New WWE Recruit Discusses Joining Before Triple H Regime Change

WWE

WWE Next in Line (WWE NIL) program recruit Ruben Banks has recalled joining WWE before the regime change that saw Triple H take over as Chief Content Officer.

Ruben Banks, a 6-foot-four track and field athlete at the University of Arkansas, was announced as a signee to WWE NIL in June 2022.

This was notably before Vince McMahon’s retirement as WWE Chairman and CEO on July 22, 2022.

Banks spoke about the ‘daunting’ changes to Wrestling Inc, saying:

“Triple H is head of creative now, so things are kind of moving in a different direction. It’s been interesting to see so far.

“I’ll say daunting, for one, because this is definitely a new world for me. To be honest, I never really thought about wrestling as a career until quite recently, when this NIL program launched. So it is quite daunting just seeing different fan bases, and relearning all the things I had forgotten over the years.”

As previously reported, the NIL program was officially announced in late 2021 and is an initiative by WWE that offers a pathway from collegiate athletics into professional wrestling. You can learn more about the program here.

Ruben Banks was signed along with 14 other athletes during the second NIL intake that took place at the inaugural NIL Summit at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.

Speaking about the class that was signed before him, Banks expressed his excitement at his upcoming journey into pro wrestling, saying:

“But it’s definitely exciting, man, seeing where it’s going. Seeing a lot of the other people in my recruiting class, and the recruiting class before me, like Zachary, the wrestler from Hofstra, he’s just huge. And I’ve talked to A.J. Ferrari as well, he’s in the first class.”

A.J. Ferrari is a recruit from the first intake phase. His future is unclear following charges against him for an alleged sexual assault in July 2022. You can read more about the charge and a statement from Ferrari’s attorney at this link.

Though Triple H was not in charge at the time of Banks’ signing, he will no doubt benefit from the regime change as Triple H has long championed emerging talent with the NXT brand.

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• Ruben Banks
• WWE NIL program
• Triple H
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