Now if u had just said that Ric Flair turns up to every WWE show in a three piece suit I would have had the strangest sense of deja vu!

Seriously shes right, I took what was said at probably the most basic level of meaning but looking good out of the ring may seem like the most unimportant thing in the world right now but to a promoter it shows u've made an effort.

~Cherry, xxx

Wow Drae u sound like Majik, but a most of it is true (rich i know comin from the scruffiest of the scruffy dressers.)

On the subject of ring gear it doesnt have to be expensive for pads and boots. I got a pair of kickboxing shoes (I've been using them for over a year now and theyre about finished but very good to work in) for £30 and kickpads for £10 (i now upgraded to actual wrestling kickpads but these were pretty good at $50) and i got Trace kneepads for $30 - and their good enough for Van Dam, theyre sure as hell good enough for me!

Meeting people i grew up watching was pretty cool but I did all my marking out when i met them as a fan. Meeting them as a wrestler myself I still find it pretty cool being backstage with whoever and have a lot of respect for what theyve done but staring and drooling doesnt look too professional in all honesty.

As for what people think i usually get a tape and ask some people who's opinion i value and better yet i ask my biggest critic - me.

i think your doing a great job of comming across as a ego maniac already by trying to insinuate that the locker room behavior that has been around for years is all wrong.
if your having trouble following the rules i would suggest that you get a locker room to yourself then you will really be the star that you already think you are.

And here was me thinking that this was about if and when towel flicking was acceptable.

Seriously though, it's the same as when I do gigs with signed bands. If I sit there all googly eyed and telling them how much I think they're great then they're not going to give me any respect either. I just tell them that I'm pleased to meet them chitchat a bit about the show and, unless they ask, I don't mention their music at all.

When it comes to egos, I've found that the artists that have had chart success generally have smaller egos and are easier to get on with then new bands that have just got signed to a development company and think they're stars. Chesney Hawkes (the real one, not Aaron Richard Smythe Esq) was a really down-to-earth friendly chap that had no problems sending his "one and only" era self up. I did a project with Paul Quinn from Saxon (for all you youngies, up until their "Crusader" album, they were one of the biggest bands of the NWOBHM. Easily as big as Def Leppard and Iron Maiden) who didn't mention his former successes once. The worst guy I met was a session sax p_layer_ who was touring with The Beautiful South. He was claiming that he actually was part of The Beautiful South (usually several times in as many minutes) and expected us to treat him like royalty. Maybe I was a bit harsh on him, but maybe that was because after asking what I played, he told me that I hadn't been playing long enough for him to take me seriously. ("Our (meaning The Beautiful South's) keyboard p_layer_'s been playing for 30 years", he told me. "I'll bet he's not 22", said I.)

If you're going to ask for autographs, do it at the end, just in case they do despise you for it, but don't do it half-heartedly. I have a pseudo-self-depreciating manner when I do this, explaining that I accept that playing village fetes and charity gigs is high as I might get, and in years to come want a momento to look back on and look back on my "career". So far no-one's done anything other than giggle and either join in the joke or (usually) tell me stories of some of the dives they used to play in when they were starting up. So far, every "proper" star I've met and had a conversation with has sought me out at the end to say goodbye. "Wannabe" stars usually just stand there smirking at us loading our own gear away as their roadies do theirs for them.


Crikey, I've rattled on a bit haven't I? Sorry! :oops:

the second was 'always look like a professional'... again, this is a stupid rule as most peoople get into wrestling at a young age and can't aford 100+ pounds for boots 50+ pounds for pads and all the extra for ring attire....
This doesn't necessarily apply to ringwear, more to your attitude and how you present youself physically. Admittedly boots are the biggest outlay for the beginner wrestler, but as everyone else has said, there are more affordable substitutes, just make sure you go for a boot/shoe that is a proper sports shoe and not a fashion sports shoe. Besides, there's plenty of other sports that require a huge outlay where there are no substitutes for gear (I know, 'cos I'm a fencer, where you can get away with personal choice of shoe and trousers if you don't mind being frowned upon, but jacket, mask, glove, foil have to be the genuine article. And that's providing you don't want to go electric!)

I can't answer that as wrestler, 'cause I ain't one, but I can give a perspective from POV as a professional musician, which is how I make my living; reading that, there are a lot of parallels.

1) "Don't mark out for superstars"
The point of this is, no-one likes a brown-noser or a yes man. You're allowed to express your admiration and respect when meeting your heroes, but there's a fine line between showing respect and gushing like a superfan. Show some dignity as well as respect; you're meeting that person as a peer (of sorts) because you have earned that chance through your work and dedication to that point. But stay humble, of course.

2) "'always look like a professional"
I think you're taking this one a bit too literally; the best explanation I've heard came from an old college tutor, who defined professionalism as the opposite of unprofessionalism.
The expense of your gear is a red herring; as a musician, I've found the amount of gear you cart around diminishes as you get more experienced; partly because you get sick of setting it up every night, but mostly because you find what's right and don't feel the need to prove yourself with vulgar displays of expensive equipment cluttering up the stage with no apparent use (one of the biggest giveaways of an amateur that there is, unless you're at the level where you have a team of roadies to do the donkey work). A decent pro musician could outplay a pretentious amateur with a botempi organ. It's not what you got, it's how you use it.
Applied to pro-wrestling, I imagine quality of pads, boots etc. will affect your performance a little, though beware of blaming your tools. As for appearance, there's no substitute for imagination; most of my stage gear comes from a combination of charity shops and home sewing kit. Brian Dixon kitted out Satoro Sayama as Sammy Lee in nothing more than a red gi.

3) 'after a match don't head out and ask what people thought'
Because it's not fair on who you're asking. If it's your mates, they won't give you an honest answer, if it's a stranger it's putting them on the spot (and they're therfore as likely to tell you you stank the place out just to punish you for asking).. wandering around fishing for compliments (as it will be percieved) is gauche in the extreme. Read your reviews when they come, keep your ear to the ground and definitely ask politely for advice from people you respect, but never directly solicit opinions from Joe Public; it's not what he bought a ticket for.

4) 'don't act like your great.. even if you are as the people you see on the way up are the same people you see on the way down'
Nothing really to add to this; just that whatever you do, you as a wrestler, me as a musician, neither of us would be doing it if it weren't for other people who have (and continue to) keep the discipline alive, it will still be building through others after we're gone and the best are the best because they refuse to ever stop learning.