Former Syracuse football player wins pro wrestling world championship

While a handful of former Syracuse University football players are chasing a Super Bowl title in the NFL right now, another former Orange player took home a different type of championship over the weekend.

Former SU offensive lineman Quinn Ojinnaka, now making his living as a professional wrestler known as “Moose,” won the TNA Wrestling world championship on Saturday at the promotion’s “Hard to Kill” pay-per-view event.

Ojinnaka pinned Alex Shelley in the main event to become the promotion’s world champion for the second time in his career. He also held the title from October 2021 to April 2022, when the promotion was known as Impact Wrestling. TNA has a weekly show Thursday nights on AXS TV.

Ojinnaka played for Syracuse from 2002 to 2005, appearing in 44 games and starting 23 during his four seasons with the Orange, before embarking on an NFL career.

Selected in the fifth round of the 2006 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons, he spent four seasons with that team before he was traded to New England. He spent a season with the Patriots and a season with the Colts before finishing his career with the Rams in 2012.

Ojinnaka began training for a pro wrestling career in 2011 under longtime pro Curtis “Big Cat” Hughes. He has performed for the last decade for promotions including TNA/Impact and Ring of Honor. He announced on social media in June that he had signed a long-term deal with TNA/Impact.

He is not the only former Syracuse alum working in the pro wrestling business. Omari Palmer, an offensive lineman for the Orange from 2013-2016, now performs for the WWE under the name “Odyssey Jones.” Palmer was “drafted” to the roster of WWE’s “Monday Night Raw” in May, but has yet to appear on the show.

Also, longtime WWE announcer Michael Cole (real name Sean Coulthard) is a graduate of Syracuse University.