WWE Performance Center Hosted Tryouts For Collegiate Athletes

WWE held tryouts at their Performance Center yesterday for six collegiate athletes. WWE released an announcement with background on the six athletes who took part.

The training was overseen by Head Coach Matt Bloom and coaches Norman Smiley, Robbie Brookside and Hartley Jackson, with NXT’s Daniel Vidot and Denzel Dejournette helping with the in-ring drills. Gerald Brisco was also there to observe.

Coatesville, Pa.’s Michael Boykin, a 285-pounder who grappled at North Carolina State University. A World Team Trials qualifier and two-time NCAA Division I tournament qualifier, Boykin competed at 197 pounds for his first two years at NC State before moving to heavyweight.

Fulton, Md.’s Cory Gilliland-Daniel, a heavyweight starter from the University of North Carolina who also twice qualified for the NCAA national tournament. Gilliland-Daniel notched a 23-9 record in 2017-18 and went undefeated in ACC competition.

Two-time NAIA All-American Jesse Gomez, from Fullerton, Calif. The 23-year-old Gomez most recently wrestled as a heavyweight for Missouri Valley College. In February, he was named to the Heart of America Athletic Conference all-conference second team.

26-year-old Seville Hayes, who won the 2015 California Community College state championship at Palomar College before joining California Polytechnic University in 2017. The 6-foot-2, 240-pound Californian also served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2011 to 2015.

Derek Hillman, a 6-foot-2, 220-pounder from Woodhaven, Mich. Hillman went to the finals of the 2018 Mid-American Conference championships, representing Eastern Michigan University in the 197-pound weight class. He took fifth place in this year’s MAC championships, wrestling for Ohio University.

Basketball player Zech Smith, of McLoud, Okla. The 7-foot, 310-pounder played center for the Morgan State Bears before turning pro in international competition. He is currently listed as a member of the Washington Generals, the longstanding rivals of the Harlem Globetrotters.