Like other college football teams around the country, the Indiana Hoosiers have a championship wrestling belt styled after the WWE’s and presented to defensive players on the sideline after they come away with a turnover on the field.
What’s different about the Hoosiers’ is that it was gifted to the team by the first family of wrestling: the McMahons.
‘My name is Declan McMahon, and I was born into the family of running the WWE,’ Declan McMahon is heard saying in a video produced by Indiana football. ‘My grandfather, Vince McMahon, founded the company, and just growing up around it has been just amazing.’
Declan is somewhat known to wrestling fans after appearing alongside his father, Shane, at WrestleMania 32 in 2016. Previously he had been seen alongside his grandfather, Vince, at several other WWE events. And Declan was even pictured in WWE promos as an infant. (On Monday, it was announced that Vince would be stepping back at WWE to give the reins to Paul Levesque, known as Triple H, the former wrestler and current executive who happens to be Declan’s uncle by marriage).
A walk-on running back from Brooklyn’s prestigious Poly Prep Country Day School, Declan isn’t bashful about discussing his WWE ties. And while he’s yet to appear in an official game for the Hoosiers, Declan has made his presence felt in other ways – namely by helping Indiana secure an authentic WWE belt.
Declan McMahon (pictured) helped Indiana football secure a pair of WWE belts
A young Declan McMahon is pictured with his grandfather, Vince, and father, Shane
Shane McMahon (right) is pictured with his sons at WrestleMania 32 in 2016
‘Me and a bunch of the guys on the team, including [defensive back Noah Pierre], we talk about WWE a lot,’ Declan said. ‘We were thinking of bringing a belt over to IU would be so cool. So, after we got the green light from the captains, we were like, yeah, let’s really make this thing happen.’
The next step was tracking down a custom belt.
Fortunately, Declan knows a guy.
‘My dad instantly was like, ‘That’s sick,’ Declan said of Shane’s reaction.
The belt isn’t a keepsake, but a temporary recognition for any defender who secured a fumble or an interception.
Declan McMahon (bottom) is pictured alongside his uncle, WWE executive, Triple H (right)
And for a program that has long been overshadowed by rivals like Ohio State, Purdue, and Michigan, it provides a sorely needed source of excitement.
‘And my dad says all the time, he’s like when you’re the champ, it means something, right?’ Declan said in the video. ‘And having that belt and having that meaning just on the sideline, it just creates a lot of energy and a lot of momentum.’
The first belt designed by the players would look familiar to any WWE fan: A company logo in the middle with two IU logos abutting it on either side.
‘The first rendering of the belt, we just wanted to get it right away, obviously, you know, so we just had the two side plates rendered in,’ Declan said.
Declan McMahon strikes the Heisman pose on Instagram. Currently he is on IU’s scout team
However, a newer, red belt has a spinning IU logo at the center.
‘And then in the other belt that we’re gonna be bringing out, that one, it took a little bit more rendering,’ Declan said.
‘It felt like a lot of pressure at first because you’re like, ‘wow, you know, a lot of people are gonna see this, right?’
‘And it’s not like the set belt that everybody sees on TV, right? It’s truly one of one. There’s none other like it in the world.’
Pierre, a lifelong wrestling fan, was struck by how heavy the belts were, but to him, the most impressive feature was the spinning IU logo.
‘It spins,’ Pierre said. ‘That’s unique. I haven’t seen anybody do that.’
For Declan, the belt represents his two greatest passions: football and wrestling.
Declan McMahon is pictured running the football for Brooklyn’s Poly Prep Country Day School
‘In taking like a brothership that my family has created,’ Declan said. ‘Something that started so, so small, and it just turned into something so incredibly massive. To tie that part of my life. You know? Just my family history into something that I really have gotten into, which is Indiana football. It’s just, it’s surreal to see. To have those two worlds collide is incredible.’
He’s still waiting to make an impact on the gridiron, but Declan had a successful high school career before receiving scholarship offers from mid-majors such as East Carolina and Fordham.
Instead, Declan enrolled at Indiana – a perennial Big Ten bottom feeder – where he hopes to earn playing time as a walk-on redshirt.
The Hoosiers are 2-4 on the season coming off a 52-7 loss to the second-ranked Wolverines, but Declan did earn co-offensive scout team player of the week honors.
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