In the latest WWE talent grab from the British Isles, it is being reported that WWE has just signed two independent wrestlers from Ireland, working out of No Limit Wrestling, to deals. WWE have signed Joey Cabray and Rachel Walker. The pair are set to head to the WWEs developmental territory where they will trained and assessed, before they can move on to the main WWE roster. Look out for them on NXT in the very near future.
Wrestling Inc wrote,
"No Limit Wrestling announced that Irish stars Joey Cabray (who wrestled under the name 'OMEN') and Rachel Walker (who wrestled under the name Rachelle St. Claire) have signed development deals with World Wrestling Entertainment. Cabray will move to Florida in the coming weeks, while St. Claire will make her move later this year once she has recovered from a knee injury."
This is a great move by the WWE to sign actual wrestlers rather than more inexperienced models or a bodybuilder. Neither Cabray nor Walker have the "WWE look", however Cabray has extensive in-ring experience, and is a popular star in his own right while Walker has her own solid wrestling skills. It is no shock that WWE is keen to add more women to its roster after losing a ton of female talent over the past two years, and the failure to launch the Kharma gimmick. These signings, in their own way, will no doubt be major assets to WWE. The
Irish News Review website managed to get a few words with Cabray, who spoke of his excitement about the news of his deal with WWE,
"It means a great deal to me, I've trained hard for the past 8 years and made a lot of sacrifices, I've travelled everywhere from Tokyo to New York to Berlin with wrestling and finally made it to WWE. I feel honoured because there are literally hundreds of thousands of young independent pro wrestlers around the world yet only a couple of hundred have a contract with WWE."
No doubt these young signees will be eager to emulate at least some of the success of fellow Irishman Sheamus, who has become one of the WWE's top wrestlers a former World Heavyweight Champion, WWE Champion, Royal Rumble winner and 2010 King of the Ring. Some people are calling for a "Celtic stable" headed by Sheamus in the future. This could be a possibility, and it is an interesting idea, but it is just too early to tell at this point. One thing is sure, this is a positive step for Irish wrestling promotions and for Indie wrestling as a whole. Kudos to the WWE.