There have been several reports in recent weeks regarding WWE’s approach to scouting and hiring talent. According to a recent report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE will no longer be scouting talent from independent wrestling promotions.
“Several in the company have told us that the word from the top is no more independent talent as far as scouting and such,” wrote Dave Meltzer.
“They are back to the feeling of scouting by looks and not because guys have gotten over elsewhere and teaching people with the right look to be wrestlers.”
The report continued to say the plan is to bring in a lot more athletes with backgrounds in other sports for tryouts.
WWE has dozens of former independent wrestlers on the main roster, in NXT and at the Performance Center. What does this new philosophy mean for the Adam Cole’s, Johnny Gargano’s and Ricochet’s of the world?
WWE’s New Talent Scouting Policy
WWE’s Nick Khan recently spoke about WWE’s approach to scouting and hiring during an interview with Ariel Helwani for BT Sport.
“In terms of an NXT rebrand, look for it in the next couple of weeks. It’s going to have a whole new look. It’s going to have a whole new feel, and we believe because a lot of the ‘indie wrestlers,’ if you will, have come through our system and are in our system with SmackDown and RAW now, we don’t want to just keep doing that same thing. We want to look elsewhere for great young talent. The look of the show, the production of the show, everything’s gonna’ change.”
AEW President Tony Khan reacted to the Nick Khan’s interview with Ariel Helwani, specifically his comments about WWE looking to recruit a very specific type of athlete.
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