Summary

WWE's signing of Zoe Hines to a developmental deal has already drawn backstage speculation, with Dave Meltzer saying he had been hearing for months that the move was viewed internally as politically motivated.

Hines, who is the niece of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was officially confirmed as part of WWE's latest developmental class this week. Meltzer said the signing had been expected well before it became public and claimed people around the situation believed family and political connections played a major role in getting the deal done.

Quote from Dave Meltzer

Addressing the signing, Meltzer said:

"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. 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. It was very much said it was a forced hiring because of who she was and because of Robert F. Kennedy and Linda McMahon both being in the cabinet."

Meltzer later went on to say:

"I had heard people very much dreading knowing this. As far as like the hiring of her, I would say it was probably known easily a year ago that it was inevitable this would happen... Everyone can improve, you never know, but it was one of those where the people who knew and seen and everything like that had told me it was a hire they were dreading because it was a forced one. Anyway, it's now official but it's been official for a long, long time."

Zoe Hines enters WWE with immediate scrutiny

Zoe Hines now arrives in WWE developmental with extra attention on both her background and how she earned the opportunity, because Meltzer's comments frame the signing as something that was being discussed internally long before the announcement. That means her progress at the Performance Center is likely to be judged as much on whether she can outgrow that perception as on the usual expectations that come with a new developmental prospect.

Meltzer also tied the reported frustration directly to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Linda McMahon being in the same presidential cabinet. If that perception is widespread, then this story is less about one routine developmental addition and more about the political baggage attached to Hines before her WWE career has properly started.

Sources

Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio