Geeky wants to.... Wrestle.

geeky

Ok, before anyone asks, is entirely serious. I am thinking of getting into a wrestling ring, and would welcome feedback on whether people think I'm being unrealistic/insane, or have suggestions.

I'm fairly modest in my ambition - I'd like to learn how to work a match partly out of curiousity and partly because I've always loved performing. I'm not looking to be the next WWE champion - if I can do a decent match in front of a crowd that I haven't personally begged to come, I'll be happy.

Firstly, I'll got through the things in my favour:
- I'd like to think Im a good actor. I was pretty darn handy when I was young (got auditions for a couple of films) but then puberty and self-conciousness hit. But it's a long time since then, and I don't think I've ever been nervous in front of a crowd in my life. I reckon I can get genuinely committed to a character, and still understand the fundamentals of blocking and theatre.
- I'd also like to think I've developed a decent understanding of how a good match works (insofar as one can without actually being in the ring) through some fairly obsessive reading and listening to as many interviews as I can. I've also worked out a couple of signature moves that (I think) are safe and, in any case, involve me taking a bump rather than my opponent.
- I've also worked out two pretty solid ideas for characters - even one with a heavy literary reference.

Now, the negatives:
- I'm a little bit old to be starting this - 26 now, 27 in September. I'm not at my peak fitness either - 60-70% of it I'd estimate, but I'm working to recover that. I broke my right arm basically in two about two years ago, but the bone should have 90% strength by now. It hasn't given me any grief, and I've been clear to play contact sports for 18 months.
- I'm dinky. Like, between 5'6 and 5'7. And I'm not Rey Mysterio. I'd envisioned both potential characters as quite vicious heels that keep coming back - think early Cactus Jack. I'm concerned that my height might be an impediment to this getting over.
- I don't want to work deathmatches.

I've checked out FFPW, and they seem a good crowd to learn with. Would you reccomend just giving them a bell straight away, working on my fitness for a couple of months, or writing this notion off as a quarter-life crisis?

gimmick

Go for it. 100% go for it. The age thing is nothing, I am sure there are others who started lots older than you. Correct if I am wrong, but DDP springs to mind.

As for the fitness, well, i would imagine even if you thought you were in top notch condition, you would be a nasty shock at your first session. I have heard they can be absolute torture for a while.

The likes of IWW and FFPW would love to see some new blood. Plus, imagine your young fella seeing daddy in the ring (you have a boy don't you?).

In fact, Ill be disappointed now if you don't!

campo

I agree with Gimmick go for it you will regret if you dont imagine 6 years time Geeky Vs Sheamus for the WWE Title

geeky

gimmick wrote: »

Go for it. 100% go for it. The age thing is nothing, I am sure there are others who started lots older than you. Correct if I am wrong, but DDP springs to mind.

As for the fitness, well, i would imagine even if you thought you were in top notch condition, you would be a nasty shock at your first session. I have heard they can be absolute torture for a while.

The likes of IWW and FFPW would love to see some new blood. Plus, imagine your young fella seeing daddy in the ring (you have a boy don't you?).

In fact, Ill be disappointed now if you don't!

Cheers, I've a wife, a labrador, and two young, wrestling-mad brothers-in-law - but no Geeky Jr yet!

D2D

Go for it mate:)

JP Liz V1

You should go for it, you will regret it if you dont

waltersobchak

Go for it man, one of my mates started in IWW a couple of weeks ago and he loves it, we went to school with Captain Rooney of IWW so i think he told him about a training camp, and he's a similar size about 5 ft 6..

paddyismaddy

fair play to ya good for it

Bounty Hunter

fair play to you id say many PW fans would love to do the same but few actually go for it... live the dream :pac:

id say you could get some good advice from some of the Irish promotions sticky regulars too.

Mr.Nice Guy

Sounds like you have realistic ambitions going into it so I think you should give it a go. Even if you find it's not for you at least you can say you gave it a shot.

Diabhal Beag

I'll be the cnut here. Are you willing to be sore for the rest of your life? Are you willing to know that Conor Hurley will always be better at hurling than you?:P Are you willing to be in better than decent physical shape? Wrestling school also costs a lot of money too.

Odds are that you also may never make the big time. You may get a few shows to work here and there but there is a higher pecking order in all indy companies, EVERYWHERE!

I think you should always go for your dreams but this is a lot harder than other goals you may have.

Best of luck geeky though. You may want to change your name from geeky to something a bit better, like Sexy Simone Sharky.

rossie1977

geeky wrote: »

Now, the negatives:
- I'm a little bit old to be starting this - 26 now, 27 in September. I'm not at my peak fitness either - 60-70% of it I'd estimate, but I'm working to recover that. I broke my right arm basically in two about two years ago, but the bone should have 90% strength by now. It hasn't given me any grief, and I've been clear to play contact sports for 18 months.
- I'm dinky. Like, between 5'6 and 5'7. And I'm not Rey Mysterio. I'd envisioned both potential characters as quite vicious heels that keep coming back - think early Cactus Jack. I'm concerned that my height might be an impediment to this getting over.
- I don't want to work deathmatches.

the height thing don't worry about, 90% of wrestlers are average height at best, only in the E and the former e guys in tna is there really size in wrestling and there are loads of really short guys in tna and wwe too remember, mysterio is 5'6 standing on box btw

you would be amazed how small some of the wrestlers on the indie circuit are. two of my best friends are wrestlers, both are 5'7 and they are not considered small guys by any stretch in their feds

G-Money

I have to admit it's crossed my mind recently as well, although to be honest I don't think I'd be cut out for taking all the bumps and constantly being in pain and stuff. I sometimes think I could be good on the mic if I was able to be myself and just say what I'm thinking, but alas I could just be imagining it.

As for your age, I wouldn't worry too much about that. Big Dave started late.

glenjamin

There's no harm in giving it a go. For all you know you might be a natural at it and will be pick it up faster than those who've wrestled for a couple of years. A couple of my mates are wrestlers too and only around 5''8ish to 5''10ish. Size doesn't matter as long as your willing to dedicate a lot of time to it which by the sounds of things you are. I can ask my mate what's the best way of going about it if you like.

G'luck

Ridley

gimmick wrote: »

Go for it. 100% go for it. The age thing is nothing, I am sure there are others who started lots older than you. Correct if I am wrong, but DDP springs to mind.

As does Batista I believe. Boogeyman and Heidenreich aswell but... yeah...

leggo

Do it man. As was said to me, "Better go for it and fail than think 'What if?' for the rest of your life"

Plus, if you last a few years, you'll pick up some amazing skills that can be transferred to 'the real world'. I could have never got into DJ-ing, radio and a lot of other stuff that make me happy today without wrestling. On top of that you've some amazing stories and experiences that you couldn't get in any other field. For all the negative BS that comes with it (and yes, that is plentiful: 100 dogs all scrapping over one bone), it's worth it. You'll also make some friends for life if you're lucky.

Don't worry about all the pro's and con's crap you've got there. If you want to do it, either get down the FFPW gym or the IwW training classes asap. The first lesson I learned in wrestling, on my first day, was that everything I THOUGHT I knew amounted to nothing. So there's no point over-thinking before you know what you're ACTUALLY getting yourself into.

Good luck dude.

sky88

you should give it a go you might regret it if you dont at least have a go if its not for you then at least u tried it

waltersobchak

mdwexford wrote: »

lol

Truely inspired, did it take you long to write that?:rolleyes:

glenjamin

mdwexford wrote: »

Its what a thread this ridiculous deserves as opposed to all you people living in cloud cuckoo land.

How's it ridiculous? The man's not expecting to be signing a WWE contract any time soon, he just wants to learn the basics and see if he can get a few bookings out of it. I very much doubt he's looking at this as a possible career or a major money earner. Just something he can say he tried and tested before he's too old and will be full of regret wishing he had given it a shot all those years back.

You should be encouraging him to go for it, not ripping on him.

Mr.Nice Guy

mdwexford wrote: »

Its what a thread this ridiculous deserves as opposed to all you people living in cloud cuckoo land.

Eh, what? Guy who's still in his twenties has an ambition to see if he can work a match in Ireland. What's so far-fetched about that?

You'd swear he asked to become an astronaut judging by your comment.

2ndcoming

If you think it's ridiculous and he needs to grow up the only question I have is what were you doing looking up a pro-wrestling forum on the internet in the first place.

I may believe that stating that your location as waiting for Cheltenham 2011 is pathetic, but am I going to look up the horse racing forum and recommend you get checked in to GA?? No. Get a life...

mdwexford

What are you all crying over. Because im not a sheep and go oh yeah go for it like the rest of you.

The guy asked for opinions, i have now given mine which is i think the third part of his post about the quarter life crisis would be how i would describe it.

2ndcoming i think its a silly pipe dream to want to be a wrestler, i watch wrestling and still enjoy it not that its any of your business what i do.

2ndcoming

You're missing my point, if the chap wants to learn how to wrestle, what odds? I play football even though I'm never gonna play for Ireland and I play poker even though I'll probably never win the world series.

If I started a thread about learning either of those I doubt anyone would reply 'lol'.

Or is that more acceptable because so many other people do it too? Sounds like a sheep mentality far more than any other I've heard in this thread.

mdwexford

Its dangerous and because its uncommon i guess it just seems unrealistic to me.

Again thats because they seem "normal" whereas this is a rare thing to want to do.

Does it, really, really?

Bounty Hunter

constructive criticism is a-ok but single word posts like lol are not afterall the OP said he welcomed criticism and did highlight the fact that he his ambition would not be to make it in the WWE or anything. TBH his is a pretty realistic thing to achieve

I'm fairly modest in my ambition - I'd like to learn how to work a match partly out of curiousity and partly because I've always loved performing. I'm not looking to be the next WWE champion - if I can do a decent match in front of a crowd that I haven't personally begged to come, I'll be happy.

so please if you have something to say be it a negative or positive appraisal of Geeky's current consideration then do so in a decent manner, instead of belittleing the thread.

anyway back on topic now:

could anyone give Geeky a realistic idea of how much time of his daily/weekly life this will take up and or how much it could cost him financially from experience (i know we have a number of people on here who have done similar or know people who have), as it is these kind of considerations that anyone would have to make combined with their own working life etc already.

barura

I say go for it, but be sure to stick it out. It's tough, but you will have to make time for it in order to actually give it a full go. I'm stuck in work on Sundays, but I'm really thinking of dropping my shifts just to get my ass out to bray again. And be prepared for the physical aspect of it!

Ham'nd'egger

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

constructive criticism is a-ok but single word posts like lol are not afterall the OP said he welcomed criticism and did highlight the fact that he his ambition would not be to make it in the WWE or anything. TBH his is a pretty realistic thing to achieve

Well said. The guy is wanting to see "if" he can try it; nothing more nothing less. I have 1000 times for appreciation for anybody who tries or does something rather than sitting around and moaning about it no matter what walk of life it is and to Geeky, I say fair play to you.:)

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

anyway back on topic now:

could anyone give Geeky a realistic idea of how much time of his daily/weekly life this will take up and or how much it could cost him financially from experience (i know we have a number of people on here who have done similar or know people who have), as it is these kind of considerations that anyone would have to make combined with their own working life etc already.

Training generally runs for about 2-3 hours a session and it's up to you if you take on however many sessions you feel you can fit in or cope with. Back in the day when the IWW school was running, we were pretty much running classes and training seven days a week and some guys were making 4 sessions a week.

As well, you will need to add in some time for conventional gym work which can anything from 3 hours a week to generally tone ones body up to 15 hours a week if you wish to bulk up big time. A vital element that needs to be addressed is a lot of cardiovascuar training. In my time I found this was the one that most people let slip in their training patterns and it is IMO the most important one as it carries you in all aspects of the game as well and it improves your overall stamina as well as being materially important heath wise. If you can suss it, this can take the shape of cycling to and from work/college but it needs to be at a fast pace for about 30 minutes a day minimum. SOS used to think nothing of cycling from the city centre to Swords to work when he lived in Dublin so with a little thought and planning it can be fitted into your day easily enough.

Finally, you will need to sit down and look at eating patterns and dietary matters and to allow time for personal health. If you are to hit the mat and have a regular training pattern, you will quickly notice how your body will like pastas and salads and fruits and boiled meats and waters and will reject processed meats, white breads, fried foods and soft drinks. Again, it takes a little planning at first but you will be the better for it when you do and you won't notice it after a few weeks. Allow some recovery time (And extra sleep time) and maybe the odd physio appointment as well.

All in all, there is a lot there but much of it is sensible life planning and applies to you regardless if you took up any sporting activity and wish to treat it seriously.

flahavaj

If you do make it you need to work under the gimmick Conor Hockey Stick and become that other fella's mortal enemy.

Seriously good luck with this. I hope you're in reasonably decent shape? Though that never stopped CJ Summers.:pac:

Justin Ternet

Howaya geeky,
If you don't mind I think I'll throw my two cents in.Im a trainer at the Fight Factory and think it would be worth letting you know what to expect.Its good that you have relatively low expectations to start off with.Many people start off with the notion of 'this time next year look out Cena'.As for your age thats definately not an issue.Most Irish workers are in there mid twenties.The height thing is also not something to worry about these days.
Physically wise for wrestling the rule of thumb is you must look athletic.To look fit is good enough for now.But remember it is the Dunkies maxers and cabrays people want to see with straps.If you are in any way wanting to compete with people for bookings its mostly about the look.I've been getting away with it for a while now but the Justin Shape gimmick is the only way around looking like crap.
Which brings me nicely onto my next point Gimmick and Mic work.Its good that you have acted before but working in front of a crowd is very different from screen acting.Its still worlds apart from stage acting too.Think more along the lines of super interactve pantomime.Different cliques of the crowd react differently to every action you make in the ring.You have to be able to engage everyone on some level and keep everyone entertained for the duration of a match.I see you have ideas for a character its good that your thinking this far ahead.The thing is every body wants to be the dark evil bad guy called styx or nero or syrus.It rarely works out that way plus wrestling audiences dont want that anymore,The majority of the crowd are kids.Gimmicks these days are cartoons Im afraid.But that can all be sorted out after you've actually got some training under the belt.
Once again we neatly segway to the next point.In ring work and training.You seem to have a good grasp of what way things work in wrestling.Things are very different when you hit the mats first though.Im not going to insult you by letting you know wrestling hurts.Thats obvious.Your broken arm shouldn't be a problem.I broke my neck in my rookie year and I was back in the ring 9 months later(but im a great lad).The truth is the hard work is the psychology.The bumping,feeding,positioning,spots,chain and so on.If you have read this and thought sounds super then go get trained up.If I have turned you off the idea that was definately not my intention.Hey your first month of training is free at FFPW you should at least hit a couple of training sessions to see if its for you.And if you go to train somewhere else no hard feeling dickhead.
But seriously I'd take a personal interest if you do a couple of weeks with us and you could let everyone know how you get on through the magic of the interweb.

FFPW_Dean

Ah sure if everyone's having a good aul comment I might as well (cue boos & hisses). I'll bullet point this cause I'm lazy.

1. It'll hurt a little at first, I had some pretty bad headaches & joint pains after my first few sessions back in the day.

2. This all goes away. You dont live your life in constant pain like that astute veterans of this thread have oh so wrongly pointed out. If you went all the way to wwe & wrestled a rough schedule then yeah you might start to hurt after a while, over here not so much.

3. Dont bother with putting too much thought into gimmicks or characters at the mo, really isn't terribly necessary if you dont know an armbar. There's no danger in doing so, only problem is that some people get so wrapped up in what they have in mind that they end up thinking that what they do will be meaningful to a crowd that doesn't know them from Adam, when it clearly wont.

4. Get fit for the time being, you dont need to spend 15 hours in the gym every week (that's, frankly, preposterious for anyone). 3 or 4 days at the weights & 4 or 5 days of cardio (bit of HIIT wont go astray). Remember fitness doesn't mean just being able to run for a long period of time, the main components of fitness are: Cardiovascular (the bodys ability to take in & use oxygen & fuels), Flexibilty, Muscular Endurance, Muscular Strength.

5. Doing a neat little segway from the previous point (eat your heart out Pizza). Remember that wrestling is an athletic endeavor, so develop your fitness evenly. No point in being grotesquely flexible if you cant lift up the smallest guy in the gym, or being brutally strong if a four minute match leaves you looking for a defibrulator.

6. Should you decide to come down to training, just keep your eyes & ears open. Keep your head down, and work hard. Most importantly, respect & thank anyone who takes time out to try to help you to learn & improve, whether it's someone as good as Fergal Devitt or a trainee who has had less than 10 matches.

There you are mate, if that came out jumbled or anything. . . eh, well f*ck off I was only tryin to help ya.



no, you're the unreasonable one

geeky

Thanks for all the constructive comments, and even the dose of cruel reality.
Rest assured I've still no intention of doing it for a living - though that'd be nice, I know the chances of success are low and like to think I've a decent career on the go aside from that.

I'm going to try and do it, but I want to take a month or so to work on my general fitness, strength and flexibility. I fear I've a long way to go on that front.

and I'll let you know how I get on. Hell, might even get a blog or an article out of it. Thanks again.

D2D

geeky wrote: »

Thanks for all the constructive comments, and even the dose of cruel reality.
Rest assured I've still no intention of doing it for a living - though that'd be nice, I know the chances of success are low and like to think I've a decent career on the go aside from that.

I'm going to try and do it, but I want to take a month or so to work on my general fitness, strength and flexibility. I fear I've a long way to go on that front.

and I'll let you know how I get on. Hell, might even get a blog or an article out of it. Thanks again.

Best of luck with it:):)

Charisteas

Really interesting thread to read. How did you get on Geeky, did you ever lace up a pair of boots?

CoolHat

Charisteas wrote: »

Really interesting thread to read. How did you get on Geeky, did you ever lace up a pair of boots?

Just read the thread. Its highly unlikely he had a match.
Alot of people do a few sessions and quit. It isnt for everyone I guess. Like everything else.

Diabhal Beag

Our Geeky is probably in Japan having 4 star matches with Tanahashi