons (Florida State) and current stars Roman Reigns (Georgia Tech football) and Bianca Belair (Tennessee track and field). The average age of the 25 athletes in WWE’s NIL program – 12 women, 13 men – is 21 years.
WWE’s newest NIL class will be honored Monday night at the inaugural NIL Summit at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. In March, WWE held a tryout for 45 current and former collegiate athletes as part of WrestleMania week in the Dallas area.