An athlete’s potential in professional wrestling can be inferred a great deal from their prior athletic experience. Due to the physical demands and large player bases of sports like football, these disciplines have historically been excellent breeding grounds for future wrestlers. Wrestlers of late have come from a variety of different sports, including ballet, which stresses balance, poise, and core strength—elements that are essential to success in wrestling.Basketball is another often-ignored sport that generates wrestling skill, but amateur wrestling itself is a strong basis for a professional wrestling career.
In wrestling, physical attributes like size still hold significance, and the height of basketball players can lend immediate credibility to their wrestling prospects. However, height alone does not determine success in wrestling, just as it doesn’t in basketball. Top basketball players typically have not only size and reach but also skills like finesse, hand-eye coordination, power, and agility. These attributes are also essential for becoming a top-tier pro wrestler. Therefore, it’s not surprising that many wrestlers have backgrounds in basketball, whether from high school, college, or even professional leagues.

Here are 5 Professional Wrestlers Who Have A Background In Basketball

1) Big Show

The Big Show, whose real name is Paul Wight, is not only one of the most colossal wrestlers since Andre the Giant but also among the most agile. Before making his mark in professional wrestling, Wight played college basketball at Wichita State University in the NCAA Division I, among other institutions. Standing at 7-foot-1, he averaged just over two minutes and two points per game for the Shockers, having previously excelled at Northern Oklahoma Junior College. Seeking more playing time, he transferred to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, but continued to face difficulties, scoring only 39 points in his final season.
In a 2013 Sports Illustrated interview, Wight discussed his basketball career, explaining that his significant size advantage in high school made it challenging for him to adapt to the faster pace of college basketball. “I wanted to post up,” he said. “Just throw me the ball and I’ll put it in the hole. And I was like a black hole. If you threw the ball in, obviously the defense would collapse and I couldn’t do anything with it.” Wight eventually transitioned to professional wrestling, debuting with WCW in 1995. Given his prominent booking from the start, it’s clear he made the right career choice.
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2) Kane

Kane, whose real name is Glenn Jacobs, has successfully transitioned from a wrestling career to a role in politics, currently serving as the mayor of Knox County, Tennessee. This career shift was not Jacobs’ first; he initially aimed to become a professional basketball player. He enjoyed a successful high school basketball career and earned a scholarship to Truman State University, formerly known as Northeast Missouri State University. During his college years, Jacobs led Northeast Missouri State in field goal percentage from 1987 to 1989.
When the 6-foot-9 Jacobs arrived on campus, his coaches suggested he start weightlifting. This led Jacobs to gain 60 pounds of muscle, increasing his weight to 290 pounds, which in turn caught the attention of the football coaches. Jacobs recounted in an interview on “The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy,”“So the football coach comes to me and says, Glenn, what are you doing? You weigh 290 pounds to run up and down a basketball court. You need to come play football. My eligibility is up in basketball. But if I switched sports, I had a year left. So that’s what I decided to do is try football and give it a shot.” Jacobs performed well in football and later tried out for the Chicago Bears, but his attempt was thwarted by a knee injury that caused him to fail the physical.

3) Kevin Nash

Kevin Nash is one of the most well-known wrestlers with a background in basketball. Nash has openly discussed his basketball career, which was cut short while he was playing internationally. As a Division I center at the University of Tennessee, Nash averaged 15.3 minutes per game throughout his college career, with 5.1 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, and started 26 games during his junior year. Standing at 6 feet, 10 inches, he had a solid chance of pursuing a professional basketball career. However, a physical altercation with his college coach, Don DeVoe, nearly derailed his prospects before they could fully materialize.
Nash intended to transfer to the University of Bowling Green, but when that transfer fell through, he continued his basketball career overseas, most notably in Germany. Unfortunately, a torn ACL ended his playing career permanently. Following a brief period in the United States Army, Nash transitioned to professional wrestling, where he became one of the prominent stars of the 1990s and 2000s.

4) Bayley

Although Bayley, whose real name is Pamela Martinez, has openly shared her long-standing passion for wrestling, it might be surprising to learn that wrestling wasn’t always her sole focus. Before transitioning to a wrestling career, Bayley was a standout on her high school basketball team at Independence High School in her hometown of San Jose, California. On the “Swerve City Podcast,” Bayley mentioned that she joined the varsity team as a sophomore and became team captain by her senior year. “In the newspaper, if you get the local news, they feature high school games with your last name and your points,” Bayley recalled. “That’s all I wanted. I saved all the newspapers and highlighted them.”
The skills that Bayley developed on the basketball court have clearly influenced her performance in the wrestling ring. Recently, she drew on her high school basketball experience during a segment with Bianca Belair on “SmackDown,” where Bayley set up an “Ultimate Athlete Obstacle Course” that culminated in a basketball hoop outside the ring. While her character work may sometimes overshadow her athleticism, it’s evident that her extensive hours on the basketball court have contributed to making her one of the more underrated athletes in WWE‘s women’s division.
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5) Undertaker

Similar to Kevin Nash, Mark Calaway initially aimed to become a professional basketball player before ever considering a career in wrestling, let alone becoming The Undertaker. His basketball journey, much like his wrestling path, followed an unusual route. Calaway, a prominent player at Waltrip High School in Houston, chose to stay local and play college basketball at the University of St. Thomas. When St. Thomas discontinued its men’s basketball program, Calaway transferred to Texas Wesleyan University, a Division II school.
At Texas Wesleyan, Calaway made a significant impact on the team and even earned a chance to play professionally in France. According to Bleacher Report, his entry-level contract in France offered an $80,000 salary. Despite this opportunity, Calaway decided to leave basketball for what he saw as a promising career in professional wrestling. “Most of the big guys [in wrestling] were plodders,” Calaway told The Guardian. “They’d walk around and knock the crap out of you; pick you up and throw you. I could do that while moving around nimbly, too. Once I started training I was like: ‘God, this is what I want to do.’ It was in my blood.” Committed to wrestling, Calaway went on to become one of the most iconic figures in professional wrestling history.