Former WWE Wrestler Wins Congressional Primary

I guess politics are involved in both. Wrestlers are unique creatures in that they are asked to do a lot of different things at once. They have to be athletes, actors, characters and more, all while keeping up the mystique of kayfabe (in theory at least), all at the same time. That isn’t easy for anyone to do, but it can prepare you for something else later in life, which seems to be the case here.

Back in 2001, the WWF launched a new series called Tough Enough, a reality competition with various wrestlers competing to earn a contract with the company. The series had hit or miss results for its champions, but several participants involved went on to lengthy careers with the WWF/E. Some who did not have the same success went on to succeed elsewhere though, and in this case it is in a more important situation.

According to the Nevada Independent, former WWE wrestler Daniel Rodimer has declared victory in the Republican primary for the Nevada third Congressional district. Rodimer currently leads his opponent Dan Schwartz 44% to 32.1% with an unknown amount of votes still to be counted. After appearing on Tough Enough, Rodimer worked for WWE from July 2006 until August 2007, mainly wrestling in developmental territories but also wrestling occasionally on Heat. Rodimer last wrestled on August 4, 2007.

There isn’t much footage out there. Check out some of Rodimer’s ring time:

Opinion: This is something cool to hear about and it’s not like wrestlers haven’t been successful politicians before. Rodimer is a bit of a different situation though as he has gone on to become a lawyer, with wrestling being a small mention on his resume. Your individual politics may vary but another wrestler winning another political office is an interesting turn and something you don’t see every day.

Do you remember Rodimer? Who is your favorite Tough Enough alumnus? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30 wrestling books. Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for “GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES” to sign up. Thank you for reading!