Peter Howard: The latest British hope to join WWE NXT despite making his name in rugby and athletics

The WWE have announced Howard as one of their 11 new recruits for NXT

New WWE NXT recruit Peter Howard (WWE)

Throughout the history of WWE, there has been many British talents who have shared their gifts with American audiences. From the legendary British Bulldogs tag team of Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid in the eighties, to William Regal in the late nineties and the current crop of talent including the likes of Wade Barrett and Neville.

We may now be not too far from adding another name to the list, as this Monday the WWE announced the signing of 24-year-old Peter Howard to their NXT developmental roster. Howard is part of 11 new recruits from seven countries who will all be aiming to reach the top of the professional wrestling world.

“My background is in rugby and athletics,” he tells The Independent from on the phone from Florida. “I went to university and played in the BUSA Premiership for Bath University before I moved to London to set up my own personal training business.”

Then, last May a friend of Howard’s received the opportunity of a WWE tryout in London. “He asked to stay at my place,” recalls Howard, “So I sent them an email and I managed to get a tryout sorted out too.”

The new class of WWE's NXT (WWE)

Despite having no professional wrestling experience, the sporting CV of the former rugby prodigy impressed WWE sufficiently enough to invite him along to see what he was made of. Aspiring wrestlers involved in the tryouts often describe the arduous and exhausting physical challenges they are put through which determines whether they have the attributes or the will to make it in the cutthroat world of Sports Entertainment

“They were a really tough couple of days,” he remembers. “I hadn’t taken any knocks on the rugby pitch for a while so I was very sore afterwards, but I took to the technical side of things pretty well which included falling naturally, and my cardio was good because I was training six days a week at the time.

“From there, all of the rolling and falling came quite naturally from my rugby experience. It came to the last day of the tryouts and I saw guys starting to throw each other around I loved the look of it.”

As well as impressing in the drills, Howard is also a genuine wrestling fan which has helped him adapt to his new vocation. “I was around the age of ten through the Attitude era so a few of the Superstars from then made a big impact on my life,” he says. “And I was always the guy at university with the rugby team who was telling people to come round and watch PPVs, so I have followed it for most of my life.”

Born and raised in Exeter, Howard has now moved to Florida and is situated near WWE’s state-of-the-art Performance Center which is where his training will be based. Covering 26,000 square feet, the building caters to every element of WWE and includes seven wrestling rings, a high-tech gym, and a myriad of media facilities which are all designed to hone the stars of the future.

Howard will be rubbing shoulders with top level talent from NXT, a WWE television show which displays the burgeoning talent from the Performance Center. “I’ve been watching NXT progress over the last few months,” he confirms. “People like Baron Corbin, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn I’ve been watching for a long time and it’s actually quite surreal being out here with them as I have the utmost respect for these guys. I’m just being humble with open eyes and open ears to learn the art.”

Many of the biggest superstars in wrestling history signed their first deals with huge organisations having never stepped foot in a professional wrestling ring before. The likes of Bill Goldberg and Kurt Angle both came from sporting backgrounds and quickly thrived, though Howard is keeping a level head.

“You’ve just got to maintain professionalism when working with these guys. I’m here to do a job, so I’m professional and polite and looking forward to getting to work and making some progress.”

There is also inspiration for Howard to be had from former football league goalkeeper Stuart Tomlinson, who now competes in NXT as the dazzlingly named Huge Knox. Tomlinson played over 140 professional games before joining WWE, and also had no prior wrestling experience.

“I met him when I came out in December for a medical,” says Howard. “There I got the chance to talk to him personally, about the transition and what to expect.”

After his unveiling, the training now begins in earnest for the ambitious recruit who already has his initial itinerary mapped out for him.

“We’re doing our base training which is conditioning right now for the next couple of weeks, so they’re not getting us into the ring to do bumps at the moment to reduce the chance of injury whilst our bodies make the transition. They’re looking at us as long term investments so our wellbeing is the main priority.

“My ambition is probably the same as the company’s which to put a smile on people’s faces, and if I can be a major part of that one day then I will have achieved my goals.”

Watch Extreme Rules on Sky Sports Box Office and WWE Network at 1am on Sunday 26th April