Paul Heyman: Today's Recruits See WWE As An Option Not An Obsession

WWE have modified how they recruit talent over the past year and the company have moved away from bringing in independent wrestlers, instead focusing on signing athletes, particularly those coming out of college as part of their NIL programme.

This included an all-athlete tryout with no independent wrestlers present ahead of SummerSlam and Paul Heyman, who was at the tryout, admitted today's WWE recruits view the company as an option as opposed to it being an obsession since they were five-years-old to join the organisation.

"There's a difference right now in that today's recruits are those who see this as an option, not an obsession. These aren't people living and dying and breathing and hoping and praying that all of their dreams since they were five-years-old can come true or come crashing down around them by the decision that's made," Heyman told Bleacher Report.

"This guy might say, 'Oh, if this doesn't work out, I'll go play Canadian football,' or, 'I'll go play basketball in Europe.' My thing is, I'm going to ask you a lot of questions you better not have the answer to, because if you do, you're in the wrong class because this is for people that don't have the prior knowledge."

While WWE have signed some talent from the tryouts, overall the pre-SummerSlam event was said to be a disaster as several athletes suffered concussions and there were numerous injuries. As a result, WWE are expected to bring in more independent wrestlers at future tryouts.