11 WWE Wrestlers Who Were Footballers

This past weekend, everybody's favourite cruiserweight Enzo Amore posted a picture on social media of himself from his football days, as if to inform people that once over, he wasn't immediately and obviously insufferable. The mean-eyed Enzo looks almost threatening, as opposed to utterly ridiculous. Definitely seems the sort who would misunderstand a comment in a bar and try to thwack your face with a snapped pool cue. We're sure he wouldn't actually do that, though.

It's hard to get too excited about Amore's football photos, given he's far from the first wrestler diverted to the ring via the gridiron, and about a million yards away from being the best. It's a very frequent career path: excel in college football, fail to be drafted/suffer an injury, earn a living as a wrestler. Such a legitimate athletic background is always considered a major boon by WWE, who seem to think that throwing and catching balls directly translates to cutting promos and understanding the nuances of ring psychology.

It doesn't. But that doesn't mean no former footballer has flourished once they've swapped the shoulder pads for spandex. These lads have. And none of them are Titus O'Neil.

John Layfield didn't have the most decorated football career, but he does have the silliest college photo, and any chance to humiliate him should be taken. A star of Abilene Christian University, 'Justin Hawk' failed in his NFL bid, and wound up pottering about in the World League of American Football - essentially the NFL's creche. In 1992, he thought, "nobs to this", and took up wrestling instead.