WWE Signs Former College Football Standout

Alema Collins announces he's signed with WWE.

by Andrew Pollard
Alema Collins Samoa Joe
Instagram @chosen1ac

Following his participation in last week's Performance Center tryouts, WWE has signed former college football standout Alema Collins.

With his sports background and 6'4", 255 lbs frame, Collins certainly ticks plenty of the right boxes for what Vince McMahon's sports entertainment giant is looking for in new talent these days.

In terms of his football days, Alema played college football for Arizona's Ottawa University, picking up honors in the shape of 2018 First Team All-NCAA and 2018 SAC Honorable Mention All-Conference. He was also selected for the 2020 Hula Bowl in Hawaii, and there was at one point talk that Collins may be included in the 2020 NFL Draft or even be a part of McMahon's doomed XFL restart.

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Taking to Instagram to announce he's now signed with WWE, Collins stated how he's "excited to see what comes NXT" and how he he'd been "blessed to be in a room surrounded with greatness" during his days at the WWE PC.

Interestingly, 2019 saw Alema Collins name The Rock when asked if he could be any film or TV character - adding how he's always looked up to The Great One.

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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/Saints, Jamie Hayter, 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.