Three familiar names are latest recruits to WWE Performance Center
Another trio of recruits have made their way to the WWE Performance Center.
Just last month, the WWE announced a dozen new recruits to their Florida Performance Center and, on Monday, they added three more names to their latest crop of developmental prospects. All three carry with them some degree of name recognition.
According to WWE.com, the new signees are Stokely Hathaway, Robert Strauss and Cal Bloom. Hathaway is presently best-known as a manager on the independent circuit, including for Beyond Wrestling and EVOLVE. He is ring-trained but it’s not yet clear what his role will be in his new home. Managers aren’t much in fashion in WWE or NXT, but Hathaway is a worthy exception to buck the trend.
Robert Strauss has been a professional wrestler since 2001 and “has won more than two dozen championships throughout his career, as well as wrestled in 46 states and more than 20 countries,” per WWE.com. He’s spent time on the indies and found some lasting success in TNA/Impact and has been TNA Television Champion, X Division Champion and Tag Team Champion, when he was known as Robbie E. Strauss has also been a contestant on The Amazing Race and The Titan Games.
Bloom is the son of former WWE Superstar Wayne Bloom (known in-ring as Beau Beverly). Though not an established wrestler himself, he has received training from his father, as well as from Ken Anderson (known in-ring as Ken Kennedy, Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Anderson). He also played tight end at the University of Central Florida, where the 6-foot-5, 225-pounder “received the team’s Iron Knight Award for strongest player after bench-pressing 500 pounds, a record for UCF tight ends.” He was part of the December Performance Center tryout group.
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It will take some time before any of the three are seen in the ring for either NXT or WWE, but how long is anyone’s guess at this point. Some of last month’s recruits, like ACH and Jonah Rock, are already taking part in NXT live events. The opportunity is there to pass through the WWE’s developmental pipeline quickly if they take to the process.