How to Professionally Wrestle
- 1). Get into the best shape of your life. Most wannabe professional wrestlers truly have no idea how in shape they have to be in order to compete in a wrestling ring. The best idea is to get a personal trainer at a local gym. This person will both give you a workout plan and a revised diet which you'll have to stick to. In reality, you should train for up to three months in this manner before you move on in your quest to professionally wrestle. Many wrestling schools will not allow you to enter if you're not in great shape. For example, if you cannot perform a “kip-up,” many schools will deny you entry.
- 2). Mentally prepare yourself to professionally wrestle. Remember that pro wrestling is scripted but is not “fake.” As with any sport, you must be aware that it is not a question of “if” you're going to get hurt but when it will happen. You must be physically and mentally tough enough to deal with the pain of both training and performing as a wrestler. A person with a low pain threshold cannot make it wrestling professionally.
- 3). Attend a professional wrestling school. Nobody can become a professional wrestler without going to one of these schools. It's here where you learn the basics, including grappling, falling techniques, how to keep yourself and your opponent safe and how to be a true “in-ring” performer. How long you have to stay in one of these schools will be dependent on your progression during “classes” as well as the local, independent wrestling promotions in your area. You should be prepared to spend months (at least) in one of these schools.
- 4). Be attentive and able to communicate with those in the ring with you. Wrestlers have to “call out” moves to one another in order to prepare one another for what is coming. Obviously, wrestlers can't yell out these moves as doing so would kill the allusion. These conversations between the two performers are made up of whispers which can be difficult to hear, especially when there are screaming fans outside the ring.
- 5). Don't try to create a character without instruction. Many wrestlers find their characters when performing in the ring. Others find it when giving promos. Most are pushed in one direction or another by a promoter or a teacher in a wrestling school. While you will most likely be encouraged to come up with some ideas for your character, you should never push these ideas. Instead, be open to any and all suggestions regardless of how stupid you may believe them to be.
- 6). Be responsible in the ring and realize how serious the action truly is. Professional wrestling is nothing more than a big joke to many people. This doesn't take away any of the dangers in the ring. One slip up can cause serious injury to either you or your opponent. Always remember that your opponent is literally placing his career (and body) in your hands every time you step into the ring.
- 7). Have patience. Any wrestler who has made it to “the show” will tell you how he struggled for years (and years and years) wrestling in independent promotions while making very little money. Just as with any corporate job, a professional wrestler must climb the ladder and move up in the ranks. Only through hard work, determination, willingness to change and the constant ability to improve will you make it as a professional wrestler.