Denzel Dejournette (Photo/WWE)Denzel Dejournette, NCAA All-American heavyweight for Appalachian State University, is now training at the WWE Performance Training Center in Orlando, Fla., the Winston-Salem Journal reported Wednesday.
The WWE announced that Dejournette, who earned All-American honors by placing eighth in the 285-pound bracket at the 2017 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, is a member of a nine-person class now working at the pro wrestling organization's training facility in Florida.
Weeks after Dejournette graduated from App State with his bachelor's degree in 2017, the Winston-Salem native tried out for WWE. However, the 6'2", 262-pounder decided to stay at the Boone, North Carolina school this past year to earn his masters in exercise science with a strength and conditioning focus ... and help coach Mountaineer wrestlers during the 2017-18 academic year.
Why the delay in pursuing a potential career in the pro wrestling ring?
"You are putting your body on the line, and if we are being realistic, you never know what could happen with your body," Dejournette told the Winston-Salem Journal. "I'm super athletic now, and I'm in great shape now, but I could have an injury, a career-altering injury, so it's nice to have something to fall back on.
"And also, I like to finish what I start. So I started grad school, I wasn't just going to hop out on the final leg."
Denzel DejournetteWhen asked what type of character he will play, Dejournette responded, "Right now, I'm just being myself. We just got to figure out what type of performer I want to be, like what my style's going to be.
"But I'm being myself -- super energetic, super fun, bringing the energy, trying to be as charismatic as possible, and just kind of using that to develop a certain style in the ring to match that out of ring ... so I can tell a story with what I do."
There's a long history of high-achieving former college wrestlers who went on to pro wrestling careers, going back to the first NCAA heavyweight champ, Earl McCready, who graduated from Oklahoma State in 1930 ... and including other champs Dick Hutton, Verne Gagne, Dan Hodge and Kurt Angle, to name a few.
This summer, two former accomplished college big men have been making news in their pursuit of a possible WWE career. Two weeks ago, InterMat reported that Cain Velasquez -- twice an NCAA All-American at Arizona State who went on to become UFC heavyweight champ -- was working out at the WWE Performance Center in Florida. And, in late May, ESPN.com had a nearly 3,000-word article on Jacob Kasper, two-time All-American for Duke University, and his quest for a career in the squared circle.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now