Former Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright tries out for WWE

Dec 4, 2022 - 5:00 PM

Scooby Wright III is learning that his outsized personality and knack for tackling large human beings to the ground is transferrable to lines of work outside football.

Wright was one of approximately 30 athletes to attend WWE tryouts in Florida this past week. The former Arizona linebacker held his own at the 2-day tryout, according to a report from TMZ Sports.

In a video shared by TMZ, Wright is shown performing some wresting throw exercises.

“I may not be the biggest fastest or the strongest but I got that BDE spirit that you cant teach you either have it or you don’t!” MEET YOU at THE TOP!” Wright wrote on Instagram.

The WWE tryouts brought in top athletes from a variety of sports. 17 of the participants were former college football players.

The WWE is also interested in partnering with current college athletes through its Next In Line NIL program.

“There are countless examples of top talent that came into the business via college sports, but there hasn’t always been a system built out,” WWE’s head of talent operations and strategy James Kimball told Sports Illustrated. “That’s what we’re trying to create here, a true talent development pathway into WWE for college athletes.”

Wright and WWE seem like a match made in machismo entertainment heaven. Wright is known for his larger-than-life persona that made ‘Two-Star Scooby’ such a fan favorite in college.

Wright, who starred at linebacker for the USFL’s Birmingham Stallions last season, recently told Cronkite News that he has not ruled out playing in the league again in 2023.

“I’m still trying to figure out my options and figure out really what I want to do for the next five years and go from there,” Wright said.

Wright was most recently spotted Friday evening at the Pac-12 Championship in Las Vegas, where he was honored on-field as a member of the inaugural Pac-12 Football Alumni Council.

At Arizona from 2013-15, Wright started 29 games including all 14 during the Pac-12 South Division title season in 2014 when he was the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and also won three national awards: the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, the Rotary Lombardi Award and the Chuck Bednarik Award, all given annually to the nation’s top defender.

Wright was a 7th-round pick of the Cleveland Browns in the 2016 NFL Draft and appeared in 13 games with the Arizona Cardinals in 2016-17 before moving on to other pro leagues.