Frequently I hear and see things in the business that make me re-consider what I think I know about the wrestling business -- an industry that I have been a part of for more than fifteen years. In fact, I'm very close to a point where I have spent almost half of my life in the business. Sometimes the things I see are confusing ... sometimes they make me laugh out loud ... and sometimes, they just piss me right the hell off.
I'll let you take a stab at where I might be at with this one ...
I remember as clearly as it was yesterday my experiences breaking into the wrestling business. I had trained with a group of four guys in a ring housed in a machine shop in Somerset, Manitoba. I received my earliest teachings from a 63 year old frenchman named Ernie Rheault, a fellow that could still monkey flip a 285 pound man more than thirty years his junior and lay in a chop that would make your eyes water. He was a hard working fellow with a big heart -- but he wasn't a great instructor. I left his camp after four weeks knowing little more than a hip toss and a headlock takedown.
Breaking into the business, Rheault used his stroke with promoters in Winnipeg to get me my first opportunity for Wayne Stanton's River City Wrestling promotion in Winnipeg. At 17 years old, I didn't have a clue what I was doing, but I was hungry to learn - so I would make the two hour trip from Brandon every two weeks, help set up the ring, train for two hours, work a match, help tear down the ring and make the trip back home. Week in and week out ... I would get in the ring and get schooled by guys like Sgt. Tom Steele (aka J.R. Bundy), Doug McColl, and Mike Stone. Every once in a while, guys would stop by between international tours and give a few pointers -- guys like Eddie Watts and Rick Patterson. It was a great environment to learn and I tried to absorb as much of their teaching as possible. After about a year, Robby Royce took an interest in me and that's when I really started to get some polish. I owe all of these guys a lot.
But one never stops learning in this business and I think that there are dozens of guys over the past decade or so that deserve credit as well for working with me, sharing their knowledge, and graciously allowing me the opportunity to step into their ring. In many cases, guy with ten years experience or more were sent to the ring with an assignment to help me get my scrawny ass over -- and they did so dutifully and without complaint. They very well could have refused - reminding promoters that at that stage in the game I didn't know a wristlock from a wristwatch and I didn't deserve to be in the ring. They didn't do that. At the risk of missing some guys, a few that stand out in my mind are: The Outpatient, Frank Starr, Steve Stryker, Bobby Jay, Brian Jewel, Dave Levinsky, ah ... there are so many. Even when I started to do a little instructing myself, there were still guys who had such talent that it wasn't long until they were teaching ME ... Mentallo readily springs to mind among that group.
When I think about how easy it would have been for these guys to snuff out my aspirations in the ring if they chose to, I am very grateful as I look back. The help that all of these guys and countless others have given me has never been forgotten. And even 1,200 matches later, I am still seeking out opportunities to learn from every guy I can. I relish any opportunity to learn from guys that have made a living in this business and adopt some of those strategies that made money in wrestling's territorial era. Some of the friendships that I have made along the way have been very rewarding and I hope that as I continue to forge ahead in this business that these guys look at the time that they have spent with me as a good investment and that my efforts both in and out of the ring reflect those teachings. It's a bit humbling and awesome to me to have guys that I have patterned my own career after look at me as a peer. I feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment, but still, I am a student.
Even though I am a decade older than most of the fellows with whom I now compete for bookings and I recognize that our career goals are probably much different, I never stop learning in this business and I embrace every opportunity to learn more. Inversely, I am always excited when I get the opportunity to meet guys coming up in the business that are just like I was in 1993 -- a blank slate ready to absorb any and all information, tips, strategies that will help them in their careers.
I have spoken openly about my belief that the industry must police itself better. That we, as wrestlers, should be better gatekeepers for what promoters are allowing on shows. I stand firmly by that. We don't need arrogant backyarders on the card that think they know everything and that they deserve the same respect and consideration of those of us that have paid dues. However, who in this business has the RIGHT to declare that someone doesn't belong? What criteria must be met to refuse someone the opportunity to pursue their dream in professional wrestling?
Let's say you have a young man or woman trying to break into the wrestling business. They search out all of the options for wrestling schools and discover that some of the top schools are beyond their price range. Still intent to give wrestling a shot, they find a school that they can afford and they give it all they got. However, when they have learned all they can from that instructor, they seek out other opportunities from more experienced people in the business and learn the trade "on the road". Should this guy be denied? Should the business close the doors on him because of his or her economic standing? Has indepedent wrestling become a forum only for those with wealth?
If that was the case in 1993, seventeen year old Vance Nevada never would have had a shot. I couldn't afford the Hart's school, at the time I think it was $2,500. I wasn't aware of any other opportunities ... so I learned where I could and I've never stopped.
I find it blatantly offensive that anyone in the business in their second or third year might believe that they are ENTITLED to declare who does or does not belong in this business ... who does or does not deserve an opportunity to learn. Let me be clear, I find this especially galling when a developing talent recognizes that they need to learn more and seek out opportunities that might mean an inter-province trip in order to get some pointers from someone that can help them.
Here's the way I look at it ... the current state of the business has been negatively affected by two separate groups -- the rise of the Mixed Martial Arts genre, and the cancerous culture of backyard wrestling (SHILL ALERT: This is discussed in greater depth in my upcoming book "Wrestling in the Canadian West"). However, what many fail to consider is that backyard wrestling was actually spawned in TRIBUTE to pro wrestling, not to SPITE it. You might be surprised to know what guys in the business in their teen years were part of a backyard league with their pals as they waited for an opportunity to move on to the pro ranks -- I've seen some pictures from 1981 with esteemed wrestling alumni wearing cardboard belts who went on to successful careers nationwide.
If someone broke into the business by whatever means, and makes the conscious decision to take the business seriously and learn from someone that is recognized as a credible mentor in the industry ... should we not support that? Should we not open the door to ensure that the traditions and respect of our industry are shared with as many people as possible? Or ... do we shut these guys out, deem that they're not worthy of an opportunity and leave them to be recruited by less than reputable "promoters" where they can be featured on cards that actually DAMAGE our business?
To those guys just working their way up in the business who think they have the power to impede on others' efforts to learn and develop and grow into the professional wrestling culture ... to you I say: FUCK YOU! Who the hell do you think you are? What money have you ever made in this business? Did nobody ever help to open a door for you? Are you some kind of self-made prodigy that was born with the wrestling gift and you can reign atop wrestling? Good for you -- I'm glad you found your calling ... but GO FUCK YOURSELF!! Maybe your championship belt has cut off the circulation to your brain.
This isn't exclusive to wrestling. I know there are folks from other industries that can relate to this ... what about those in radio? How did the industry welcome you fresh out of school? What about the trades people? What about those of you that are climbing the ladder in the corporate world? We all had to start somewhere.
This weekend, my schedule has me appearing in a main event bout in North Vancouver on Friday night (Michelle Starr's All Star Wrestling at Chief Joe Matthias Centre), with a twelve hour overnight drive to Thorsby Alberta (Steve Ewaschuk's Real Canadian Wrestling at the Thorsby Community Centre) -- where I will be in the business at 2 pm, (do the math, that leaves about a one hour nap between those two engagements) working with anyone that is interested to listen to my bullshit and glean whatever helpful tidbits that might be hidden in the midst of my rambling. I welcome the opportunity to share my experiences with anyone and to learn as much as I teach, myself. Luckily, I am not the ultimate authority of wrestling -- and I don't decide who deserves the RIGHT to pursue their dreams or not. I look forward to meeting folks I haven't met yet, and working again with some of the talent that I have met before out there on the road.
Something I always tell kids in school talks when I get the opportunity to get out:
"Only YOU know what dreams you can achieve -- and nobody has a vested interest in your success but you. Follow your dreams ... and dream big!"
Vance Nevada