WWE News: Who's at the WWE tryouts in Santiago, Chile?
What's the story?
WWE is in the middle of holding tryouts for South American wrestlers, as they're currently holding tryouts in Santiago Chile.
The pro wrestling company announced the tryouts on their website, and WrestlingInc had a report on the WWE's camp.
The camp is just one of many that the WWE has throughout the year, but this one is just as important with free agency looming.
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With WWE looking to continually expand its efforts internationally, the WWE has had numerous tryout camps outside of the United States.
Earlier this year, the WWE held tryouts in Cologne, Germany and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. They've also had them in China, Australia and now South America.
With the launch of WWE NXT UK, WWE is always looking at thriving wrestling scenes with the possibility of launching another brand internationally. Several wrestlers outside of the UK have joined or will join NXT UK (Dakota Kai, Toni Storm, Walter) if they haven't already.
The heart of the matter
WWE noted that Performance Center head coach Matt Bloom, coach Sarah Stock, coach Robbie Brookside and referee Eddie Orengo were among the recruiters sent to Chile.
Also joining the Performance center coaches/officials are NXT wrestlers Taynara Conti, Adrian Jaoude, Cezar Bononi and Raul Mendoza.
The report lists that over 50 athletes came to the tryouts representing Chile, Costa Rica, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Ecuador and Puerto Rico.
It also mentioned that in addition to independent wrestlers, several other athletes from sports like volleyball, weightlifting, capoeira, jiu-jitsu, judo and football also attended.
Triple H mentioned the following when the tryout camp was announced in September:
"The passion for sports-entertainment and combat sports in Latin America makes this a key region from which to recruit premier athletes who want to pursue the dream of becoming a WWE Superstar."
Some notable names who attended the tryout camp included:
-Wrestling veteran Ricky Marvin, who has competed for CMLL, AAA and Pro Wrestling Noah
-Cruiserweight Classic competitor Manuel Alejandro Saez
-2018 Mae Young Classic competitor Zatara
-Chilean Wrestler Ariki Toa, who has faced Super Crazy and Roderick Strong in matches
Several Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners, both male and female, also were at the tryout.
What's next?
With over 50 people showing up for the tryout, the next step is that several of the attendees will be signed and likely report to the Performance Center in early 2019.
Some might be able to start right away while others might take a little longer to wrap up commitments or formulate relocation plans.
Latin America has always been a huge market that WWE hasn't truly tapped into - yet.
It has been consistently providing excellent wrestling witin the promotions like CMLL, AAA, Crash Wrestling and World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico.
Since it's such a hotbed of talented wrestlers, it makes a lot of sense for WWE to try to scoop up some potential future stars and make a dent in the Latin American wrestling realm.
They might eventually launch a NXT Latin American Brand to compete with the likes of the aforementioned promotions.
They might even be able to coax current Mexican/Latin American stars to ultimately join the potential promotion.
One thing is certain in the future: pro wrestling will continue to grow throughout the world.