NASHVILLE, Tenn. — An hour before the first bell of SummerSlam, the West Club at Nissan Stadium buzzed with activity, and Haley and Hanna Cavinder were right in the middle of it.
The Cavinder twins, who play basketball at Miami and became social media stars with their popular TikTok videos during the COVID-19 pandemic, had traveled to their first WWE event in July after signing a name, image and likeness deal with the promotion in December 2021. They’re part of WWE’s NIL program, “Next In Line,” which signs college athletes before the end of their careers, exposes them to WWE events and superstars, and then begins preparing them for careers in the ring.
At the reception, the Cavinders were inseparable and hard to miss. The 5-foot-6 blond sisters posed for pictures with WWE superstars Rhea Ripley, Damian Priest and The Street Profits. They chatted up Liv Morgan, then the SmackDown women’s champion, who provided her phone number for any questions about WWE.
“She’s so dope,” the twins said after meeting Liv.
When not taking pictures, the Cavinders strategized. They’re accomplished athletes — both earned All-Mountain West honors while at Fresno State, and Haley is Miami’s leading scorer this season — but social media is their secret sauce. They have 4.1 million TikTok followers.
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