A former WWE employee has landed a top role in the UK government as the Westminster reshuffle continues.
On July 5th a number of ministers, including Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, and Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Sajid Javid withdrew their support for Prime Minister Boris Johnson. In the process, the pair resigned from their posts, prompting a string of other ministers to do the same.
The departures have triggered a substantial reshuffle at the top of the government with a number of top roles now needing to be filled.
As part of the re-jig, Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi took up the role left by Sunak, and was replaced by Michelle Donelan. This is where the story takes a slightly unexpected turn.
The Conservative MP for Chippenham, used for work for WWE. Yes, that WWE, Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Entertainment.
Prior to becoming a member of parliament in 2015, Michelle Donelan enjoyed a career outside the crazy world of politics. Donelan first worked for Pacific Magazines in Australia, before working for the History Channel as part of a joint venture with BSkyB. This perhaps surprisingly led her to become International Marketing Communications Manager for WWE.
The new Education Secretary is far from the first person to work in wrestling before switching to politics, with a number of former wrestlers also making the leap.
Huge stars such as Kane (Glenn Jacobs) and Jesse Ventura have all previously swapped the ring for the political arena. The WWE Hall of Famer Kane, who currently serves as Mayor of Knox County, Tennessee, recently drew the ire of Paige due to his stance on the United States Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the decades-old Roe vs Wade ruling.