When WWE announced the signing of four new Performance Center trainees on Wednesday, most of the names didn’t stand out. The one who did, however, is Zoe Hines. A former college softball player, Hines is best known for being the niece of actress Cheryl Hines and current US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has developed a close working relationship with WWE chief content officer Triple H over the last year. Though Kennedy had declared Hines had signed back in March, WWE hadn’t confirmed the news until yesterday.

Discussing Hines’ WWE signing on the latest “Wrestling Observer Radio,” Dave Meltzer seemed to confirm that the signing had been preordained ever since Hines first tried out for WWE during SummerSlam weekend last year. This was despite the fact that, according to Meltzer, many were not impressed by Hines’ tryout.

“It was very much…like this was one that was politically forced on them,” Meltzer said. “It’s not like when she had her tryout…it’s not like she knocked them dead or even knocked them even. It was very much said that…it was a forced hiring, because of who she was and because, you know, Robert F. Kennedy and Linda McMahon both being in the cabinet. It was just…she wanted to try.”

Meltzer compared Hines’ signing to that of Dwayne Johnson’s daughter Simone Johnson, aka former “WWE NXT” GM Ava, and also insinuated that many in WWE weren’t thrilled with this signing due to how unimpressive Hines’ tryout was.

“Everyone can improve, you know?” Meltzer said. “You never know. But it was one of those where the people who knew and seen and everything like that that told me it was a hiring they were dreading, cause it was a forced. Anyway, it’s now official. But it’s been official for a long, long time.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Wrestling Observer Radio” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription