WWE Limiting The Age Of New Developmental Signees To 30

WWE is now reportedly looking to mainly sign talent under 30 to developmental deals.

by Andrew Pollard
WWE Performance Center
WWE

While some have recently criticised WWE for the age of its developmental talent, it looks as if Vince McMahon’s sports entertainment juggernaut is now actively looking to bring down the age of its new signees.

As per the Wrestling Observer, WWE is looking to limit the age of its developmental signings to 30 unless it’s an exceptional circumstance.

For the most recent class at the WWE Performance Center, there are two notable exceptions to this ‘under 30’ rule – that being 38-year-old LA Knight and 37-year-old Taya Valkyrie.

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Both Knight and Valkyrie are viewed as exemptions to this rule due to the names they’ve amassed for themselves elsewhere. That said, one could argue that such talents could easily be inserted onto the Raw or SmackDown brand straight away, rather than spending time in ‘developmental’…

The other school of thinking, is that somewhere like NXT - where, despite being talked up as a third brand, is very much about developing young talent - could be hugely benefitted by having some veterans in the fold to help the less experienced talent of today develop into big-name stars of tomorrow.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.