5 WWE Superstars' surprising career aspirations before becoming wrestlers

In a recent interview, current WWE NXT General Manager William Regal revealed that as a child, he wanted to become a clown or a comedian before settling on becoming a professional wrestler. The choice to become a wrestler turned out to be a great one for William Regal, as the star is a multiple-time champion in WWE and won the King of the Ring tournament in 2007.

William Regal isn't the only WWE Superstar who had different career ambitions before turning their hand to wrestling.

Before deciding to dedicate their life to in-ring competition, many WWE Superstars had very contrasting original plans, and some even began training in a different field before becoming a wrestler.

Here are some WWE Superstars who wanted surprising careers before becoming wrestlers.

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#5 WWE NXT Star Tegan Nox originally wanted to be a footballer

WWE NXT star Tegan Nox grew up as a huge fan of wrestling but had first set her heart on becoming a footballer. As a youngster, Nox loved sports and played netball and rugby, but football (soccer) was her favorite, and she took part in the sport from a young age.

As a teenager, Tegan Nox was a keen footballer and played for local teams before having trials for both Cardiff and the Welsh national team. However, a knee injury at the age of 13 cost her a coveted place on the Welsh national football team, and Nox eventually gave up on her football dream at 16 years old.

Following this, Tegan Nox then began to consider a wrestling career and started training in Port Talbot, Wales.

In her early wrestling career, Tegan Nox formed friendships with fellow future NXT stars Pete Dunne and Mark Andrews, the latter of which she became a tag team champion with on the independent scene, and the team dubbed themselves Bayside High.

She later took part in the inaugural Mae Young Classic tournament in 2017 but suffered an injury early on. Thankfully, she recovered in time for the 2018 tournament before suffering another injured knee.

More recently, Tegan Nox has established herself as one of NXT's biggest talents in their women's division and challenged Io Shirai for the NXT Women's Championship. Currently, Nox is sidelined with a torn ACL and is expected to be out of action for some time.

#4 Former WWE Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett trained to become a marine biologist

British-born WWE Superstar Wade Barrett grew up loving wrestling, but the star took a slight diversion in his career path before becoming a wrestler. The star grew up idolizing Davey Boy Smith, who was also from the North West of England but didn't initially set out to become an in-ring performer.

Wade Barrett initially wanted to become a Marine Biologist and even studied it at degree level at the University of Liverpool, not far from his home city of Preston. After graduating in his chosen field, Barrett worked in a science laboratory and even helped recruit new staff.

However, while working in the science lab, Barrett decided to hang up his white coat and goggles and train as a wrestler. Between his career in science and joining WWE, Barrett also had a stint as a bare-knuckle boxer, which was worked into his wrestling gimmick.

Barrett had huge success in WWE as a part of The Nexus and later won the King of the Ring tournament in 2015, not long before his departure from the company. Barrett returned to WWE in 2020 as an NXT commentator. His stint behind the commentary table has been widely praised by WWE fans.

#3 Seven-time WWE Women's Champion Trish Stratus wanted to become a doctor

As a youngster, Trish Stratus didn't have any ambitions of becoming a wrestler. The multiple-time WWE Women's Champion had a very different career dream growing up and intended to become a doctor.

Trish Stratus worked hard to earn a place at college and enrolled in York University in Toronto, Canada, to study biology and kinesiology. However, due to faculty strikes, Stratus had to find alternative work and ended up working as a gym receptionist where she was scouted to become a fitness model, which caught the attention of WWE and led to her signing a deal with the company.

Stratus went on to have a hugely successful WWE career. She started out as a valet before becoming a big star in her own right. She won the WWE Women's Championship a record seven times and a total of 821 days.

After retiring from full-time in-ring competition, Stratus became a trainer for WWE's reality competition, Tough Enough. She was inducted into WWE's Hall of Fame in 2013 and even took part in the first-ever women's Royal Rumble as a surprise entrant. Her last match to date was at SummerSlam 2019, where she was defeated by Charlotte Flair.

#2 WWE RAW Superstar Lana wanted to become a ballerina

Current WWE RAW Superstar Lana began her career wanting to become a ballerina. The star spent time living in Lativa as a youngster. While living there, she even studied to become a ballerina and went to Riga Choreography School (the ballet school of the Latvian National Opera). She even danced with the Latvian National Ballet at just 14 years of age.

A few years later, Lana and her family moved back to the United States, and she continued her dance career. She even danced in music videos for huge stars such as Keri Hilson and Pink and was part of a girl band before transitioning into acting with a role in the popular film franchise Pitch Perfect.

Shortly after this, Lana signed to WWE and became the manager of her now real-life husband Rusev (now known as Miro in AEW).

Most recently, Lana has been established as a singles star following the departure of Rusev from WWE and has been involved in a bullying storyline with Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler. At the moment, Lana is out of action following an attack from the pair on an episode of RAW.

#1 Former WWE Divas Champion Paige wanted to become a zoologist

Former WWE Divas Champion Paige grew up in a wrestling family, as the daughter of independent wrestling stars Sweet Saraya and Ricky Knight, but she originally wanted no part of the business.

As a child, Paige claimed that she wanted to become a zoologist - and to this day, the star seems to be a big animal lover. She is often sharing photos of her beloved dog Lobster on her social media accounts, and she has often spoken about adopting a plant-based diet in the past.

However, Paige ended up joining her family in the wrestling world, starting competing at just 13 years old, and quickly began wrestling all over the world for independent promotions.

Paige ended up signing a WWE contract at the young age of 19. She became the first-ever NXT Women's Champion at 21 years old and also was the youngest-ever WWE Divas Champion. She unfortunately had to retire from in-ring competition due to injuries in 2018, but still works for WWE in varying capacities.

Paige's life was even documented in the popular movie Fighting With My Family, which was produced by The Rock, with Florence Pugh playing the British-born star.