Former Bundesliga goalkeeper Tim Wiese will make his WWE debut Thursday

Former German national team goalkeeper Tim Wiese has beefed up to become a pro wrestler. 
Former Bundesliga goalkeeper Tim Wiese will make his WWE debut Thursday
Former Bundesliga goalkeeper Tim Wiese will make his WWE debut Thursday /

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Two years of intensive training are set to pay off for former German national team goalkeeper Tim Wiese, who will make his WWE debut this week. 

Wiese had plenty of success in professional soccer, both in the Bundesliga and with the national team, but career ended in 2014 when he was released by Hoffenheim. He immediately started lifting weights and transformed his body into a hulking mass of muscle more befitting a bodybuilder. He weighed about 200 pounds as a keeper and he says he beefed up to about 290 pounds before dropping down to his current 265.

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His stunning transformation also caught the eye of WWE, so he started training as a wrestler in Germany before moving to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando this year.

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He made an appearance as a timekeeper at an event in 2014 but he’ll make his in-ring debut on Thursday at a show in Munich. Wiese will be appearing on a tag team with Sheamus and Cesaro, two of WWE’s most prominent Europeans, in about against another tag team called the Shining Stars.

“My game plan against the Shining Stars will basically be to go full throttle, beat them down out of the ring, and seeing as they weigh 30-40lbs less than I do, I will grab them, one with the left hand, one with the right, and end them,” Wiese told The Guardian. “I’ll drop kick Bo Dallas and throw him off the stage.”

In the future, he sees himself become a heel.

“I think I’ll be playing the role of the bad guy—I’m being pushed in that direction, but that’s OK,” Wiese told the BBC. “In football, I was already the bad guy who opposition fans would insult. It doesn't bother me. They can all hate me.”


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Dan Gartland
DAN GARTLAND

Dan Gartland is the writer and editor of Sports Illustrated’s flagship daily newsletter, SI:AM, covering everything an educated sports fan needs to know. He joined the SI staff in 2014, having previously been published on Deadspin and Slate. Gartland, a graduate of Fordham University, is a former Sports Jeopardy! champion (Season 1, Episode 5).