ORLANDO, Fla. — Fifteen months ago, Roman Macek was an all-conference offensive lineman at Duquesne and a student in the law school, with one more football season ahead of him. The future was bright.
Today, he’s putting that law knowledge to use, carrying a briefcase everywhere and arguing his case. But he’s not in a courtroom. He’s in a WWE ring, under the name Luca Crusifino as a wrestler/lawyer character.
In April 2022, Macek participated in a WWE tryout in Frisco, Texas, aimed at current and recent college athletes. Macek performed well and was offered a contract. He left Duquesne, despite having a year of football eligibility left, and took a leave of absence from the law school, all to chase his dream.
He’d never taken part in professional wrestling before. In just about a year, he slimmed down, created a character and literally learned the ropes. In May, Crusifino won his first match, when he used his briefcase to distract a referee, poked his opponent in the eye and rolled him up for a three count. He has won his past three matches.
“It’s unbelievable,” Macek said. “It’s a dream come true. It’s tough to describe it in words.”
Macek is one of the numerous college athletes from that tryout or from WWE’s name, image and likeness path who already is…
