5 former WWE Superstars you may not know served in the U.S military

Before they became pro wrestlers, some former WWE Superstars have served in the United States military.

Few current WWE Superstars have served in the United States military in the past two decades. Former WWE Champion Bobby Lashley, for example, joined the army after graduating from college, following in his father's footsteps. He spent three years in uniform before joining WWE in 2005.

Nonetheless, fans might not know about a few other former WWE Superstars who have also joined the military. These wrestlers served in different branches, including the Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force.

Here are five former WWE Superstars you might not know have served in the United States military.

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#5. Former WWE Superstar Trish Adora

Trish Adora kicked off her wrestling career in 2016 after training at the Team 3D Academy, under WWE Hall of Famers The Dudley Boyz.

Adora is a United States Army veteran. She spent eight years in the military and served in Afghanistan. However, she later decided to leave service and pursue a wrestling career.

"While I was [in the Army] I had these moments where I was faced with the decision where I was like, 'All right, either I’m going to re-sign up and do this for the rest of my life, or I’m going to try out wrestling and do that for the rest of my life.' It wouldn’t be fair to me if I didn’t at least explore what wrestling was," she told the Washington Post.

In 2016, Trish Adora started wrestling in a few promotions like IGNITE Wrestling, American Combat Wrestling, and Go Wrestle. The 32-year-old then received a WWE tryout in 2017. A year later, she made her WWE debut on the September 5 episode of NXT. Adora went head-to-head with Kairi Sane but came up short.

Trish Adora never competed again in WWE. She is currently wrestling on the independent circuit.

#4. Former WWE Superstar Steve Cutler

Steve Culter joined WWE in 2014 after spending two years wrestling in different promotions. Seven years before becoming a WWE Superstar, Cutler was in the military.

"I enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and was honorably discharged after four years of active duty, from November 2007 to November 2011. I proudly served this country as a Machine Gunner/0331 Infantry with Second Battalion 8th Marines Weapons Company. I was stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C," he told WWE.com.

The 34-year-old served in Afghanistan. In his interview with WWE.com, he confessed that he loved being on the front line. He also described how it felt being in a combat zone.

"I served at a time when the war in Iraq was transitioning back to Afghanistan. My time in the service is everything that I wanted to get out of it. I loved being on the front line. I know it sounds crazy, but why serve this country and not want to fight? (...) I served (in Afghanistan) from May to November of 2009 and then again from January to August of 2011 (...) There were a lot of good times and a lot of bad times. There are some things I’m not ready to speak publicly about and other things that just shouldn’t be talked about. But we made the most of what we had and turned it into good," he added.

Cutler spent nearly seven years in WWE, where he became part of the Forgotten Sons stable. However, WWE released him from his contract last February. He then started competing on the independent circuit. The 34-year-old joined Impact Wrestling last June.

#3. Former WWE Superstar Perry Saturn

Perry Saturn kicked off his wrestling career in 1991. He competed in ECW and WCW for several years before joining WWE in January 2000. Nonetheless, before becoming a pro wrestler, Saturn spent four years in the United States army.

Saturn enlisted in the military at the age of 17. Like Trish Adora and Steve Cutler, Saturn also served in a combat zone. He served as an Army Airborne Ranger during Operation Desert Storm in the Gulf War between 1990 and 1991.

The former WCW Tag Team Champion spent only two years in WWE. He debuted as a member of The Radicalz, alongside Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, and Chris Benoit. He later became a singles competitor, chasing the Hardcore and European Titles. He won the Hardcore Championship twice and the European Championship once.

WWE released Saturn in November 2002. Following his release, he competed in a few other promotions, including Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. The 54-year-old has not competed since 2013.

Saturn teamed up in his last match with former WWE Superstar Raven to defeat Brady Pierce and Mad Man Pondo in a Raven's Rules Tag Team Match at RPW Lights Out.

#2. Former WWE Superstar Raven

Former WWE Superstar Raven has also served in the United States military. As a young man, Raven was looking for an action-packed job.

"My two childhood dreams were becoming a professional wrestler and joining the CIA, because I thought that would be the most action-packed adventure job you could find," he told RAW Magazine in 2002.

Preparing himself to become a CIA agent, Raven joined the University of Delaware to study criminal justice. However, during his college days, he decided to give another action-packed job a try.

The 57-year-old enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and went through basic training. The former WWE Superstar also served in the reserves after college.

Raven later decided to ditch his dreams of becoming a CIA agent. Instead, he pursued a career in pro wrestling. He competed in many promotions throughout his career, including WCW, ECW, TNA, and WWE.

The 57-year-old had two short stints in WWE. His first WWE run lasted for nearly a year between 1993 and 1994. He returned to the company six years later to win the Hardcore Title 27 times. Nonetheless, WWE released him from his contract in January 2003.

#1. Former WWE Superstar Big Swole

Before stepping inside a WWE ring a few years ago, Big Swole served in the United States military.

After Big Swole graduated from high school, she went to college. However, she dropped out a year later and joined the U.S. Air Force.

"I remembered promising her when I was younger, because she wanted to go to the air force. But she didn't have anybody to push her to follow her dreams. And so I was like, mommy I'll go to the air force for you. And I made like this big promise about it and, cause she's like, yeah girl, sure, whatever you, you won't do it. And when I was like, well, what do I want to want to do? And I was like, well, I want to go to the air force," she told Borne the Battle podcast.

Big Swole worked as a Fire Truck Mechanic in the U.S. Air Force. After leaving service, she started wrestling. In 2016, she made a one-off appearance on Monday Night RAW, competing against Nia Jax.

Swole lost the match. Nevertheless, the 32-year-old returned to WWE two years later to compete in the 2018 Mae Young Classic.

The former fire truck mechanic officially joined AEW in December 2019. She recently defeated Allie Katch on the September 21 episode of AEW Dark.