Hank Walker to debut on WWE NXT Level Up

A former college football player is set to have his first televised match on this week's edition of NXT Level Up.

WWE has announced that Hank Walker (real name Joe Sculthorpe) will debut on NXT Level Up this Friday, facing Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo. Walker signed with WWE as part of the class of recruits that reported to the Performance Center this March.

Walker is a former offensive lineman for NC State University. After going undrafted, he spent time with the NFL's Atlanta Falcons in 2021 but didn't make the team's roster.

WWE.com wrote about Walker when he signed with the company: "A 6-for-2, 305-pound force, Joseph Sculthorpe was an NCAA All-Conference Offensive Lineman at NC State before signing with the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent. Originally from Hampstead, N.C., Sculthorpe was a high school state heavyweight wrestling champion."

WWE filed a trademark for the name "Hank Walker" on June 8. Walker had his first match at an NXT house show earlier this month.

Lorenzo is regularly featured on NXT television as part of Tony D'Angelo's "family." After Lorenzo's tag team partner Troy "Two Dimes" Donovan was released by WWE, it was said on NXT this week that Donovan is now "sleeping with the fishes" after making a move against D'Angelo.

NXT Level Up airs on Peacock/WWE Network at 10 p.m. Eastern time on Fridays. Here's the full lineup for this week's episode:

• Javier Bernal vs. Duke Hudson
• Hank Walker vs. Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo
• Amari Miller vs. Sloane Jacobs