Tim Wiese

Tim Wiese
Birth name Tim Wiese
Born (1981-12-17) 17 December 1981
Bergisch Gladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Tim Wiese
Billed height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Billed weight 255 lb (116 kg)
Trained by WWE Performance Center
Debut 3 November 2016

Tim Wiese (German pronunciation: [tʰɪm ˈviːzə]; born 17 December 1981) is a German professional wrestler and retired football goalkeeper.

Having progressed through the youth teams at DJK Dürscheid and Bayer Leverkusen, Wiese started his professional career at Fortuna Köln, and went on to play for 1. FC Kaiserslautern and Werder Bremen before signing for 1899 Hoffenheim in 2012.

Wiese made 13 appearances for the German under-21 squad between 2003 and 2005, before making his full international debut three years later against England. He went on to win five further caps and was part of the German 2010 FIFA World Cup squad, but did not make an appearance in that tournament.

Following Wiese's retirement from football in 2014, he gained a significant amount of muscle mass and was subsequently linked to a career in professional wrestling, eventually joining WWE in 2016.[1][2]

Association football career

Tim Wiese

Wiese with Germany in 2011.
Personal information
Full name Tim Wiese[4]
Date of birth (1981-12-17) 17 December 1981
Place of birth Bergisch Gladbach, West Germany
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Playing position Goalkeeper
Youth career
1987–1989 DJK Dürscheid
1989–1999 Bayer Leverkusen
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2001 Fortuna Köln 23 (0)
2001–2002 1. FC Kaiserslautern II 15 (0)
2002–2005 1. FC Kaiserslautern 65 (0)
2005–2012 Werder Bremen 194 (0)
2012–2014 1899 Hoffenheim 10 (0)
Total 307 (0)
National team
2003–2005 Germany U21 13 (0)
2008–2012 Germany 6 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Club

Early career and Fortuna Köln

He started his playing career at DJK Dürscheid, in 1987. Two years later, he moved to Bayer Leverkusen's youth system, before moving to Fortuna Köln, where he made his first-team debut in the Regionalliga in 2000.

Kaiserslautern

He moved to Bundesliga side Kaiserslautern in the winter break of the 2001–02 season and initially played for their reserve squad in the third division and served as backup for Georg Koch and Roman Weidenfeller in the first team. Following Weidenfeller's transfer to Borussia Dortmund, he fought with Koch for the place of the first goalkeeper and made his Bundesliga debut at the beginning of the 2002–03 season, being replaced by Koch after conceding four goals in two matches. After the winter break, however, he managed to secure himself the position of the first-choice goalkeeper and established himself as one of the most talented new keepers in the Bundesliga. He was considered first-choice throughout the 2003–04 season, despite being sent off during the 2nd match of the season (the first of two red cards he has received during his league career). He remained the first goalkeeper for Kaiserslautern until late November 2004, when he lost his place to veteran Thomas Ernst.

Werder Bremen

Wiese with Werder Bremen in 2009

Wiese moved to Bremen in 2005 and was favoured to replace the aging Andreas Reinke, but tore his cruciate ligaments twice and missed the entire first part of the season. Following Reinke sustaining an injury in a match against VfB Stuttgart in February 2006, Wiese made his Bundesliga debut for Werder Bremen, and remained their first goalkeeper for the rest of the 2005–06 season.

However, Wiese (who is often compared to former German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn for his emotional outbursts) had a shaky start, with an error against Juventus in the 2nd round of the Champions League on 7 March 2006 being of particular note. With only two minutes of the game left to play, and Werder Bremen on course to reach the quarter-finals, he made a routine catch, but then dropped the ball as he rolled on the ground, allowing Emerson to score and Juventus to progress. However, he has stabilized since then, and was vital for Bremen's late surge that moved them past rivals Hamburg to claim second place during the 2005–06 season.

In the 2006–07 season, he eventually established himself as the first goalkeeper at Werder Bremen and only missed three Bundesliga matches throughout the season. In the 2008–09 DFB-Pokal semi-final against Hamburg, Wiese helped Werder Bremen progress to the final when he saved 3 consecutive penalties.

Hoffenheim

On 2 May 2012, Wiese signed for 1899 Hoffenheim for an undisclosed fee,[5][6] and was made club captain in August.[7] However, a poor start to the season saw Wiese conceding 15 goals in four games, resulting in Hoffenheim's manager Markus Babbel issuing a statement defending the goalkeeper.[8] In November 2012, it was announced that Wiese had injured his knee in a training session, and would be unavailable until January.[9] Following the signing of Heurelho Gomes from Tottenham Hotspur on loan at the end of January 2013, Wiese was dropped from the squad, with Hoffenheim's manager Andreas Mueller stating "Tim doesn't have a chance in the current situation. No matter what he does, he doesn't have an opportunity to be assessed sensibly."[10] Wiese and teammate Tobias Weis were fined an undisclosed amount following an incident at a carnival party on 11 February 2013, where the two players were ejected by security.[11] In March 2013, Mueller announced that Wiese could leave the club on a free transfer if they were relegated,[12] prompting several of his teammates to come to his defense, including Weis and team captain Sejad Salihovic.[13] During the season, Wiese made ten appearances for Hoffenheim, conceding 25 goals, with his last appearance coming in a 2-1 defeat against Eintracht Frankfurt on 26 January.[14] Hoffenheim avoided relegation to the 2. Bundesliga, prompting further speculation about Wiese's future at the club.[15]

His contract with Hoffenheim was mutually terminated on 21 January 2014, making him a free agent, after it was revealed that his body was in a bodybuilding style, unsuited to professional football.[16][17]

International

He earned his first international cap for Germany against England on 19 November 2008, when he came in as a substitute for René Adler at the beginning of the second half.[18]

He was a squad member for Germany in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, but was the only player not seeing any action as an understudy to Schalke 04 goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and was denied an appearance in the third-place playoff due to injury, enabling Bayern Munich veteran Hans-Jörg Butt to step in.

Retirement

On 17 September 2014, Wiese announced his retirement from professional football stating: "I am not a dreamer, but a realist and I assume that I have my best years behind me and I will no longer play as a professional."

Football career statistics

Club

Club performance League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Germany League DFB-Pokal Europe Total
2000–01Fortuna KölnRegionalliga Nord2010–30
2001–0221000–210
Kaiserslautern IIRegionalliga Süd11000–110
2002–034000–40
KaiserslauternBundesliga21050–260
2003–043001020330
2004–0514000–140
2005–06Werder Bremen1500020170
2006–0731000120430
2007–0831030100440
2008–0929050120460
2009–1031060100470
2010–112901070370
2011–1228010–290
2012–131899 Hoffenheim10010–110
2013–140000–00
Total 30702405503860

International

Germany national team
YearAppsGoals
200810
200910
201010
201120
201210
Total60

Statistics accurate as of match played 29 February 2012[19]

Honours

Club

Werder Bremen[20]

National team

Germany

Professional wrestling career


WWE (2016–present)

In September 2014, Wiese claimed he had been offered a development contract by WWE to join their NXT division.[21] He appeared as a guest timekeeper at a WWE live event in Frankfurt.[22] On 7 June 2016, it was reported that Wiese accepted Triple H's invitation to train at WWE's developmental facility, the WWE Performance Center.[23] Wiese made his professional wrestling debut at a WWE live event in Munich on 3 November 2016, teaming with Sheamus and Cesaro to defeat The Shining Stars and Bo Dallas.[24]

In wrestling

References

  1. ↑ Middleton, Marc (7 June 2016). "International Athlete Accepts Triple H's Offer To Start At The WWE Performance Center (Photo)". WrestlingINC. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  2. ↑ "Tim Wiese: Bundesliga 'bad guy' set for WWE wrestling debut". BBC Sport. 1 November 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  3. ↑ "DFB-Elf erhält Silbernes Lorbeerblatt". Rheinische Post (in German). Retrieved 19 December 2010.
  4. ↑ "FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010: List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 12 June 2010. p. 11. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  5. ↑ "Official: Hoffenheim announce summer signings of Wiese & Derdiyok". Goal.com. 2 May 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
  6. ↑ "Nationaltorwart Tim Wiese verstärkt die TSG" (in German). Hoffenheim official website. 2 May 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
  7. ↑ "Tim Wiese to take captain's armband". achtzehn99.de. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  8. ↑ "Babbel: Wiese not to blame". FIFA.com. 17 September 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  9. ↑ Zocher, Thomas (27 November 2012). "Bundesliga: Knee injury sidelines Hoffenheim's Tim Wiese until 2013". Sky Sports. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  10. ↑ "Hoffenheim drops former Germany keeper Tim Wiese". NewsOK. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  11. ↑ Uersfeld, Stephan (13 February 2013). "Hoffenheim duo fined after carnival row". ESPN. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  12. ↑ Caferoglu, Livio (2 March 2013). "Wiese free to leave if Hoffenheim are relegated". Goal.com. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  13. ↑ "Hoffenheim players defend Wiese". ESPN. 23 March 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  14. ↑ "Games played by Tim Wiese in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  15. ↑ Sagioglou, Philip (28 May 2013). "Klasse gehalten, aber was wird aus Tim Wiese?". Die Welt. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  16. ↑ "Vertrag aufgelöst: Hoffenheim schmeißt Tim Wiese raus" (in German). Soccerbase. 21 January 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  17. ↑ "Ex-Germany keeper Wiese explains sad story of why he became a bodybuilder". eurosport.yahoo.com. 25 July 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  18. ↑ "Deutschland – England". kicker.de. 19 November 2008. Retrieved 19 February 2009.
  19. ↑ "Tim Wiese". National Football Teams. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  20. ↑ "T. Wiese". Soccerway. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  21. ↑ "Former Germany goalkeeper Tim Wiese says he has been offered contract with WWE". www.dnaindia.com. dnaindia. 16 September 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  22. ↑ "Former Germany goalkeeper Tim Wiese makes his WWE debut as official timekeeper for The Usos v Dust Brothers". The Independent. 15 November 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  23. ↑ Caldwell, James (7 June 2016). "Int'l sports star Tim Wiese joins WWE Performance Center". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  24. ↑ Lustig, Nick (4 November 2016). "WWE: Former Germany goalkeeper Tim Wiese claims victory on debut". SkySports. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
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