“Next In Line” Enters Second Year with Growing Roster of All Americans

STAMFORD Conn. January 26 2023 – WWE (NYSE: WWE) today revealed the third class of 15 college athletes who will join the company’s award-winning NIL (Name Image & Likeness) program – “Next In Line™” – that provides a clear pathway from collegiate athletics to WWE.

The class is highlighted by two-time NCAA All American wrestler Greg Kerkvliet from Penn State University four-time NCAA National Champion thrower Turner Washington from Arizona State University and NCAA Champion hurdler Alia Armstrong from Louisiana State University.

The third “Next In Line” class includes athletes from 14 universities nine NCAA conferences and seven different sports. The program welcomes its first athletes from women’s wrestling soccer tennis and softball.

Name	School	Sport	Height/Weight	Hometown
Abby Jacobs	South Alabama	Soccer	5’ 7”	Gulf Breeze Fla.
Alexandra Jaksec	Mary Washington	Tennis	5’ 4”	Pittsburgh Pa.
Alia Armstrong	LSU	Track & Field	5’ 4”	Baton Rouge La.
Cameron Jones	Cincinnati	Football	6’ 8” 320 lbs.	Hindman Ky.
Dee Beckwith	Kentucky	Football	6’ 5” 235 lbs.	Florence Ala.
Greg Kerkvliet	Penn State	Wrestling	6’ 3” 250 lbs.	Inver Grove Heights Minn.
Isaiah Iton	Rutgers	Football	6’ 2” 290 lbs.	Houston Texas
Jaiden Fields	Georgia	Softball	5’ 9”	Kennesaw Ga.
Landon Jackson	Arkansas	Football	6’ 7” 275 lbs.	Texarkana Texas
Mady Aulbach	Youngstown State	Basketball	5’ 3”	Slippery Rock Pa.
Nick Dawkins	Penn State	Football	6’ 4” 315 lbs.	Allentown Pa.
Otoniel Badjana	Pittsburgh	Track & Field	5’ 11” 245 lbs.	Lisbon Portugal
Peyton Prussin	Life University	Wrestling	5’ 4”	Las Vegas Nev.
Tori Ortiz	Oklahoma State	Track & Field	5’ 9”	Batavia Ill.
Turner Washington	Arizona State	Track & Field	6’ 5” 290 lbs.	Tucson Ariz.

The “Next In Line” program has signed 46 college athletes since its inception in December 2021 including the program’s first signee Olympic Gold medalist Gable Steveson. The program serves to recruit and develop potential future Superstars and further enhances WWE’s talent development process through collaborative partnerships with college athletes from diverse athletic backgrounds. WWE has signed athletes from 13 different sports including 35 members of Power-Five conferences who have collectively earned 40 NCAA All American Honors and 12 NCAA National Championships.

All athlete partnerships feature access to the state-of-the-art WWE Performance Center in Orlando Fla. in addition to resources across the organization including brand building media training communications live event promotion creative writing and community relations. Upon completion of the NIL program select athletes may earn an exclusive opportunity to be offered a WWE contract.

The program’s athletes boast impressive social media followings with more than 10 million combined followers on TikTok and nearly three million combined followers on Instagram. WWE currently has one of the largest fanbases on TikTok with 20.9 million followers and more than 27 million Instagram followers.

Learn more about the “Next In Line” program at wwerecruit.com.

About WWE

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