WWE has officially introduced seven new WWE Performance Center recruits, but calling them one rookie class does not mean they are starting from the same place.
Cara Brown, Katie Reynolds, Aalyah Gutierrez, Zoë Sager, Ana da Silva, Jackson Goonrey and Tyran Tuckey were officially introduced Thursday, September 17, as the newest Rookie Class at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. Their backgrounds stretch from Olympic competition and amateur wrestling to independent championships, WWE ID, professional refereeing and one of the most recognizable wrestling families in WWE history.
That variety is what makes this class worth paying attention to. Some of these recruits already know how to work professional wrestling matches. One has already worked WWE events. Another spent nearly two years inside WWE’s ID pipeline. One competed at the Olympics. Another comes from collegiate wrestling. WWE is not teaching seven people the exact same thing from the beginning.
There is also an important distinction with the September 17 announcement: it confirms the seven as WWE Performance Center recruits, but it does not establish September 17 as the date every person signed a WWE contract. Several were already working with or training around WWE beforehand, and exact contract-signing dates have not been publicly revealed for most of the class.
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WWE Performance Center Recruits: The Full Rookie Class Rundown
Here is what each member of the new class accomplished before arriving at the Performance Center, when they went through WWE’s evaluation or training process and what is actually known about when they joined WWE.
- Cara Brown — Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Accomplishments: Brown brings legitimate amateur wrestling experience to WWE. She won the District 1-2 championship at 152 pounds in 2023 before finishing runner-up at the Idaho state championships that year with a 29-9 record. She returned to the state final as a senior in 2024, finishing runner-up at 145 pounds with a 25-5 record. Brown then wrestled collegiately for the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky, while studying Exercise and Sport Science and Fitness and Sport Management. She also worked with the university’s football program and earned Mid-South Conference Academic All-Conference recognition in 2026. Tryout: No specific WWE tryout date has been publicly confirmed for Brown. WWE signing/status: WWE publicly announced Brown as part of the Performance Center Rookie Class on September 17, 2026. Her exact contract-signing date has not been disclosed.
- Katie Reynolds — Kokomo, Indiana. Accomplishments: Reynolds already had extensive experience as a professional wrestling referee before arriving in NXT. Previously known as Alice Lane, she officiated for Ohio Valley Wrestling and TNA Wrestling. Her biggest moment came during Mike Santana and Steve Maclin’s match at TNA Sacrifice in March 2026 when Maclin was hurt and Reynolds quickly recognized the situation and stopped the match. TNA President Carlos Silva later presented Reynolds with an All-Star Award for her actions. Tryout: No traditional WWE Performance Center tryout for Reynolds has been publicly documented. WWE signing/status: Her move to WWE became public on July 24, 2026, when NXT announced that she would debut as a referee during that weekend’s live events in Florida. She was already working as an NXT referee before WWE included her in the September 17 Rookie Class. WWE has not publicly disclosed the exact date she signed her contract.
- Aalyah Gutierrez — San Diego, California. Accomplishments: Gutierrez enters WWE with the most recognizable family connection in the class as the daughter of WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio and sister of Dominik Mysterio. She has appeared on WWE television before, most notably during the Mysterio family’s 2020 storyline involving Seth Rollins and Murphy and at WrestleMania 39 during Rey Mysterio versus Dominik Mysterio. Gutierrez graduated from UC San Diego with a degree in human biology before seriously pursuing wrestling. Training/tryout: Her path was different from the February mass tryout. She spent a one-day training session at the WWE Performance Center in October 2025 and returned in February 2026 for a two-week stretch of full-time training. By the summer, she was preparing to establish herself at the Performance Center full-time, and she later appeared on WWE’s internal roster under her real surname, Gutierrez. WWE signing/status: WWE formally introduced her as part of the Rookie Class on September 17, 2026. The exact date she signed a developmental agreement has not been publicly disclosed.
- Zoë Sager — Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Accomplishments: Sager has one of the strongest professional wrestling résumés in the class. She debuted in 2018, trained under Lance Storm and Michael Richard Blais and became a major part of the Canadian independent scene. She is a two-time Love Pro Wrestling Grand Champion and has also held LPW’s Challenge and Scramble championships. Sager wrestled Emi Sakura on AEW Dark: Elevation in 2023 before becoming the first Canadian prospect announced for WWE ID on November 17, 2024. During her time in the WWE ID system, she competed in the WWE Women’s ID Championship picture and worked NXT dark matches. She also has an athletic background in rugby and amateur wrestling. Tryout: Sager publicly revealed her Performance Center tryout invitation on February 12, 2026 and participated in WWE’s Orlando tryout the following week. WWE signing/status: Sager received her WWE ID deal on November 17, 2024. WWE officially announced her transition into the Performance Center Rookie Class on September 17, 2026. WWE has not announced the precise date of any new developmental agreement replacing or superseding her WWE ID arrangement.
- Ana da Silva — Ribeirão das Neves, Brazil. Accomplishments: Da Silva owns the strongest traditional athletic résumé in the group. She competed in the shot put at the University of Georgia and won the 2022 SEC Outdoor Championship with a throw of 18.46 meters, breaking her own Georgia school record. Before Georgia, she was a two-time NJCAA national champion at Barton Community College. She is also a three-time Brazilian national champion and competed at the 2016 World U20 Championships. Da Silva then represented Brazil at the 2024 Paris Olympics, finishing 23rd overall in women’s shot-put qualification with a best throw of 17.09 meters. Tryout: Da Silva confirmed in February 2026 that she had received an invitation to WWE’s Orlando tryouts. The Performance Center camp took place during the week of February 16, with the tryout beginning that week. WWE signing/status: WWE officially announced da Silva as a Performance Center recruit on September 17, 2026. Her exact developmental contract-signing date has not been publicly disclosed.
- Jackson Goonrey — Sydney, Australia. Accomplishments: Goonrey wrestled throughout Australia as Scott Green and is best known alongside Tyran Tuckey as The Dropouts. The team captured the Newy Pro Tag Team Championship and SLAM! Tag Team Championship. Goonrey also held IWA Australia’s Trans-Tasman Championship. His résumé extends beyond wrestling. He competed on Australian Survivor: Redemption, lasted 45 days and finished runner-up out of 24 contestants. Tryout: Goonrey and Tuckey publicly revealed their WWE tryout invitations on February 12, 2026. Both participated in WWE’s Performance Center tryout in Orlando the following week. WWE signing/status: After continuing to finish their Australian wrestling commitments, Goonrey was formally announced as a member of WWE’s September 17 Performance Center Rookie Class. His exact contract-signing date has not been made public.
- Tyran Tuckey — Minto, Australia. Accomplishments: Better known as The Tuckman, Tuckey left university in 2021 to pursue professional wrestling and developed into one of the more accomplished names in this class. He is a two-time Soul of PWA Champion and two-time IWA Heavyweight Champion. Alongside Jackson Goonrey in The Dropouts, he also held the Newy Pro and SLAM! tag team championships. Tuckey won PWA’s 2025 King of the Metro battle royal after entering from the number-one position, eventually using the victory to earn another opportunity at the Soul of PWA Championship and beginning his second reign later that year. Tryout: Tuckey publicly confirmed his WWE tryout invitation on February 12, 2026 and attended the Orlando Performance Center tryout the following week. WWE signing/status: WWE formally announced Tuckey as part of its September 17 Rookie Class. His exact developmental contract-signing date has not been publicly disclosed.
What immediately stands out is that WWE cannot develop these seven recruits with one blueprint.
Sager, Goonrey and Tuckey already understand professional wrestling. WWE does not need to introduce them to taking bumps, putting together matches or working in front of crowds. The bigger adjustment is learning how WWE wants those skills translated to television: camera placement, timing, promos, character presentation and the structure expected inside the NXT system.
Sager is even further along in understanding WWE’s developmental ecosystem because she has already been part of WWE ID, worked NXT dark matches and been evaluated through the company’s independent-development program. Her move to Orlando looks less like WWE discovering a wrestler and more like the next stage of an evaluation that started in November 2024.
Brown and da Silva are almost the opposite.
Brown brings years of legitimate grappling experience, toughness and body control from amateur wrestling. The Performance Center now has to turn that competitive foundation into professional wrestling. There is a massive difference between knowing how to control an opponent in an amateur match and knowing how to work a television match while selling, communicating, hitting marks and developing a character.
Da Silva presents an even more unusual project. She has already competed at the Olympics. The question is obviously not whether she understands elite training, pressure or physical preparation. She has operated at a sporting level most Performance Center recruits will never experience. The question is whether that athletic ability can translate into professional wrestling.
Gutierrez will naturally generate the most immediate attention because of her family.
Being Rey Mysterio’s daughter and Dominik Mysterio’s sister guarantees people will watch her progression much more closely than they would a normal rookie, but it does not erase the biggest fact about her development: she is still learning.
Her path so far has actually been patient. She finished college, tested wrestling through a single Performance Center session, returned for two weeks of more serious training and then committed to the Performance Center full-time. WWE did not immediately turn the Mysterio name into a television debut.
That is the right approach because the surname can create interest, but it cannot take bumps, call a match, sell, cut a promo or develop timing for her.
Reynolds is the outlier because she was already doing her WWE job before Thursday’s announcement. She had been officiating NXT live events for weeks before WWE placed her in this Rookie Class. Her developmental work is less about learning what professional wrestling is and more about adapting her experience to WWE’s system.
The newest WWE Performance Center recruits are therefore one class mostly in name.
One was already signed through WWE ID. One was already refereeing NXT matches. One had already moved toward full-time Performance Center training. Several came directly through February’s tryout. Others arrived from elite amateur and Olympic-level sports.
September 17 puts all seven in the same Rookie Class.
It does not put all seven at the same starting line.
That is exactly what makes this group more interesting than the announcement photo alone suggests.
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