Clay Henry: Wrestling up front

Hogs+ senior contributor Clay Henry sits down with Razorback offensive lineman Dalton Wagner to talk about his journey — from enduring tough years on the football field to his potential future as a pro wrestler. Watch the full conversation now on Hogs+.

There has been plenty of hype about a potential WWE career for Dalton Wagner after football. That set me up for great stories to tell during our conversation for Hogs+.

I’d been aching to tell Wagner my professional wrestling background for months. The summation: it’s not a real sport. The outcome is rigged.

“I know that,” Wagner said just before we sat down. “Let’s talk about it.”

So we did, with Wagner relating his high school days when he and a brother argued over what some call “fake” results. The brass at WWE decides their champions. I’ve known it for years.

Yes, I had confirmation that “championship wrestling” was fake as a junior in high school while working part-time at the Arkansas Gazette sports department. I got the goods on a Tuesday night just before the staff took their dinner break.

Sports editor Orville Henry, my father, was breaking the news to the promoter for the once-a-month wrestling in the basement of Robinson Auditorium that the paper could no longer accept results called in after midnight. If they finished earlier in the night on an unusually quick card, call us, he said.

As that night’s crew was grabbing some complimentary tickets (good for admission and a hot dog), the promoter delivered that stunning confirmation of what all of us suspected.

“I can give you the three winners now,” he said. “Mr. Wrestling II wins by a technical decision over Danny Hodge. Skandar Akbar was disqualified in his match with Pretty Boy for bringing a chair into the ring. The Sheik defeated Haystack Calhoun by fall.”

Dalton loved it. He knew it was the kind of revelation that had to be told to my classmates at Little Rock Central before first hour classes met on Wednesday.

Wagner said he would have done the same thing. He’s into it, but knows it’s not real.

It’s been clear since he first arrived at Arkansas six years ago — he’s going to be 24 this season — which Wagner was real. Signed by Bret Bielema out of the heart of Big Ten country, Wagner has been a regular for most of his time on campus.

Most of that time it’s been clear wrestling might be in his future. At 6-9 and just under 340, he looks the part, especially with long hair.

It’s that long hair hanging from under the back of the helmet that gives him away as a bit different. And you need different to star in the WWE. Teammates and coaches have been suggesting that WWE career for a long time. His massive frame doesn’t hurt.

Maybe Bielema knew it when he visited his Spring Grove, Ill., home seven years ago. Wagner thinks he did.

It wasn’t a surprise when WWE signed Wagner to a Name, Image and Likeness deal as part of their NIL programs. That stands for “Next In Line.” He was taught branding and given the full run of the WWE system last year. He is not signed currently.

“I’m going to look at that someday, but I’d really like a shot at the NFL,” Wagner said.

All of that is covered in a fun Hogs+ interview. You’ll love it. Wagner is animated in front of the cameras, one of the reasons he was attractive to WWE.

Does he have a name picked out? Is he projected as good guy or villain?

“I do not have a (wrestling) name,” he said. “I don’t know about the role I’d play, but probably the bad guy. They will decide that. They are so good at writing scripts, really good. I learned that (in the NIL trip).”

There was serious football talk. He projected Luke Jones as a terrific left tackle as the replacement for Myron Cunningham, the only loss from the 2021 offensive line.

“What he’s done over the spring and summer, he’s just made an incredible jump,” Wagner said of Jones.

There was detail about some of the youngsters penciled in as backups for the returning starters. Wagner said there are now 19 in the O-line meeting room. That is a huge deal when you think about his second year on campus when August practices were nothing like anything ever seen for an offensive line at Arkansas.

“I think we were down to seven or eight some days,” Wagner said. “That’s hard to have a practice. We were taking double reps. It was unbelievably difficult. August practices are hard for an offensive lineman, period. But that was just a terrible situation.

“You always lose players in camp, but we didn’t have hardly enough to practice.”

There were discussions about the development of O-line prospect Ty’Kieast Crawford, the talented transfer from Charlotte who stepped in for Wagner during the spring. Wagner was getting his back right with a minor surgery.

“He’s not the same player as far as his body,” Wagner said of Crawford. “He’s just come so far and is going to be a great player for us this year. He was really good in the spring.”

Wagner is feeling great.

“The back is healed,” he said. “What I had done was important. I’m so much better. I feel the best ever. That injury was very scary.”

Wagner likes to talk about his teammates. He expects great things from quarterback KJ Jefferson.

“I think he will be in the running for the Heisman Trophy,” Wagner said. “I really do. He is so talented and can do so many things.”

Jefferson is the leader of the team. Wagner will go through a brick wall for him. But he figures Jefferson will punch a hole through it before he can get there. He’s that kind of runner.

It was a fun visit with Wagner. He detailed the attraction for his hometown. Spring Grove has the world’s largest corn maze, the Richardson Adventure Farm.

“That’s our claim to fame,” Wagner said.

Told that the old timer sitting with him is afraid of corn mazes, Wagner said, “It’s not hard to make it out. Just stay in a straight line. Use the sun as a reference. You’d like it.”

You will like getting to know Dalton Wagner. He’s got a wonderful personality, plenty good enough to someday star in pro wrestling.