WWE issued the following, announcing the latest class of recruits at the WWE Performance Center:
From one of NXT’s most highly publicized signings of all time to a 7-foot-3 giant, the WWE Performance Center’s newest roster members reported for orientation this week at WWE’s training facility in Orlando, Fla.
The group of seven, headlined by former wrestling champion Matt Riddle, features standouts from the U.S. and international independent scenes, as well as aspiring Superstars from the worlds of rugby and basketball.
You can check out highlights for some of the signees below:
“The King of Bros” Matt Riddle was announced as NXT’s newest blockbuster signee at TakeOver: Brooklyn IV in August. He rose to the top of the international circuit after a successful career in professional MMA, which included a winning record in UFC’s welterweight division. Considered one of the top strikers and submission artists in sports-entertainment, Riddle captured championships in the U.K.’s PROGRESS Wrestling and the U.S.-based EVOLVE Wrestling, among other organizations. He made his NXT in-ring debut at a Live Event in Florida in September, defeating Fabian Aichner.
WWE fans recognize Mia Yim from the 2017 and 2018 editions of the Mae Young Classic. After making it to the Second Round in the inaugural tournament, the California native advanced to the Quarterfinals in this year’s event, where she lost to Toni Storm but received “Please sign Mia” chants from the WWE Universe, which led to WWE COO Triple H offering her a contract. A training partner of Shayna Baszler and Jessamyn Duke, Yim made her ring debut in August 2009. She is set to make her NXT TV debut this Wednesday on WWE Network.
Matt Riddle Makes His Debut At TV Tapings (SPOILER)
Canadian grappler Chelsea Green has competed around the world, wrestling in faraway places like India and Australia, as well as throughout North America. A product of Lance Storm’s Storm Wrestling Academy in Calgary (the same school where Tyler Breeze, Peyton Royce and Oney Lorcan trained), Green first came onto the WWE Universe’s radar as a competitor in the 2015 season of WWE Tough Enough. Before wrestling, Green was a multi-sport athlete who excelled in soccer, volleyball, basketball and track.
Luis Martinez, a 6-foot-5, 270-pound striker from the independent scene, also joins the WWE PC ranks. Initially trained at the Monster Factory in New Jersey, Martinez has wrestled under the ring name Punishment Martinez. Splitting his upbringing between New York and Puerto Rico, Martinez learned the Gōjū-ryū form of karate at a young age. Among other accolades, Martinez won Ring of Honor’s Survival of the Fittest tournament in 2017, and he has previously tangled with the likes of NXT’s War Raiders.
