Former Georgia RB Elijah Holyfield joins WWE NXT trainee class

Former Georgia running back Elijah Holyfield has signed with WWE’s developmental promotion, NXT, the sports entertainment/professional wrestling company announced Friday.

WWE unveiled its newest crop of signees in an X post, Holyfield one of 13 athletes a part of the class.

The future is looking bright! 😎 #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/eYiEA0kd7I

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) November 15, 2024

“Future is bright!!!” Holyfield wrote on X.

Holyfield, 26, played at Georgia from 2016-18, serving as the team’s starting tailback during his junior season. That season, 2018, Holyfield rushed for 1,018 yards on 6.4 yards per carry, to go along with seven touchdowns. He finished his Bulldogs career with 1,340 yards and nine scores.

Holyfield decided to forgo his senior campaign and enter his name into the 2019 NFL Draft. The Carolina Panthers signed him as an undrafted free agent, and he appeared in his lone NFL game in 2020 with the Philadelphia Eagles. Holyfield suffered a torn ACL during training camp with the Cincinnati Bengals in July 2022.

Elijah Holyfield making transition from football to professional wrestling

Holyfield, the son of boxing legend Evander Holyfield, makes the transition to professional wrestling at a time where the business, as they say, is booming. This past April’s WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia was WWE’s most successful and highest-grossing event in its history.

Along with Holyfield, former Syracuse and Miami Dolphins cornerback Trill Williams has joined WWE as a trainee.

“Growing up, the first thing I ever wanted to do was be a wrestler,” Williams told “The Dive Bar Podcast” in August. “A lot of people can’t say that they went to a WWE tryout — that’s a blessing in itself. I had a great time, I had a great experience. And if that’s in the cards for me, then it’s in the cards for me.”