The curious new career of Wiese

Former goalkeeper turned WWE superstar

Posted Monday, December 26, 2016 by Marca.com

Even during his football career, goalkeeper Tim Wiese was always an eccentric character, so it should be no surprise to see what he has turned to after quitting the game.

The German excelled with Werder Bremen for many years but a disappointing spell with his final club Hoffenheim turned him towards the gym, and in turn professional wrestling.

"I used the gym as an escape from the criticism," confessed Wiese. "I wasn't preparing for a bodybuilding competition or anything like that, it was just fun for me."

It was a hobby that soon became a great passion and then a career. The time spent in the gym brought about a considerable change in his physique and resulted in him losing much of the agility which goalkeepers rely upon.

His football career was even put in danger by it as he clocked in on the scales at various points at over 100 kilos and also stood at 1.93m tall and finally in 2014, he decided to retire.

It was then that he debuted in the world of wrestling, making his first appearance in Frankfurt as a minor character and since then hasn't stopped training until he has achieved the required level of muscle.

"For my breakfast every morning I ate a kilo of bull meat," revealed Wiese.

Last June, the world's biggest pro wrestling organisation the WWE made an important commitment to expanding throughout Europe and signed the ex-footballer to a contract.

His foray into the big show was a success and everything indicates that with the progress he has made recently and will continue to make, he will soon be taking on the best.

The curious new career of Wiese

Wiese made his professional football debut in 1999 with Fortuna Koln, before finishing it 15 years later with Hoffenheim. He featured for his country, too, and was part of the squad for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa as well as Euro 2012.

The goalkeeper also revealed that had things been different, he could even have ended up at Real Madrid but he wasn't convinced about his chances of dislodging Iker Casillas from the side.

"I never believed that Jose Mourinho would drop Casillas," he admitted.