Source: 5forFoley.com
In a recent interview with 5forFoley.com, one-half of Bad Influence Christopher Daniels talks about who he watched as a kid to inspire him to become a professional wrestler. In addition, he also gave some advice to anyone out there looking to become a professional wrestler today. You can read some of the items from the interview below, though I encourage you to check out the entire interview by clicking here. Enjoy!
On Who and What Inspired Him to be a Professional Wrestler
I was a fan when I grew up in Fayetteville, NC, watching guys like Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, & the Road Warriors. After I graduated college (w/ my theatre degree), I was living in the Chicago area trying to start a career as an actor. I made a comment to my girlfriend at the time (now my wife) that if the acting thing didn’t work out, “I could always be a professional wrestler”. Because of that conversation, she sought out a wrestling school that was close to where we lived, the Windy City Professional Wrestling School, and made an appointment for me to see the head trainers.
After that first visit, I decided to take a break from acting and give wrestling a try, thinking that at the very least I’d have a story for my kids one day. But because I was a fan, I had a frame of reference as I went through the initial training, and I had my first match 3 months after I started. In my third match, I won my first championship, the Windy City Lightweight Championship, and I just stuck with it.
On His Advice for Those Hopeful to Become Professional Wrestlers
First, I would say stay in school. Professional Wrestling, just like any other professional sport or entertainment field, has many full time hopefuls, but very few people who break through and make their living at it. So it’s best to have a back-up plan in case falling down for a living doesn’t work out. If after your schooling is complete, you still want to try professional wrestling, understand that those of us that are professionals make what we do look very easy, but it’s far from it.
Many people can’t finish the rigorous training, or can lead a lifestyle conducive the wear & tear their bodies will go through in the course of a career. Once you’ve learned how to do the things we do in a wrestling ring, learning when & why to do them involves wrestling actual matches in front of live crowds. So much of what I learned in terms of connecting with a crowd and entertaining wrestling fans came from “learning on the job”, so my last bit of advice for young wrestlers is to wrestle for as many different promoters as you can against as many different wrestlers as you can.
Once you are comfortable enough with your wrestling that you can wrestle an entertaining match against someone you’ve just met, that’s when you become a possible commodity to a promoter.
