This past Tuesday night’s episode of WWE NXT was memorable for Chase University’s Thea Hail. The plucky, young star won a battle royal at the end of the episode to become the number one contender for the NXT Women’s Championship. With the win, Hail, who is only nineteen years old, made history by becoming the youngest number-one contender in WWE history. She was also a part of another piece of WWE history when, during her post-match celebration, NIL recruits Haley and Hanna Cavinder, aka The Cavinder Twins, joined her in the ring to celebrate, hoisting her on their shoulders.
The fraternal twins officially signed Next In Line, or Name/Image/Likeness, deals with the company in December 2021. The deals allow WWE to use their images while promoting their product but it does not tie the athletes to signing a deal with the company once they graduate college. As NIL athletes, they are given access to WWE facilities, and events, and some, like Gable Steveson, do make the decision to commit to becoming a Superstar.
The duo recently chatted with The Atlantic about their experience at the WWE Performance Center this week, and what it was like to be in the ring following Hail’s big win.
“You see it on TV and it’s amazing,” Hanna expressed. “Then you get here, see the roots of it, all the physicality and skills you have to have behind it. It embodies the entertainment side we like to showcase. It’s cool to tie us and WWE. We’re very interested in that.”
If they do decide to make the leap to in-ring action, they will not be the first set of twins to sign with the promotion. WWE, obviously, found a lot of success with The Bella Twins, with both women going on to become Champions, and helping to launch two successful reality show franchises on E! for the promotion. While the same success is not guaranteed for The Cavinders, there’s no doubt WWE would like to see them sign on the dotted line of a contract.
“I don’t think we’ve talked about a timeline,” Hayley said when asked if they had made a decision regarding their WWE future. “We take it day by day. We came out here and we’re going to a RAW event later in July. We’re going where our feet are, understanding, getting more into it, and seeing where it takes us.”