Elijah Holyfield’s attempt at securing a spot in the WWE will be a nod at his father’s brief foray into the sports.The boxing legend had ventured into WWE as well when he met Matt Hardy in the ring at a WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event in 2007.
Former RB Elijah Holyfield set to make a drastic career change
Holyfield attended the University of Georgia where he began his college career. Playing as a running back, he soon began focusing on an NFL career, forgoing his senior year at Georgia. Unfortunately he didn’t make it at the 2019 NFL draft, after which he was signed with the Carolina Panthers as an undrafted free agent.
Following his time at the practice squad of the Panthers, Holyfield then moved to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2019 where he was given a spot on their active roster. Finally he was signed to the Cincinnati Bengals in 2021. The following year he was placed on injured reserve, due to a knee injury.
With this brief stint in his football career, Holyfield is now eyeing the WWE. However, he is definitely not the first to venture into wrestling, coming from a football background. The most notable examples being Roman Reigns who had spent time in both NFL and CFL before he retired from his football career in 2008. Similarly, former WWE star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson had also dipped his feet into professional football before he began his WWE career.