Zoe Hines Officially Signs With WWE Amid Nepo Backlash
Zoe Hines is officially a WWE Superstar in training, and her arrival is already generating wrestling media chatter beyond the usual rookie class rollout.
The 22-year-old former Boston College softball player was unveiled Wednesday as part of the latest WWE Performance Center signing class, joining Alyssa Daniele, Garrett Beck, and Nicholas Panicali. The official announcement came through the WWE NXT account on X.
Hines is the niece of U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Curb Your Enthusiasm actress Cheryl Hines. RFK Jr. celebrated the news on his own X account.
The signing has drawn outsized attention because of how it intersects with WWE's existing political ties. Former WWE CEO Linda McMahon currently serves as U.S. Secretary of Education in the Trump administration, while RFK Jr. holds the Secretary of Health and Human Services post.
RFK Jr. first revealed Hines' signing publicly in March during an appearance at the University of Florida's College of Medicine, openly crediting McMahon for facilitating the opportunity.
"My niece, Zoe Hines, recently signed a contract with WWE, which Linda had a lot to do with, to become a wrestler," Kennedy said.
That public framing is what set the tone for how this week's official rollout has been received in some corners of the wrestling press.
On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer offered a critical perspective on the signing, claiming the move was viewed internally as politically motivated rather than performance-based.
"I certainly heard a lot about Zoe Hines I would say six months ago, and it was very much this is one that was politically forced on them," Meltzer said. "She's a real athlete, she's a softball player. When she had her tryout, it's not like she knocked them dead or even knocked them even."
Meltzer's reporting represents one perspective on the move and has not been confirmed or addressed by WWE. The company has not made any public comment beyond Wednesday's official roster reveal.
The athletic resume is the part of her story that has been less discussed. Hines played 36 games with 29 starts as a junior at Boston College and represented France's national softball team along with its U22 program, per F4WOnline. She also took part in last year's SummerSlam tryout weekend, the same recruiting pipeline that produced recent NXT call-up Lizzy Rain.
WWE has built modern stars out of athletes from non-wrestling backgrounds before, with Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill, and Bron Breakker as recent examples of crossover talent who developed inside the Performance Center system.
Hines now joins that pipeline with the rest of the rookie class. WWE's links to the Trump administration extend further still: Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque serves as vice chair of the President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition.
How her training translates to television will ultimately decide the trajectory. For now, she is officially part of WWE, and the conversation around her debut is only just getting started.
