Former Penn State receiver Tyler Shoop got a taste of the pro wrestling big time with his debut on AEW Dynamite Wednesday on TBS.
It was brief. It wasn’t pretty for him. But it was a milestone of sorts, and he did get to rub shoulders with some of the best in the company.
Shoop was already in the ring coming off a commercial break when the music for MJF hit. The star grappler made his way down to the ring and told Shoop to get out of his ring. He then proceeded to address Jeff Jarrett before the music for Shoop’s opponent, Adam “Hangman” Page hit.
Page, a former AEW champ, made his way down to the ring as MJF left. Shoop got back in there, the bell rang, and Page made quick work of Shoop.
You can see the finish below:
He was in there long enough, though, for the announcers to mention that he was a letterman at Penn State.
Shoop, the son of former Penn State defensive coordinator Bob Shoop, joined the Nittany Lions as a preferred walk-on and stuck with the program after his father left for Tennessee in 2018. He left the Nittany Lions following the 2018 season to go into professional wrestling.
He told Onward State in 2019 that was his first love.
“Guys who know me on the team knew that even when I was playing football, I loved pro wrestling more than that,” he told the site. “If you gave me the opportunity to be in the NFL or be in the WWE, I would choose the WWE every day of the week.”
He told Onward State his favorite wrestlers were CM Punk, Edge and Chris Jericho. Edge and Jericho both work for AEW now, so it’s possible he got to meet a few of his favorites on the show.
Shoop did the job in his TV debut with the company, and it was a quick match, but he is obviously a good athlete who loves the sport and everyone has to start somewhere. Just breaking through on a Dynamite match on live TV against a big name in the company is of note.
So, it will be interesting to see if it helps opens some doors for him and where he goes from here.
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