The 7 Current and Former WWE, AEW Superstars Who Almost Made It to the NFL

The WWE and NFL have long been associated for a bevy of reasons.

Some of that is due to a simple crossover of fans. And some of it is down to WWE CEO Vince McMahon raising direct competition to the NFL via the XFL multiple times.

Most of it, though, stems from former football players coming over to the wrestling world and finding tons of success. The size, physicality and work ethic it takes to make even a practice squad in the NFL is applicable to the wrestling ranks.

Over the years, a number of former NFL players have joined WWE and other promotions and become anything from quality forces to downright legends.

These are the most notable wrestling stars who almost made it big in football before turning their eyes toward wrestling.

Baron Corbin

WWE

Baron Corbin might be one of the most hated (in a great, skillful way) Superstars in WWE, but before he came over as a lone wolf-type character and transitioned into the bald villain everyone loves, he was a potential NFL star.

He played in four Division II National Championships as an offensive lineman with Northwest Missouri State before going undrafted to the NFL in 2009.

There, Corbin latched on with the Indianapolis Colts multiple times before landing a futures deal with the Arizona Cardinals. He bowed out around final cuts in 2011 and then pursued his wrestling career.

Mojo Rawley

WWE

Mojo Rawley is still trying to find his footing in WWE, but he is one of those guys who will ooze upside once he gets his big chance.

Until then, WWE hasn't shied away from using his friendship with former New England Patriots star Rob Gronkowski in angles.

Rawley played college ball with Gronk's brothers at Maryland, finishing third in sacks one season, before going undrafted in 2009. The then-defensive lineman landed with the Green Bay Packers after a tryout and then went to the Arizona Cardinals in 2010 before getting put on injured reserve.

After a lengthy rehab, Rawley chose the wrestling route.

Roman Reigns

WWE

Roman Reigns was always destined to get into the family business, right?

Maybe not. He was a successful defensive lineman at Georgia Tech, to the point he was a three-year starter and a senior team captain, as well as a first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection in 2006.

Despite going undrafted, Reigns had some hype as a free agent when he signed with the Minnesota Vikings in 2007. He failed a physical there and spent a brief amount of time with the Jacksonville Jaguars before leaving the NFL entirely.

But that wasn't the end of his football career. He then took his talents to the CFL and played for the Edmonton Eskimos before retiring from the game after the 2008 season.

Everyone knows where Reigns' career took him next.

Goldberg

WWE

Before Goldberg became famous for the longest winning streak in wrestling history, spurring the Monday Night War as part of a Hall of Fame career, he was a standout football player.

He was a stellar defensive lineman for Georgia in the SEC before the Los Angeles Rams made him an 11th-round pick in the 1990 NFL draft.

Goldberg then bounced around from the CFL Sacramento Gold Miners and Atlanta Falcons over course of the following two seasons before getting drafted to the Carolina Panthers, then an expansion team. He ended up getting cut in Carolina and had to focus on rehab after suffering a pelvis injury.

From there, the rest is history. He latched on with the wrestling world via his connections and proceeded to have one of the most prestigious careers in the sport's history.

Brock Lesnar

WWE

Brock Lesnar is probably the most famous story of a wrestler almost making it big in the NFL.

He tackled football much like he did MMA, not wanting to retire and wonder whether he could have made it doing something else. So he put his wrestling career on hold in 2004 and tried out with the NFL, putting on a big show at the combine.

Lesnar putting on a show at an event designed to help the best athletes show off wasn't any sort of surprise. He landed with the Minnesota Vikings and played in a few preseason games, but he opted not to go over to Europe to play.

In all? An amazing attempt by Lesnar considering he hadn't played football since high school.

Jake Hager

Chris Carlson/Associated Press

Here's an interesting one.

Jake Hager, known as Jack Swagger during his WWE days, was a rather notable backup defensive tackle on scholarship at Oklahoma. On the depth chart, he was behind future NFL player Tommie Harris.

A two-sport athlete, he hung up the cleats in his sophomore year to focus on wrestling, which led to him linking up with WWE, where his career ballooned.

Given Hager's athleticism and success in multiple sports, it's hard not to wonder where he might be in football if he hadn't decided to focus on wrestling.

MJF

Credit: AEW

Shocked that the scarf-wearing villain from All Elite Wrestling was a stellar football player?

Maybe don't be. MJF's high school notes aren't hard to find, and he made it clear he wanted to be a big-time college player before turning his attention to wrestling, as he told Darren Paltrowitz of Sportskeeda:

"You know it's so funny. I wanted to play in the NFL just so I would be more appealing to WWE because there was no AEW at that point. So in my head I was like, 'OK, I'm going to be the best middle linebacker in college sports, then I'm going to go play in the NFL for like a year or two and I'll be famous. I'll call Vince McMahon on his cell phone and say, 'Hey, book me.' So that was my game plan."

MJF ended up leaving college, but the plan sure sounds funny, right? Now he's a top star in AEW, Vince McMahon's biggest competition.

Like Hager, it's fair to wonder how far football could have taken MJF if he hadn't decided to don scarves and terrorize the good guys in wrestling companies.