World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) held professional tryouts for embattled NFL quarterback Johnny Manziel.
Manziel flew from Dallas to WWE’s Performance Center in Orlando but was unable to attend the first day after becoming inebriated on the flight from Dallas. He was able to enter the ring the second day and undergo basic pro-wrestling training where he was evaluated by WWE trainers and executives.
Trainers at the Performance Center were said to be impressed by his athleticism and quick grasp of the sport. It will take time for Manziel to learn the basics, but the WWE trainers believe he has the ‘it’ factor.
WWE CEO Vince McMahon said, “We at the WWE love big personalities. We are in the sports-entertainment business, and who better than Johnny Manziel. A Heisman winner and future WWE champion.”
Manziel might be a bit small, but his stature suits the recent trend in wrestling.
McMahon says a development deal with the WWE is waiting to be signed if Manziel’s football career is over and he decides to pursue professional wrestling. “We know he’ll be able to cut a great promo and do well on the mic. Manziel is young and athletic enough that he could be on the main WWE roster in just a year or two. He will be a top priority and I told him that.”
Life After Football
Manziel told reporters he “had a blast running the ropes” and “I’m already a superstar so the transition to the WWE Universe won’t be hard.”
He was also happy about the lifestyle that clashed while in the NFL. “They let you drink hard without whining about it. It’s part of the wrestling code. Andre the Giant once drank one hundred beers and three bottles of wine in three hours,” said Manziel. “I can dig that.”
Manziel was a big wrestling fan during the Attitude Era in the late 1990s, naming Stone Cold Steve Austin and Rob Van Dam as his personal favorite wrestlers. “The reaction they got going out to the ring is awesome and I’d love to feel that energy. It’s like football, but all eyes would be on me. Who wouldn’t pay to see that?
“I’ve been playing football my whole life and maybe it’s time for a change. I’ve already been thinking of my wrestling finishing move. I call it the ‘Money Making Knockout.’ It’s a modified piledriver that’s devastating to the opponent and money making for me.
“I’ll be the new Daniel Bryan. Yes, yes, yes!”
Manziel would not be the first football player to join WWE. The Rock had played in the Canadian league before entering the squared circle. Steve ‘Mongo’ McMichael of the 1985 Chicago Bears wrestled for WCW in the 1990’s after his football career ended. And Lawrence Taylor wrestled Bam Bam Bigelow at Wrestlemania XI. Several other former football players are currently in the WWE or in the developmental league called NXT.
This year’s Wrestlemania will be held at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium and Manziel could make an appearance to see how the crowds reaction goes over.
