World Wrestling Entertainment continues its search for the next generation of WWE superstars outside of the world of professional wrestling. The company launched “Next In Line” this past December, a program focused on finding college athletes and securing name, image, and likeness partnerships between them and WWE. In the ten months of the NIL program’s existence, WWE has already secured 25 active athletes, with three of them officially joining WWE after graduating from their respective universities. WWE continued the search for superstar hopefuls this past July at the WWE SummerSlam Tryout, which welcomed both college and professional athletes alike.
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While the WWE NIL program has mostly featured college athletes attending WWE-branded tryouts, now WWE is coming directly to them. WWE announced “WWE Campus Rush” today, a recruitment tour that will extend throughout the final months of 2022. WWE Campus Rush will feature WWE venturing to top NCAA Division I universities across the country.
- University of Mississippi – Tomorrow, October 12
- Georgia Tech University – Thursday, October 13
- Clemson University – Tuesday, October 25
- Boise State University – Tuesday, November 8
- University of Arkansas – Wednesday, November 9
- Ohio State University – Tuesday, November 15
- University of Kansas – Tuesday, December 6
- Penn State University – Wednesday, December 7
“WWE Campus Rush will serve as a core pillar in our commitment to finding the next generation of WWE Superstars among today’s elite college athletes,” said WWE’s Head of Talent Operations and Strategy James Kimball. “The talent pipeline from college sports to WWE has proven to be effective, as evidenced by current champions Roman Reigns and Bianca Belair, and we are looking forward to visiting major college campuses around the country to introduce ourselves in a new way.”
Big E, Bianca Belair, Omos, Madcap Moss, and Raquel Rodriguez will be present at the various stops along the recruitment tour to discuss how they successfully transitioned from their college sports to the squared circle and offer insight into what WWE can do for their careers. This tour will also include a promo competition between student athletes, similar to what went down at the WWE SummerSlam Tryout.
WWE is already looking to make WWE Campus Rush an annual tour. While no dates have been confirmed, WWE announced nine universities that they plan on visiting in 2023.
- University of Florida
- University of Michigan
- Michigan State University
- University of North Carolina
- Texas A&M University
- University of Oklahoma
- Auburn University
- University of Illinois
- Northwestern University
