Former NRL star Daniel Vidot debuts on WWE SmackDown

Former NRL star Daniel Vidot has made his debut on WWE SmackDown.

Vidot had a lengthy stint in the NRL, tallying a total of 114 first grade appearances between Canberra, St George, Brisbane and Gold Coast. He scored 55 tries playing mostly on the wing.

After signing a contract nearly two years ago and perfecting his craft on WWE's development league, NXT, the 30-year-old was finally given his chance to shine on the big stage.

Unfortunately for Vidot, his main roster debut was behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic forcing the WWE to hold its events from live audiences.

Although beaten fairly quickly, Vidot was handed a debut match against one of the WWE's biggest names, Sheamus, who's a four-time world champion.

Before today's debut, Vidot has caught the attention of some massive names; Vidot revealed to Wide World of Sports last year he struck up a friendship with Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson.

Like The Rock, Vidot who is also of Samoan heritage, opened up on the bond and wise words Johnson passed on on to him.

"He's one of the busiest guys in the world. Every minute he talked to me, I felt I had to pay him $1000," Vidot said.

"It was an awesome experience, I had a pretty long conversation with him and he was talking about how excited he was for me and that another Polynesian is there.

"He told me, 'Hang in and you will get there, you've just got to do all of the hard work and it will pay off. Put your heart and soul into it.'