So you wanna be a wrestler…

[Playboy]

Really? I must have seen that match about a hundred times and I never noticed it. Now you have me curious. I will have to check for that.

[Thin Lizzy]

In an interview, Ric Flair said that when he was training to be a wrestler, Verne Gagne had recruits run 2 miles, then, immediately do 200 hundred squats.

Is this a typical cardio program for a wrestler?

[Montague]

Not these days - at least, not "typical."

Gagne’s program was designed to weed out the merely interested from those with the desire, drive, and skills to excel.
His camp turned out some phenomenal talent.
In fact – a large percentage of the guys Vince Jr. brought into the Fed when he took things over from his dad were from MN.


Read the first few paragraphs of this interview that Jeremy Hartley conducted with Ricky Steamboat several years ago:
http://www.solie.org/interviews/stmboat.html
He discusses his training days in AWA.

[Thin Lizzy]

Good stuff. I ended up reading the whole thing.

Some crazy shyte. We used to do "Wheelbarrows" at Renzo's (BJJ).  I never thought they were a good exercise. Too hard on the wrists and shoulders, especially when you start getting older.

[Montague]

I know that Vince has footage of AWA’s training camp.
I hope they include some good video on Steamboat’s new DVD coming out this summer.

I have the shoot interview Ricky did with RV Video.
It contains some match footage, but the problem is – they can’t show much since WWE owns almost everything now.

WWE’s DVD’s show some good footage, but there’s a lot they leave out, and the guys don’t have free reign – or even the time – to just sit down and say everything they want to say.
(Piper cut out soooooo much from his WWE set compared to what he said in his Highspots interview.)


To get the most, you really need to buy the shoot videos for the interviews and Vince’s discs for the archival footage.
Put them together, and you have about as much as you can purchase.
Although, many people are surprised at what all they can find on youtube, etc.

[Playboy]

I know that Vince has footage of AWA’s training camp.
I hope they include some good video on Steamboat’s new DVD coming out this summer.

I have the shoot interview Ricky did with RV Video.
It contains some match footage, but the problem is – they can’t show much since WWE owns almost everything now.

WWE’s DVD’s show some good footage, but there’s a lot they leave out, and the guys don’t have free reign – or even the time – to just sit down and say everything they want to say.
(Piper cut out soooooo much from his WWE set compared to what he said in his Highspots interview.)


To get the most, you really need to buy the shoot videos for the interviews and Vince’s discs for the archival footage.
Put them together, and you have about as much as you can purchase.
Although, many people are surprised at what all they can find on youtube, etc.

Some of this old AWA training camp footage is on the Ric Flair DVD. Some pretty crazy shit. Nick Bockwinkle said that when Flair entered the camp he was a chubby 275lbs and by the time camp was over he trimmed down to a solid 240lbs. Verne Gagne knew how to prepare the trainees correctly and like Mont said, weed out the week. Some of the greatest stars ever came from that camp.

[Montague]

This is what Verne's camp did:

[UPINTHEMGUTS]

wow......Cannot believe how heavy Flair in his younger years. I remember reading that he said he was 300 lbs at one point but I couldn't picture that....

[Playboy]

wow......Cannot believe how heavy Flair in his younger years. I remember reading that he said he was 300 lbs at one point but I couldn't picture that....

Oh yes...he was a big boy. He was training with Ken Patera and wanted to try to get as big as him at one point.

[Thin Lizzy]

That Flair pic threw me for a loop, too. I had never seen it before.

[UPINTHEMGUTS]

There was a time briefly in his career that Ric Flair was shredded. I remember back in 1986 during the Great American Bash. There were like a dozen different Bash's over that summer. Flair got in terrific physical shape to do all of those shows. He was facing the Road Warriors and Rock Roll Express in singles competition that year and lost the world title to Dusty at one of those shows.


That last picture above looks like that era of his career.

[Montague]

Well, I suppose that, since this is - technically - a bodybuilding site, I can say this with it being taken the right way…

In that last photo, check out Flair’s lower pectoral line.
It is more defined than in any other picture in the chronological series I posted.
Also, his face has a much more carved look.
Nature Boy looked good throughout most of his career, but during the timeframe you mentioned, he looked fantastic!

[The Showstoppa]

There was a time briefly in his career that Ric Flair was shredded. I remember back in 1986 during the Great American Bash. There were like a dozen different Bash's over that summer. Flair got in terrific physical shape to do all of those shows. He was facing the Road Warriors and Rock Roll Express in singles competition that year and lost the world title to Dusty at one of those shows.


That last picture above looks like that era of his career.

I think you are correct on the timeline.  I went to one of the bashes back then, and Flair was in excellent shape.  That is BY FAR my favorite era of wrestling.

[Montague]

Monty, did you ever juice?  If so, was it hard way or blading?

Forgot to add this way of juicing:

R.I.P. Captain.

[The Showstoppa]

Forgot to add this way of juicing:




R.I.P. Captain.

haha, Lou was one of a kind.....I remember Abdullah doing something similar where he would just hit his head with an object and blood would start flowing from those deep scars on his head.

also, I was reading something yesterday that reminded me of something.  Are you old enough to remember Mr. Wrestling Tim Woods?  I was very, very young, but he was my original favorite wrestler.  Anyway, I remember him juicing thru his white mask on occasion.  Don't see that everyday.

[Montague]

haha, Lou was one of a kind.....I remember Abdullah doing something similar where he would just hit his head with an object and blood would start flowing from those deep scars on his head.

also, I was reading something yesterday that reminded me of something.  Are you old enough to remember Mr. Wrestling Tim Woods?  I was very, very young, but he was my original favorite wrestler.  Anyway, I remember him juicing thru his white mask on occasion.  Don't see that everyday.

Abby could supposedly insert a poker chip into the groove between scars on his forehead, where upon it would stick & totally freak people the fukk out.

I was also quite young when Tim Woods was still wresting, but I must admit that - during my prepubescent mark years - I was strictly a Federation fan.
Vince had already taken over the wrestling world and was the most mainstream organization in my viewing area.
What did I know?
 

[The Showstoppa]

Monty, just on a general note, what did you most enjoy about it?  Physical performance, mental performance, hanging out with the guys, fan interaction, etc....?

[Montague]

I didn’t do it for long at all, and I never made any money doing it.
I didn’t like giving up my weekends to travel from one white-trash shithole to the next.
I didn’t like being in constant pain & discomfort.
I didn’t care to hear about (or see) “the boys’” drug habits.
I didn’t like the promoter.

Does that answer your question?

[The Showstoppa]

I didn’t do it for long at all, and I never made any money doing it.
I didn’t like giving up my weekends to travel from one white-trash shithole to the next.
I didn’t like being in constant pain & discomfort.
I didn’t care to hear about (or see) “the boys’” drug habits.
I didn’t like the promoter.

Does that answer your question?

haha, was there ANYTHING you liked? 

[Montague]

It was cool (but often sad) meeting some interesting people.

[Playboy]

It was cool (but often sad) meeting some interesting people.

Wrestling is an extremely tough sport / life. i honestly don't think the general public has any clue what wrestlers / performers go through.

[Montague]

Yep.
And all for a chance - JUST A SLIM CHANCE - to make a decent living for a few years.
Only a few make it to that level.
Even fewer make it farther.

Most don't make it at all.

I wasn't about to turn into a 30-year-old with a practically worthless education...moving furniture by day and wrestling white trash for white trash for $40/shot on weekends.

[Playboy]

Yep.
And all for a chance - JUST A SLIM CHANCE - to make a decent living for a few years.
Only a few make it to that level.
Even fewer make it farther.

Most don't make it at all.

I wasn't about to turn into a 30-year-old with a practically worthless education...moving furniture by day and wrestling white trash for white trash for $40/shot on weekends.

Exactly. I know my buddy went crazy for about 5 years living in limbo. Japan for 6 months, then the independants, then to more training. He wasn't poorly off buy he struggled bigtime. Not easy to achieve something in the world of wrestling and if you get hurt, its even worse. In his words, he felt he was also lucky for being in the right place at the right time. Paul Heyman found him and brought him into OVW. The rest was history.

[Captain Equipoise]

I cant imagine any normal woman taking a guy in his late 20's early 30's that 'wrestles' seriously... LOL, I have two friends that are semi-pro wrestlers (think ECW level) and they are both mid-late 30's women just laugh at  them when they tell them what they do in their spare time (they both have 2 jobs each to support their pro wrestling hobby) I think they make around $150-175 a match..

this is them (they're a tag team)

http://www.fleshwrestling.com/

I've been to a few of the shows, the average attendance is maybe 150-200 people, I think it's a joke and a waste of time
they tried to get me interested in it based on my physique a few years ago but it wasn't for me..

[Montague]

I cant imagine any normal woman taking a guy in his late 20's early 30's that 'wrestles' seriously... LOL, I have two friends that are semi-pro wrestlers (think ECW level) and they are both mid-late 30's women just laugh at  them when they tell them what they do in their spare time (they both have 2 jobs each to support their pro wrestling hobby) I think they make around $150-175 a match..

this is them (they're a tag team)

http://www.fleshwrestling.com/

I've been to a few of the shows, the average attendance is maybe 150-200 people, I think it's a joke and a waste of time
they tried to get me interested in it based on my physique a few years ago but it wasn't for me..

Probably the smart thing to do is avoid it.
What your friends are making is average (I'm assuming they're making that amount each).
Unfortunately, that's about as far as most guys make it these days.

At one time, it was bad-ass to be a pro-wrestler.
A lot of girls dug it.
Right now, though, wrestling is far from hot, and there's no prestige associated with it like back in the territory days when the public perceived all wrestlers as financially well to do.

If you're smooth enough and have a good body, you can find a girl to screw any night in any town.
But no woman will want to settle down with a guy pushing 40 who's more serious about wreslting in high school gymnasiums than an actual career with a 401k.
Unless you're in the big leagues, it should be the other way around: career first, wrestling as a hobby.

One of my buddies was about 33 when WWE signed him to a developmental contract.
He was released a short time later.
I thought for sure that he would move on and try to settle on a real career, but no...
Four years later (and older), he's still chasing the dream.

These fukking people need to set deadlines for themselves.