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Many WWE Superstars started out in different sports before deciding to perform in the ring. Kurt Angle is an Olympic Gold Medalist in amateur wrestling, Ken Shamrock, Riddle and Ronda Rousey were in the UFC, and The Rock, Goldberg, and John Cena all have football backgrounds.
It should be no different for soccer then, as some players have decided to trade dribbling and scoring goals for a career in professional wrestling. However, not everyone who has made the switch from the soccer field to the ring has excelled. In fact, very few have been successful.
This list looks at four soccer players who didn’t excel in the WWE.
#1. On our list of soccer players who didn't excel in WWE: Barri Griffiths wrestled in WWE as Mason Ryan
Griffiths played as a center back for third division Welsh side Porthmadog FC at a time when the team was still in the nation’s Premier League. A knee injury forced him to quit soccer, and he began training to become a professional wrestler after he attended a wrestling event in 2006.
He trained at a school in Birkenhead and signed a five-year contract with WWE in 2009 after competing in matches all around the world.
Griffiths was given the name Mason Ryan and assigned to FCW in January 2010. He was called up to the main roster in 2011, and he made his debut on the January 17, 2011 episode of RAW. There, he interfered in a match between CM Punk and John Cena. Punk inducted him into the Nexus as a result of this.
He would then appear on a few more matches that year, before returning to NXT in 2013. He wrestled his final televised match on April 24, 2014 before being released by the company six days later.
#2. Tim Wiese wrestled as “The Machine” Tim Wiese
Tim Wiese played as a goalkeeper, making 307 appearances from his debut in 1999 until his retirement in 2014. He came out of retirement to play one match for SSV Dillingen in 2017.
The German played for four clubs during his career. Wiese made his debut at Fortuna Koln in 1999 and remained with the side until 2001. He was then transferred to Bundesliga side Kaiserslautern in 2001. Initially playing for their reserve squad Kaiserslautern II, Wiese managed to secure his place in the first team during the 2002/03 season.
Wiese then moved to Werder Bremen in 2005 but missed the first half of the season due to a torn ACL. He then signed with 1899 Hoffenheim on May 2, 2012, where he remained until he and the club agreed to amend his contract in 2014. This was due to his body being termed unsuitable for professional football.
He retired shortly afterward.
He was then offered a contract to join NXT that same year, and made his debut at a November 3, 2016 live event, where he teamed with Sheamus and Cesaro to defeat Primo, Epico and Bo Dallas.
This was the only match he wrestled before returning to soccer afterwards.
#3. Stuart Tomlinson wrestled in WWE as Hugo Knox
Like Wiese, Tomlinson played as a goalkeeper during his soccer days. He played for Crewe Alexandra's youth team from 2001 until he was called up to the first team in 2003.
Stuart played for the club until his transfer to Barrow during the 2009-10 season. He was loaned out twice during his time at Crewe Alexandra and played 20 games in the six years he spent there.
He played 20 games at Barrow as well, winning the FA Trophy in his one season with the club. Tomlinson’s next club was Port Vale, where he made 74 appearances before moving to Burton Albion in 2012.
There, he retired in July 2013 after being told his left knee was in poor shape due to scar tissue damage and a tear in his ACL.
Tomlinson was then given a developmental contract by WWE in December 2013. He began training with the company and made his debut at an NXT Live Event on November 8, 2014. He wrestled 62 matches on NXT before being released by WWE on September 30, 2016.
He then returned to soccer, where he played six games for Altrincham in 2017.
#4. Thomas Boric wrestled as Paul Diamond in WWE
Boric had dreams of becoming a soccer player when he was younger, to follow in the footsteps of his father. He played for the Old Dominion Monarchs during college and made his debut for the Calgary Boomers indoor team in 1980. He then moved to the Tampa Bay Rowdies in 1982, where he played 17 games.
He played for the Rowdies until the North American Soccer League’s closure in 1984.
Boric then decided to switch to professional wrestling and enrolled himself into Boris Malenko’s wrestling school in Tampa Bay.
He made his professional debut as Paul Diamond in the Texas-based promotion Texas-All Star Wrestling in 1985. He then moved to Jerry Lawler’s Continental Wrestling Association promotion in 1986 and spent two years there.
Boric then wrestled for the AWA from 1988 until 1990 before signing with WWE later that year. He had little success in WWE, initially working on the lower card in a tag-team named Badd Company. He wrestled as Kato at the time and was repackaged as Max Moon in 1992.
His contract was not renewed once it expired in 1993.
What do you think of this list? Which current soccer player do you think will fit well in WWE? Let us know in the comments section below.
