Hidetora Hanada signs NIL contract with WWE

[rokudenashi 323]

Former much-lauded amazumō prospect Hidetora Hanada, who transferred from Nittaidai to Colorado State to pursue an American football career in 2022, has announced he is signing with WWE on an NIL (next in line) contract:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DFmtdxxpmWy/

From what I gather of these contracts, this doesn't mean he'll be learning to take back bumps and cut his forehead open safely right now, but that he'll continue at Colorado State with the option to join WWE's training facility once he's graduated.

Edited February 3 by rokudenashi

[Asashosakari 19,403]

Some general background on the programme here: https://www.givemesport.com/wwe-nil-contracts-explained/

Between that and what Hanada said in his Instagram post, I would call it a sort of "open invitation" to the WWE Performance Center for him. How much he's going to make use of it while he's still at Colorado State might depend on how this football fortunes go...although, does he even have any collegiate eligibility left? The initial reports from a year and a half (= two seasons) ago said he was joining as a junior. (I know that there are various ways that eligibility can be extended, but college sports are the fringiest of interests of mine, so I'm way out of my depth here.)

[Koorifuu 1,003]

WWE has been taking on plenty of green sportspeople from different backgrounds and teaching them the basics. He should do very well on the physical aspects, given his background, but showmanship is also a must.

Thankfully for him, there's been a bit of a culture shift at work in WWE and a bunch of Japanese wrestlers have been relatively successful lately, even with subpar English. Io Shirai (IYO SKY), Kairi Hojo (Kairi Sane) and KANA (Asuka) have all been women's champions, and Shinsuke Nakamura won a Royal Rumble.

He could lean on to them.

Edited February 3 by Koorifuu

[Gurowake 4,087]

2 hours ago, Asashosakari said:

The initial reports from a year and a half (= two seasons) ago said he was joining as a junior. (I know that there are various ways that eligibility can be extended, but college sports are the fringiest of interests of mine, so I'm way out of my depth here.)

I probably only know slightly more than you about US college football eligibility, if only from living here and caring about it somewhat as a kid 25 years ago, but I think normally you get 4 years regardless, and lose one year if you have a nonqualified transfer from another school.  I don't know how those rules apply though for transfers from schools not part of the US college football system, so I could definitely see him having 4 years of eligibility.  That he transferred as a junior I would assume was academically, which is totally irrelevant to football eligibility.  Plenty of players who are redshirted as freshmen end up graduating in 4 years but then start grad school at the same college to play one more year of football (or at least they used to). 

[Finngall 35]

Due to court cases in which the old rules were deemed to be in violation of US labor laws, the eligibility rules for college athletes in all sports have loosened up considerably in recent years--players are much freer to transfer between schools without penalty, and are more able to make money (sometimes millions) off their name, image and likeness (the more common usage of NIL--the WWE "Next In Line" usage is a play on this).

If Hanada chooses to shift into pro wrestling as a career, one could hardly do better than the WWE Performance Center as a training ground--and even if he doesn't make the grade in the WWE, if he shows enough potential he could take that experience back to Japan.

[Godango 996]

So that’s the end of his sumo ambitions, then? Or had he already moved on? Last I recall, he was aiming for both the NFL and Yokozuna.

[Chartorenji 237]

On 04/02/2025 at 13:36, Godango said:

So that’s the end of his sumo ambitions, then? Or had he already moved on? Last I recall, he was aiming for both the NFL and Yokozuna.

I mean he's got a year left before he passes the age limit to join Ozumo? Still has time to figure out his path.

 

I'm also pretty sure Hanada red shirted his first year at CSU, so he's got another year left I think.

Edited February 6 by Chartorenji