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The following pieces highlight people using their sociological background in interesting and unconventional ways. More information about careers in sociology can be obtained at www.asanet.org/students.
From Durkheim and Weber to Body Slams: A Sociology Major makes it Pro in Wrestling
By Redante Asuncion-Reed, Production Manager
Most recent graduates in Sociology and other Liberal Arts work in entry-level positions for nonprofits, social service agencies, the corporate world, or go immediately to graduate school. Christopher Nowinski, who graduated summa cum laude in Sociology from Harvard University in 2000, has chosen an entirely different career path. He is currently a pro wrestler for World Wrestling Entertainment (formerly the World Wrestling Federation). He was a participant in the first season of the WWE/MTV reality series Tough Enough where contestants competed for a developmental contract in the WWE roster by going through a grueling training program that was televised and presented as episodic reality TV. Although he did not win, he impressed the WWE enough that a couple of years later, they hired him to be in the active roster where he now regularly appears on television and in house shows under the Raw brand.

His on-screen and wrestling persona is based on his real-life status as a Harvard graduate. He portrays the heel or bad guy by usually berating the crowd for being hicks, stupid or backward. He plays to them as an arrogant, smirking snob who feels superior to everyone—an exaggerated caricature of the smarter-than-thou, elite Harvard Man. His costume usually consists of slacks, a button down shirt and a Harvard sweater tied around his neck as he stalks the ring. His in-ring outfit are wrestling boots and athletic shorts colored Harvard crimson with a big, white “H” on the seat. On interviews he makes it a point to always mention where he graduated from and how smart he is.

Lest anyone think that a career in pro wrestling can be an easy transition for any Sociology major, Nowinski’s rise is unusual because luck and the changing nature of the pro wrestling business played a big part in his success. After wrestling school, most aspiring pro wrestlers expect to work for several years with little or no exposure in the independent scene and in Japan, Mexico and other international promotions before getting a tryout with a major promotion like the WWE.

At 6 feet 5 inches tall and a muscular 270 lbs., Nowinski was already an accomplished athlete before his pro wrestling career. He played football for the Harvard team as an undergraduate and had considerable interest from the NFL until shoulder surgery curtailed his football dreams. After graduation, Nowinski worked days as a biotech and pharmaceutical consultant and spent nights learning his craft at wrestling school run by pro wrestling legend Killer Kowalski. In 2001, he sent an audition tape to Tough Enough and joined the cast of aspiring pro wrestlers where he received additional training and considerable national exposure. After Tough Enough he spent the next few months wrestling for obscure, independent promotions in the Boston area while continuing to work full-time at the consulting firm. Luck was on his side on April 2002 when he was invited by the WWE for a fan festival in Toronto where he was put in several tryout matches in front of the crowd. He impressed the WWE enough that soon after he was offered a developmental contract with the WWE affiliate HWA (Heartland Wrestling Association) in Ohio. He then made his debut in the main WWE roster in June 2002 in a televised episode of Monday Night Raw as the protégé of the effete, British snob William Regal.

In a recent interview with the Boston Globe, Nowinski describes his life as constantly being on the road, wrestling four nights a week playing the Harvard heel in front of hostile and booing crowds. He comments that the only people who usually cheer for him are Harvard people. His schedule takes him to small towns as well as most major cities in the US. He participated in recent WWE tours in India, Japan and Korea. His daily routine is to “find a gym and a tanning bed.” He eats a lot of late night meals at Subway and Outback Steakhouse. He describes his job as being simple—“Show up no matter what. Your storyline involves four or five other people.” Each match is usually one fall, no longer than 20 minutes. He does not disclose how much he makes as a WWE superstar and says only, “You do well.” He divulges, however, that he earns enough to make his Harvard alumni friends who work in Wall Street envious.

The WWE’s Raw magazine has facetiously commented that Nowinski has filled a gaping hole in Harvard’s reputation as they can now claim a WWE wrestler in their roster of alumni alongside luminaries such as Presidents, Nobel laureates and prominent scholars. To this author (who also happens to have been a Sociology major in college), Nowinski has filled a glaring hole in the ranks of Sociology alumni. We can now claim one of us in the ranks of pro wrestling’s stars alongside the typical PhD’s, researchers and social workers. Hopefully, more Sociology majors will know about the career of one of their own and possibly, even attend a WWE show to cheer on (or boo) their fellow Sociology alumnus. Perhaps, this will make Nowinski take notice and integrate more of his Sociology background into his wrestling persona. Imagine a wrestling heel who liberally quotes from Weber, Marx, Comte and Durkheim in insulting a wrestling crowd. Now that would be an interesting case of a practical application of sociological knowledge and theories.

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