Former rugby league star Daniel Vidot is one step closer to fulfilling his professional wrestling dream, after World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) announced it had signed the Australian to a development contract with the NXT brand.
The WWE confirmed the 28-year-old was one of seven athletes added to the WWE Performance Centre roster, which also includes former MMA middleweight fighter Matt Riddle.
Vidot has been training at the performance centre since June and has done enough impress officials for a full-time contract.
His first tryout with the company was in 2015, but he wanted to continue his rugby league career at the time.
He continued playing league, until he announced his retirement at the end of last season, when he signed a two-year developmental deal with the company.
During his league career, Vidot had NRL stints with the Canberra Raiders, St George Illawarra Dragons, Brisbane Broncos and Gold Coast Titans.
The NXT brand serves as a breeding ground for the best up-and-coming wrestlers in the world and has developed current WWE stars, like Roman Reigns, Finn Balor and Sasha Banks.
Former UFC star Ronda Rousey also spent time at the WWE Performance Centre, before making her debut at WrestleMania earlier in the year.
WWE executive Paul Levesque, better known as Triple H, told Newshub earlier in the year that rugby players were a perfect fit for professional wrestling.
"This is the next step in the evolution of WWE," Levesque told Newshub. "We are opening up pathways for the best athletes and entertainers from around the world to find an easier way to get to WWE.
"I think there are certain sport ventures that lend themselves much greater to what we do, but if I was to look at sports like rugby, for us, that is a really interesting pool.
"There are elite athletes at every level of that sport. They are the best athletes in the world.
"You look at a guy like Daniel Vidot, who is coming to us very soon - he is coming out of a rugby [league] environment, he has a larger-than-life personality, and is used to that physicality and daily grind.
"They love it. It's a perfect fit."
Surprisingly, Vidot isn't the only former rugby league player contracted to NXT, with former Hull Kingston Rovers player Luke Menzies also on the roster.
German professional footballer Tim Wiese, who played at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, has also come through the WWE Performance Centre.
Newshub.