5 tips to know before you train to wrestle
Most people who aspire to become professional wrestlers fall victim to poor choices which in the end hinders there chances of ever making it in the world of Pro Wrestling. Sadly most of this can be avoided with a little bit of common sense.
Remain humble with your peers
I remember a long time ago being in a hotel room with Jason the Terrible, he told me straight up that I was a great guy and was what a wrestler was all about. He told me though I had to be more humble how ever. This is some thing that even to this day I struggle with. I have been known to get a little crazy at times (through out the day lol), but it has caused issues over the years for me. For every 5 people who might get a kick out of how you act, there surely is one who sits there thinking negatively of you. What if that one person thinking negatively of you is some one with a lot of pull or could possibly have opened a door for you?
You should be seen and not heard
It’s like that old saying children should be seen and not heard. Greenhorn (rookie) wrestlers basically are on the bottom of the food chain. Being in that spot your only job is to keep your mouth shut and be taught things. This takes a lot of work to pull off though, because every one knows what they want to do but the promoters might not see eye to eye with you. It’s all great to sit at home and think up your stage name or character, even how you want to wrestle. Rarely though your idea is used, especially at first.
Most promoters in order to fit you into their shows need to use you how they see fit. Promoters can come up with bad ideas quite easily, some of them you probably will hate. You just have to remember to keep your head up and go along with it. I know the idea I had about my self never came to light and the character I was given has stuck with me throughout my career, but when I did mention it to the promoters I was working for they laughed at me. Looking back on it I can see how there idea was much better.
Roll with the punches
This is very critical and by rolling with the punches I don’t mean the punches during a match. There are two type of locker room philosophies:
- Old School
- New School
I’ll tell you having grown up with old school mentors I got to be on the brunt end of a lot of abuse and jokes. I can safely say after all of this that I would not have changed a thing. It’s almost like a form of tough love. Unfortunately a lot of the newer wrestlers have never experienced it, or even worse when they experience it they respond negatively.
What you need to realize is all of these actions for the most part are tests, tests to see if you deserve respect and are part of wrestling family. I have seen these tests range from things such as being ordered to carry a bag to being suplexed onto your head. Some times these actions may be a harsh, but I promise you if you take your lumps and continue to show respect, you will gain more respect from the elders in the business then the average person.
It’s that respect that will help open doors for you.
Get your self into shape
You don’t need to have 21 inch arms or be able to press a man over your head at first, but it is good practice to be in shape. You can after you complete training and start wrestling lifting weights and eating to get bigger, but it is always easiest at a smaller size to learn how to move and such. The better your cardio the longer you can wrestle at a faster pace. I know I am not always in the best of shape, but it’s hard when you weight 360lbs. You should know though there has been multiple times in my life where I managed to wrestle for 45 minutes or more. Even with that said your matches will suffer if you start running out of steam 3-5 minutes into your matches.
It would be a good idea as well to make sure you don’t smoke, you need all that lung power.
Just get in the ring for fun
I know every one wants fame and fortune, but the wrestling business has a very small percentage of wrestlers who make it that far. So your best bet is to keep a level head and just step in the ring for fun. Thats not to say you shouldn’t try to make it big, but keep your head on your shoulders and realize you maybe trying to make it for 20 years and never do. Some of the best wrestlers just never get that lucky break, sometimes it is the wrestlers who don’t deserve it who make it.