'breaking into the bisness'
(if conforming is your thang...)"Breaking into the bisness- the greatest article I've ever read from www.ucw-zero.com" - GQGallo
The NightVis guide to "breaking in" [May. 24th, 2004|02:30 pm]
There's been a lot of garbage floating around the internet lately about "being in the business" and such, one of my "brothers in stripes" has been spreading a great deal of misinformation about how to conduct oneself, and generally setting a bad example. For this reason, I have decided to post my definitive guide to breaking into the business, it is a treatise on personal conduct and locker room etiquette. Here goes...Training and conduct
When you enter training, you are going to be abused, you are going to be verbally run down, physically worked like a dog, and perhaps hazed in ways that you'd expect an Iraqi prisoner to be. Deal with it, accept it, and don't give up, it won't go on forever. They are just seeing how much crap you can take to see if they can take your non-refundable deposit, fight through it, and things will get better.
You also need to realise that YOU ARE IN TRAINING. You are not a wrestler. You have no gimmick, you have no angles, don't try to start any. You will likely be called upon to work ring crew and security at the promotion attached to the school, do so. You will not be paid. You will, however, likely be ribbed, laugh along, open your ears and listen to any advice offered. Did I mention that YOU ARE NOT A WRESTLER? Because you aren't. Stop pretending you are.
DO NOT focus on learning any advanced move. Focus on psychology, chain wrestling, and in-ring charisma. Any idiot can do a moonsault, and I am not exaggerating, ANY idiot can do a moonsault. You'll have plenty of chances to learn a Space Flying Tiger Drop, or a Fisherman's Buster AFTER training. Spot machines have short, unsuccessful careers on the whole, but someone who can tell a story is what the big leagues are looking for.
Show up at every class, early if possible, fight your way through any tough drill they give you and do your best, if someone in your class sucks, then help them, if they're slow, run with them on the long-distance jogs, support them, befriend them, you'll need them later on. The one exception to this is if they break the rules, no show classes, no-show the "dues paying" sessions at shows without a reasonable explaination, act like a mark and have generally attracted the ire of the promotion, who is beholden to train them, even if they don't want to. In this case, help along the inevitable by getting ****** at them when they mess up, put some extra stank on your chops (open your hand, rather than cup), and generally give them the kayfabe when it's time for the students to go to the bar.
After training, your early days.
If you are a wrestler: Shut your mouth and listen to the locker room leaders. If a vet asks you to come somewhere with them, go along. This is a chance to make a good impression and make a few locker room allies. You're going to stiffed in the ring, don't ****** don't whine, DON'T EVEN MENTION IT. They know they stiffed you, they meant to do it. You are paying your dues in blood, sweat and tears, the stiffings consititute the "blood" part of it, the unpaid hard work is the "sweat", and the utter mistreatment you will recieve are the "tears". Accept it, or quit. And oh yeah, YOU ARE NOT A WRESTLER YET. You are still a security guard, a stockboy, or a marketing assistant.
If you are a referee: If you are a referee, chances are that you are out of shape, but have good in-ring ability. If you want to wrestle, start working out. A referee is in a very particular spot in nearly any promotion. You are a stuntman, you are a worker, you're the leader of the ring crew, and you also assist with "the office" (Promoters, Road Agents and Creative). YOU ARE NOT A WRESTLER, DO NOT ACT LIKE ONE. Do not put yourself over under any circumstances, for the most part, you play the straight man whenever you're on the mic. Do not brag about any in-ring prowess you might have, as it just makes wrestlers roll their eyes. If you are bumped, SELL AS IF YOU WERE SHOT, sell untill you think it's ridiculous, then sell some more. Referees are frail by nature, and should react as such when struck. An excellent referee enhances the match by making the men in the ring look larger than life, a "normal" man in the land of giants. Sometimes, in the right situation, you may be called upon to play face or heel, or be a ring announcer, or do an occasional squash job. RELISH THESE MOMENTS, BUT REALIZE THAT YOU ARE STILL NOT A WRESTLER, HEEL, FACE OR ANYTHING, YOU ARE A REFEREE AND PLACEHOLDER. A good referee realizes this, and makes himself useful to the promotion in other ways, perhaps even developing into a Road Agent and making decent money if you know sales well enough.You are fairly naive if you think that wrestling is drug free. It's not. You are likely to be offered painkillers, pot, beer and even harder drugs. It's your choice to take and refuse what you want, and you do have a choice. If you're uncomfortable with something you're offered a simple "not my thing, but thanks anyway" usually suffices. If it doesn't, respectfully pose to the offerer an excuse of some kind like "I'm allergic to Soma", "I used to have a coke problem, can't touch the stuff". But do not get indignant, or self rightous, doing so will alienate you from them, and will make you look like an ass. I've worked with everything from Mormons to LaVey Satanists, Gay men and homophobes, and the one thing that held people with so little in common together was a healthy "live and let live" attitude, someone's personal habits are their personal habits, and the guy offering you a hoot of his pipe thinks he's being friendly in his own way, don't **** on his face.
If you don't drink, you should still go the bar and order a coke or something, hang out, shoot the ****, laugh and rib, have fun! Going to bar is how many workers unwind and bond, and it's a good time to earn some points by buying the guy who just had a killer match that night a beer.
Interpromotional Rivalry, Kayfabe, and Public Conduct
Quite often, if your promotion shares a territory with another promotion, a rivalry will develop. Unless you're headlining the promotion, called out by name, told to act on it by the promoter, or if you're the promoter yourself, DO NOT INVOLVE YOURSELF. It's called "burning bridges", if you talk crap about another promotion, that's one place your chances of working have gone down significantly. If you say crap about another worker, this person might have friends in your locker room, or end up in the same locker room as you down the line, and he will not forget the insult. Saying ANYTHING publically against ANYONE is a bad idea.
Kayfabe may have gone down the drain in one sense, but not in others. What goes on the road stays on the road, talking too much to marks about too much will have you branded a mark yourself and untrustworthy. If someone you work with comes "out of the closet", keep it that way. Someone confided in you, keep this confidence, because what's said in a locker room is meant to stay there. Basically don't say anything about anyone, it's not your place, and that goes triple when speaking with marks.
Watch what you say on the internet. Follow the "don't shoot" rules above, if you have a good story to tell, don't name names if someone looks bad in it, regardless of if you like the guy or not. Show proper respect for the business. I can personally attest that saying disrespectful things on the internet CAN harm you in more than one way.
General conduct for the Greenhorn
-Do not call it "blading" under any circumstances, listen to see what they call it in your territory, as it goes under many names (gig and gaff the most common) and use that term. "Bladejob" is a smark term.
-In your early days, DO NOT use "insider" terms. Many of these are archaic and incorrect, and will result in you being seen as a mark. The first thing you should do is FORGET everything the internet taught you about wrestling.
-Vets should be considered dangerous. You may end up friends with them down the line, but in your early career, show them all the respect in the world, shut up, listen, buy them beers and kiss their asses without being too brownosey about it. Many veterans are bitter and very knowledgable of shoot wrestling, as well as the common drug and alcohol problems, so many are mentally unstable, especially when dealing with rookies. They will not hesitate to kick the ever-loving crap out of you for any real or imagined slight. Tread carefully.
-If you're a greenhorn or a vet, this rule stands firm....KEEP YOUR RING RATS OUT OF THE LOCKER ROOM. These groupies are here to polish your sword on the road, not suggest angles and involve themselves in the promotion. Bringing your rat into the locker toom will cause trouble. DON'T DO IT.
-A belt is just a prop, never lobby for a title win, they'll just think you're a mark.
-Realize how much of a greenhorn you are, and tone down the superiority act with the marks, getting too big for your britches will harm your career, just know your role and work your way up.