WWE announced it’s ‘Next In Line’ NIL program earlier this month, which will allow WWE to recruit and develop future performers through collaborative partnerships with college athletes.
Naturally, the first wrestler who comes to mind with a program like this is WWE Hall of Famer and Olympic Gold Medal winner Kurt Angle. Angle spoke about WWE’s NIL program on the Kurt Angle Show, saying that he believes the program will be ‘very effective’ for the company.
He said:
“I think the Next in Line program is very effective because you’re getting college athletes and a lot of these athletes are going to be world-class athletes. Those are the kind of athletes you want in professional wrestling. You can be a non-athlete and join a territory and work your way up and still be a great worker. What WWE is looking for is those nostalgic athletes that are graduating college and don’t have a future in sports. In other words, a great football player that was all-American in college and didn’t get drafted into the NFL, he’d be a great choice to pick for WWE. I think it’s a great program and I think you need a little bit of both. You want the old school where you have the territories and the small promotions where you can work, and work on your character, and work on your development in the ring. I think you need a little bit of both of those. NXT is like the training super ground where they basically throw everything at you at once and try to come up with something. I think it takes years of experience to become a great professional wrestler and I think the small territories are very effective, and that’s where we get a lot of our characters. Where they come up with gimmicks and carry it over to the WWE. I think you want both of them, the Next in Line program and the smaller promotions.”
Angle spoke about potentially serving as a coach for the NIL program, saying:
“I would definitely do it. I would love to scout amateur athletes. I know what it takes to be a pro wrestler and I was a world-class athlete. None better than me to do that job.”
WWE has already announced the first group of NIL athletes, which you can see here.
transcription via Wrestling Inc.
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