I am beginning to wonder if training to be a pro wrestler and paying your dues in the wrestling business is getting to be a tradition of the past when promoters just let anyone into a ring who will work for free to fill a spot!
It used to be that getting into the wrestling business was reserved for the elite athlete. Football players, olympic wrestlers, bodybuilders, some kind of athletic ablitity was a pre-requiste for entry into a pro wrestling centre.
When I ran the CWF Pro Wrestling Academy I just did not let anyone in. I had guys that were former hockey players, competed in gymnastics, bodybuilders, guys who played sports until the end of high school. They looked the part as well, worked on their bodies in the gym, had wrestling boots and gear.
Now it seems that a growing number guys with 11" inch arms and are lucky to be 135 soaking wet are giving chokeslams to guys 145 soaking wet! They wear running shoes in the ring, have no gear, have no body, don't go to the gym, don't tan, wear t-shirts in the ring and don't know how to apply a basic headlock they learned from Playstation or X-box!
Why are these untrained "marks" allowed to step in a ring in the first place? Is the promotion so hard up for talent that they have to fill spots with guys like this? For me, I blame the promoter for letting these guys into the ring in the first place. To me they have no respect for the business.
I understand as a former promoter, how hard it is to fill a card with a limited budget but if you are not prepared financially to be a wrestling promoter, then you should not be one. Sometimes you are going to make a dollar, sometimes you might lose a dollar. Like any REAL business, not everyday is going to yield a profit when you are holding events in cities like Winnipeg. It is just a fact of the business.
I was asked to wrestle in a show recently. Since I had not been in the ring in over 2 years, it was a simple match, where working the crowd was more importat than fancy moves. Everyone on the crew goes to the gym to improve their body, has gear and looks like a wrestler.
I put my opponent over in the second match, that was my job, we worked the crown, kept it simple so we would not take away from the main eventers and put in 25 minutes.
This is what a professional does. If you want a hobby, take up basket weaving and leave pro wrestling to the professionals and don't call yourself a professional wrestler on your facebook site because that is an insult to the greats of the past who paved the way for others to be a part of what once was a great business.
