I could use this space to talk about something real, something meaningful, something non-scripted. Something that doesn’t include grown men in spandex and face paint and spewing the most ludicrous but hilarious threats imaginable.
But … why?
WrestleMania 31 went down in San Francisco on Sunday night, reminding true sports fans that nothing is awesomer (yes, I said awesomer) than WWE. Not even March Madness. Not even .
But while few things can top fake wrastling, it’s easy to forget that these guys (and gals) dressed in knee-high boots and capes and tactical vests (still not sure why that’s needed in the ring, but whatever, Roman Reigns) were once legitimate athletes. In like, non-fake sports and stuff. Yeah. Those.
Here’s a look back at some of the athletic accomplishments of WrestleMania 31 stars outside the ring:
Brock Lesnar. Before he went fake, Lesnar was an NCAA Division I heavyweight wrestling champion at the University of Minnesota in 2000. At 6-foot-2, 285 pounds, he also had a promising career as NFL defensive tackle, NFL combine times and measurements that would rank among some of the best in this year’s combine: a 4.7-second 40-yard dash, a 10-foot standing broad jump, a 35-inch vertical leap, and a 225-pound bench press at 30 reps. Basically, he could crush people — kinda like he did to Roman Reigns on Sunday:
Lesnar walked away from a hefty WWE contract in 2004 to give pro football a shot, and participated in the Minnesota Vikings’ training camp that year. But was cut after the preseason. Lesnar also competed in the UFC from 2008-11 and became the heavyweight champion after defeating Randy Couture in 2008.
Roman Reigns. Leati Joseph Anoai, , was a three-year starter as a defensive tackle at Georgia Tech, and was a (Thomas was a redshirt freshman that year). That year, Anoai, one of the Yellow Jackets’ captains, was named first-team All-ACC.
Anoai started 37 of 48 games while at Georgia Tech, recording 108 tackles (61 solo) with 12 sacks.
He went undrafted in 2007 and signed with the Vikings as a free agent, but was . Anoai was then picked up by the Jacksonville Jaguars in August 2007, but was cut days later. Anoai went on to play one season with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League before calling it quits with football and signing with WWE in 2010.
The Rock. Dwayne Johnson’s football past is perhaps the most well-known of the WWE’S stars. Johnson, a high school track and wrestling standout, played defensive tackle at the University of Miami and won a national championship with the Hurricanes in 1991. But a knee injury kept him from playing his senior season.
After going undrafted in the NFL, he turned to the Canadian Football League. He was released in 1995 and turned to professional wrestling — and then acting and then fantastic .
John Cena. Before joining the WWE, the 15-time world champion was a first-team All-America center for Division III Springfield College’s football team. In April, he’ll be inducted into the .
Daniel Bryan. Bryan Danielson, the WWE’s newly crowned Intercontinental champion, was a multi-sport athlete in high school but admittedly “wasn’t a great athlete.”
“I loved playing football, but I hated the games because it’s a lot of pressure,” . “I just loved putting on the pads and hitting my friends. If you watch dogs play, they run and they fight, but they don’t fight to hurt each other. They just play. And that’s been me my entire life.”
The Bella Twins. Brianna and Nicole Garcia-Colace played soccer for in Arizona, and Nicole was said to be on the verge of to play in college, but a leg injury kept her from competing.
Triple H. Paul Levesque, a former bodybuilder (that’s a sport, right?) was named . That did not help him on Sunday, though.
The Usos. Jonathan Solofa Fatu and Joshua Samuel Fatu, both linebackers, both played at Escambia High in Pensacola, Fla., with Roman Reigns before taking their talents to . Jonathan played one season, in 2003, while Joshua played from 2003-2005.
The Undertaker. Mark Calaway, a Houston native, played basketball for (NAIA) in 1985-86.
Natalya. WWE Diva Natalie Neidhart/Tyson Kidd’s wife was a former gymnast, dancer and jiu-jitsu practitioner. to know every word of the “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” theme song, which has little value in this column but it certainly makes her cooler.
Alexander Rusev. Miroslav Barnyashev attended a sports school in Bulgaria, where he and later went pro. He was also a powerlifter and was considered a Bulgarian Olympic team prospect in 2012. .
Big Show. I saved the best for last. The 7-foot, 425-pound Paul Wight played basketball and football at Wyman King Acadmey (S.C.) before quitting the latter and .
On the basketball court, he averaged 35 points, 22 rebounds and 10 blocks a game his senior year. Wight went on to play basketball at Northern Oklahoma Junior College, where he averaged 14 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. He then was a backup center at Wichita State, where he averaged 2.0 points and 2.1 rebounds in 21 games in 1991-92. And then he played at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, from 1992-93.
“I started out thinking I was going to play in the NBA,” . “Now I travel the world as a WWE Superstar. Life changes.”
The last time Wichita State hosted Kansas (in 1992), played for the Shockers.
— Bryan Armen Graham (@BryanAGraham)
*Vader. Leon White did not compete in WrestleMania 31 (hence the asterisk), but the former University of Colorado football standout needs to be on this list anyway. The two-time All-America was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the third round (80th overall) of the 1978 draft and even before a knee injury ended his career after two seasons.
CHEW ON THIS
• MC Hammer, one of the coolest humans alive, is 52 today. If that doesn’t make you feel old, perhaps re-watching his ” ” video and remembering how you thought Hammer pants were the coolest things probably will. This rehearsal clip, from 2012, will too. Dude’s still got it.
• Another 52-year-old, some guy named Michael Jordan, also still has it. recently learned first-hand Jordan’s skills in knocking down jumpers and trash-talking.
• !
Adam Morrison, the former Gonzaga star turned video coordinator, now . But he had for a heckler Sunday night.
• Tom Izzo, .
• Snoop Dogg, .
• Paul George really is a Broncos fan, despite growing up in California and now playing Indiana. Why? “Because of my dad,” . “My dad played at San Fernando Valley and John Elway went to Granada Hills and that was my dad’s rival playing football in high school. When John Elway went on to go to the professionals, my dad followed him his whole career and (thus) I wind up being a Broncos fan because of John Elway.”
Oh, yeah, he’s also a Lionel Messi fan, apparently.
Nicki Jhabvala: njhabvala@denverpost.com or twitter.com/nickijhabvala
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