Justin Fuente's wrestling history knows few bounds. As colleague Andrea Adelson chronicled this spring, the Virginia Tech coach’s great-grandfather was a wrestler during the Great Depression known as "The Spanish Red Devil."
But that’s not the only reminder of the squared circle that Fuente keeps close to him in Blacksburg. It turns out he has quite the memento: a WWE championship belt signed by WWE Hall of Famer Jerry "The King" Lawler, as the Roanoke Times' Andy Bitter shared Tuesday:
So Jerry Lawler gave Justin Fuente a WWE championship belt at Memphis. #Hokies pic.twitter.com/LoTR8hoQn1
— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) May 24, 2016
Lawler, a Memphis native, gave the belt to Fuente after the coach's Memphis Tigers won a share of the 2014 American Athletic Conference championship.
Pretty cool.
Pulling for my fellow Oklahoman @CoachFuente & @VT_Football 🏈👍 https://t.co/TaFAjErNUQ
— Jim Ross (@JRsBBQ) May 24, 2016
We can’t wait to see what kind of swag Fuente will receive if he achieves similar heights in his new locale and lifts the Hokies back to the top of the ACC. Here’s guessing The King’s longtime play-by-play sidekick, Jim Ross, will send some goods Fuente's way. Ross, a devout Oklahoma Sooners fan, chimed in and sent good wishes to Fuente, a fellow Oklahoma native and one-time Sooners quarterback.