Brett invited me over on this subject. My 2 pence worth. (I've been to England). A pro is someone that gets paid for what they do. They may not be a good pro, but they are pro. If they aren't getting paid, they aren't pro. What I'm reading is talent levels being argued. I know Drew, Robbie, and a few others from there. They are some of the best pros in the world. I'm a pro at a level just below them in talent. There are pros that should be at ringside with a program and ticket. And there are pros at every level in between. But, by the very definition, they are still pros. Talent that belongs alongside guys like Chic, Robbie, Drew, James Mason and the like? Or they don't belong in the ring? Argue on. But IMO as long as they are paid they are pros. When do they get to a point when they can call themselves good? The boys will let each other know.

Ok, if you have someone working the majority of days over their existence in say 7 years, they should be regarded as a pro.

If a wrestler works once a month, once every two weeks, then they shouldn't as they wouldn't have had no where near the experience that someone doing the above would have had.

If someone teaches someone to wrestle, and the teacher is argubly not a pro, then how can his student be classed as a pro?

I think personally I would have to agree with Dusty, a professional is someone who gets paid full stop.

I think in any profession that is the case.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I didn't think that for many British Pro's that wrestling could prove to be the only source of income.

For example Doug Williams who I would class a 100% pro still maintains a day job as was well documented in a recent issue of POW. So I don't think that in this country judging on if wrestling is a main source of income can be set as criteria to class someone as pro.

Taking an example from the states, Trent Acid was self trained, he earns enough for wrestling to be a full time profession and is arguably one of the most talented men on the US Indy scene at the moment. Obviously upon his travels he has learnt as in his words, great workers like Steve Corino and many more taught him the 'right' way to do things, but can he still be classed as a pro?

Very much like the argument, 'who's the best promotion?' many different criteria will be set and every single person will choose different criteria so it's near enough impossible to come to any sort of conclusive answer.

On another thought, I'm off to Futureshock on Sunday, would you class these guys as pro's yet?

my take...

By sheer defintion you're a professional the very first time you get paid to wrestle, and from then on.

However, wrestling like a professional, knowing your way around the ring and being able to have a good match, tell a story and have meaningful sequences as opposed to doing cheap, poor, spot fests, is a whole different matter. It takes experience... which working 2 times per month does not bring.

On another thought, I'm off to Futureshock on Sunday, would you class these guys as pro's yet?

I thought that FWA themselves made clear that Futureshock was a showcase for trainees? I believe it is billed as "The FWA Academy Trainees". I think the Futureshock shows are a good idea to get trainees in-ring experience and used to performing for an audience without the pressures of a big show build up.

Literally speaking, if somebody has completed adequate training and is proficient enough to perform in front of a live audience and in fact has done so, they, I guess, could claim to be a "professional". But there are varying levels of professionalism and those who have been in the business for any length of time would quite rightly deem those who have performed in only a handful of matches with little or no pay as not being worthy of the _title_, despite qualifying as a professional in the literal sense.
My personal view is that to be perceived as a professional by 'your peers' then you have to have plyed your trade for several years, garnered a reputation as a talented and dependable worker and probably be earning a living from said profession.
Basically, I think Rob McKay could rightly claim to be a "professional wrestler" but established names like Chic, Dusty, Scott Conway etc., could dispute that fact due to the lack of experience and income.
It's a can of worms that I guess can be argued until the wives come home...