On Wednesday, former St. Thomas Aquinas College Track & Field standout Rickssen Opont ('19) announced that he has signed a contract to join World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as a member of its newest class of recruits.
Opont was one of 14 athletes signed by WWE, following the professional wrestling promotion's tryout during SummerSlam Week in Nashville, Tennessee late last month. 50 current and recently graduated athletes were allowed to participate in the tryout with WWE Chairwoman and Co-CEO Stephanie McMahon, Co-CEO Nick Khan and Executive Vice President for Talent Relations Paul “Triple H” Levesque all on hand to evaluate the talent. Also joining the WWE brass were current superstars Big E, Raw Women's Champion Bianca Belair and Paul Heyman. Former NBA Champion Dwight Howard also participated in the event.
Rickssen Opont put together one of the most stellar careers as a student-athlete, while studying at St. Thomas Aquinas College. In his three years as a member of both the Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field program (2016-2019), Rickssen amassed numerous All-Conference and All Region accolades by both the East Coast Conference (ECC) and United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Opont closed out his amazing run as a Spartan by qualifying for the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field National Championships in the spring of 2019.
Opont still holds the STAC record for the shot put event for both indoor (16.01m - 2017) and outdoor (17.67m - 2019), along with the ECC shot put record at the outdoor championships (17.20m - 2019).
Rickssen will report to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida to begin his training as he prepares for the next step of his career.
OFFICIAL WWE NEW RECRUIT CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT
Rickssen Opont STAC Awards, Honors & Accolades
NCAA National Championship Appearances (1):
2019 - Outdoor Track/Shot Put
USTFCCCA All-Region Honors (7):
2016-2017 - Indoor Track/Shot Put & Outdoor Track/Shot Put
2017-2018 - Indoor Track/Shot Put & Outdoor Track/Shot Put & Discus
2018-2019 - Indoor Track/Shot Put & Outdoor Track/Shot Put
ECC All-Conference Honors (13):
2016-2017 - Indoor Track/Shot Put (2nd Team) & Outdoor Track/Shot Put & Discus (1st Team)
2017-2018 - Indoor Track/Shot Put (1st Team) & Weight Throw (2nd Team) & Outdoor Track/Shot Put & Discus (1st Team) & Hammer Throw (2nd Team)
2018-2019 - Indoor Track/Shot Put & Weight Throw (1st Team) & Outdoor Track/Shot Put & Discus (1st Team) & Hammer Throw (2nd Team)
ECC Field Athlete of the Week Honors (12)
Indoor
2016-2017 (3), 2017-2018 (3), 2018-2019 (2)
Outdoor
2017-2018 (2), 2018-2019 (2)