What’s the story?
Per a report from ewrestlingnews.com, former Seattle Seahawks running back Demitrius Bronson made his NXT debut this weekend.
In case you didn’t know...
NXT makes it a habit of pulling in former American football players to try their hand at a career in professional wrestling. Tino Sabbatelli, who was one of the featured talents on WWE’s Breaking Ground series on the WWE Network was a second-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2007.
Brennan Williams is also working in the NXT system, though he has not been on television yet. Williams was a third-round draft pick of the Houston Texans in 2013. The former offensive lineman was trained by Booker T.
Demitrius Bronson played mostly pre-season football for the Seattle Seahawks and then moved to their practice squad. He never played a regular season down in the NFL.
The heart of the matter
Bronson made his in-ring debut at a show in Crystal River, Florida on Friday. He teamed with Cruiserweight Classic competitor Ho Ho Lun in a losing effort against the Authors of Pain. Based on the tweet below, his debut match likely involved him getting squashed by Akam and Rezar. He was billed simply as, “Mr Bronson.”
What’s next?
Hopefully, Bronson will continue to develop in the NXT system and perhaps eventually make his way to NXT television. There is no current timetable for when that might happen.
Sportskeeda’s take
American football players usually have a great deal of success in professional wrestling. Stars such as The Rock, Roman Reigns, Goldberg, Lex Luger, Brian Pillman, Steve McMichael, Ron Simmons, and JBL – just to name a few – all came from some level of success in football.
Clearly, there’s something to be said for those men who can transition from the gridiron to the squared circle.
Bronson stood at five-foot-ten and weighed 220 pounds during his playing career. That’s decent size to be a professional wrestler, it all just boils down to what he’s able to pick up from the coaches at the WWE Performance Center from an in-ring standpoint, as well as what kind of character he’s able to develop.
We don’t imagine the name, “Mr Bronson,” is permanent. Tough Enough winner Josh Bredl wrestles under the name, “Bronson Matthews,” on NXT house shows, so we would venture to guess that if Demitrius Bronson does show up on NXT television, it will be under a different name.
Either way, we wish Demitrius all of the best of luck as he embarks on his professional wrestling career.
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