Roman Macek (born November 16, 2000) is an American professional wrestler and former American football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Luca Crusifino.

Early life and football career

Macek was born in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania. He attended Montour High School in McKees Rocks, where he played football. He was a first team all-Northwest Nine Conference pick on both the offensive and defensive lines for two-straight years. He also participated as four-year letterman and three-year captain for the wrestling team.^[2]

After graduating from high school, Macek went on to study at Duquesne University, majoring in sociology. While attending Duquesne, Macek played football for the Duquesne Dukes. As a freshman in 2017, he played special teams and defense; in 2018, he appeared in all 13 games for the Dukes; in 2019 he moved to offense as a left guard; In 2020–2021 season, he started all five games at left guard for the Dukes in first season on the offensive line and played major role in success of Dukes’ offense. In 2021, he started all 10 games at center for the Dukes and was a part of an offensive front which paced the NEC and ranked 17th in the FCS in fewest sacks allowed per game (1.2).^[2]. After graduating with a B.A. from Duquesne University, Macek continued his education at Duquesne, enrolling in the law school. However, he took a leave of absence to pursue professional wrestling.^[4]

Professional wrestling career

References