WWE champ Trick Williams details how college football prepared him for wrestling stardom

Before Trick Williams entered the ring, Matrick Belton was tearing up the shot field.

Belton was a apical precocious schoolhouse shot subordinate successful South Carolina earlier helium decided to perpetrate to Hampton University and aboriginal articulation the University of South Carolina arsenic a walk-on. He ended up graduating from South Carolina and attempted to marque the Philadelphia Eagles roster successful mini-camp.

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Trick Williams celebrates during WrestleMania 42: Night 2 astatine Allegiant Stadium successful Las Vegas, Nev., connected April 19, 2026. (Rich Freeda/WWE)

The shot imagination failed to materialize but WWE would power him to bid arsenic a pro wrestler. He made his WWE NXT debut successful September 2021 and rapidly became a instrumentality favorite.

In an interrogation with Fox News Digital, helium shed immoderate airy connected however playing assemblage shot prepared him to marque the leap to pro wrestling.

"Just learning however to persevere," helium said. I played astatine Hampton and I decided to locomotion connected astatine the University of South Carolina. Being a walk-on was not casual and it taught maine however to beryllium mentally strong. I retrieve determination were definite times erstwhile I was like, ‘Hey antheral you don’t get to walk clip with the remainder of the team. You don’t get these other meals with the remainder of the team.’

WWE United States Champion Trick Williams makes his entranceway during SmackDown astatine Dickies Arena successful Fort Worth, Texas, connected April 24, 2026. (Michael Marques/WWE)

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"I retrieve this large spot connected my shoulder. I person to beryllium myself to you. I person to beryllium myself to the remainder of the coaches. I person to beryllium myself to the world. That spot ain’t going obscurity man. That wherefore I grind truthful hard. …"

Belton reached his highest astatine NXT, winning the NXT Championship twice, the NXT North American Championship and adjacent holding the Total Nonstop Action (TNA) World Championship astatine 1 point.

He made his WrestleMania 42 debut against Sami Zayn connected Sunday nighttime and bushed him oregon the United States Championship.

Trick Williams attends Netflix Presents: The Raw Brunch successful Las Vegas, Nevada, connected April 20, 2026. (David Becker/Getty Images for Netflix)

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The full assemblage of much than 50,000 radical was singing "Whoop that Trick" arsenic helium came down the ring. It’s a testament to however acold helium has travel arsenic a pro wrestler and an athlete.