From judo to the USA

“Thought it was a joke when I first called”

Aaron Fara with synchronized swimmer Vasiliki Alexandri at the Sporthilfe charity X-Mas bowling event in Vienna's Prater and as a muscleman at a wrestling casting in Florida.(Bild: Krone KREATIV)

Walter Hahn, alias Gunther, has long been a wrestling star in the USA. Now the former freight forwarder from Vienna-Simmering has been joined by Aaron Fara in the world of scripted sport. The Olympic judo starter explains: "I'm flying to World Wrestling Entertainment in Orlando for medical tests at the beginning of December. Everything will almost certainly be settled there with a three-year contract."

The 27-year-old says: "It's a big step into a completely new environment." World Wrestling Entertainment has well over 100 million followers on social media. The competitions are broadcast in more than 150 countries. The company has an annual turnover of 1.3 billion euros. Aaron nods: "I will earn a lot more than with judo." When WWE approached him, he initially thought it was a joke. It wasn't until the third contact that he realized they were really interested.

Olympic starters Aaron Fara (left), Shady El Nahas (center) and Francois Prinsloo were cast as wrestlers in Orlando.(Bild: WWE)

Battle of the clichés
As a result, the model athlete from Bad Erlach, who (like NBA star Jakob Pöltl on his visits home) trains at the "OneTribe" gym in Vienna, took part in a three-day audition with 17 other Olympic stars from Paris at the 2400 square meter WWE Performance Center in Orlando. In the end, he, judo vice world champion Shady El Nahas (Kan) and discus thrower Francois Prinsloo (SA) were offered a professional contract. It will be interesting to see which wrestling characters will be developed for the trio in the battle of clichés (good versus evil, fear versus courage, popular versus unpopular).

After the casting, Aaron Fara posed with a wrestling belt and leather pants from this year's Austrian Olympic team's clothing collection.(Bild: WWE)

"Biggest disappointment of my life so far"
Fara says: "I was in a deep hole after the Olympic Games in Paris. My quick exit in the first round after just 76 seconds was the biggest disappointment of my life so far. And then suddenly you get a chance like this, it's incredible."

Judoka Aaron Fara (left) has great potential as a wrestler.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

"His body fits wrestling like a glove"
Insiders from the judo association are convinced that the trained masseur and graduate of the vocational school for hair and body care has a lot of potential: "He has the necessary show element down pat. His spectacular lifting techniques will also help. Aaron is also extremely communicative. And his body fits wrestling like a glove anyway."