There are many ways to learn a craft and you have to be prepared to deal with each way in time, the first is by study, where you remember facts and theories, usually tested by way of examination, there is learning by doing, a practical way of repeating a task until you remember it and there is learning from a mistake.
In fact sometimes the only way to learn is to make a mistake, imagine if we went through life not making a single error, we wouldn’t learn anything.
So you would think with that gem of information I would be glad of making mistakes in the ring, not really, I hate to say it, but I dwell on mistakes. It is something I know I shouldn’t do, but it is part of something that I like to call wrestler’s paranoia.
There are so many variables that come into doing a show, am I go enough? Is my partner safe? Am I going to get a kicking if I make a mistake? It really is a lot to think about and your match as well, so making a mistake at some point is going to be inevitable.
I think that, with the amount of variables a wrestler has to face in one single match, the difference between a good wrestler and a great wrestler is their ability to cope with all the factors that make a good match and entertain at the audience.
There is a lot to be scared about, remember, as a wrestler you have to perform for the audience, your peers and most importantly the promoter, if you are crap then you will probably not work for the guy or gal again.
I’ve heard of young teenagers trying to ply their trade in the wrestling world, which is fair play to them, but they lack the maturity and social knowledge to define whether they are being treated correctly.
I’ve been thinking about this wrestler paranoia a lot recently, I have had it bad recently when I made a terrible mistake and seriously hurt an opponent, ever the consummate professional, he carried on, but I was for, well, I turned to shit!
So I have been seriously questioning myself at the moment, I love wrestling too much to quit, but I have to ask myself if I am doing too much too soon?
I do remember a conversation I had with Johnny Kidd, whilst watching a show at RPW, he told me that everyone makes mistakes in the ring and it was up to the wrestler whether they would learn from that mistake. Simply put, if you make a mistake it’s ok, but make sure that you learn from it.
I think this is what defines a professional wrestler as opposed to someone who wrestles for their ego. You see, I have met a lot of people out there who genuinely want you to do well, they will teach you if you need to know, they will be patient when you face them in the ring and they are always there to hand out advice when you need it most. I have also met people who pride themselves on how they can hurt an opponent and that only leads to trouble…
With the former about and helping me, I can live with the fear of failure, because sometimes one failure leads to a succession of successes. So unfortunately those who wish me ill, I will learn and get stronger, I do every month; I just learnt a serious lesson.
I hope we can all learn from our mistakes and forgive others for theirs.
Saz