THEY SAY WRESTLING IS FAKE.
However upon watching the tryouts performed by aspiring pro wrestlers in WWE's Performance Center or watching Stone Cold Steve Austin baptize contestants in the reality TV show Tough Enough, you'll realize that the road to becoming a wrestler is not a joke.
Just ask our local wrestlers who had to juggle between their dayjobs and their wrestling careers.
Watching these pro wrestlers perform on stage, one could conclude that having a sporting background is important especially since most WWE superstars were once athletes from other fields, or have dedicated their lives to wrestling.
For example, Bill Goldberg was once an American football player who played in the NFL, before making the transition to pro wrestling.
Then there's Saraya Jade Bevis aka Paige who spent most of her life in the ring.
But is it really required to have a athletic background to become a professional wrestler?
It's all about passion
"The most important thing if you want to be a professional wrestler is the right heart and drive to do it. If you have no physical ability or attributes, that can always come later, but you can't fake or learn the heart part," revealed The Calamari Drunken Kings' Masa Takanashi (translated by Chris Brookes) in an exclusive with SPIN.ph.
Masa Takanashi started training in the Ultimo Dragon Gym, however he failed to graduate from his class. This didn't deter him as he soon enrolled in another wrestling dojo, the Dramatic Dream Team promotion.
From 2003 onwards, Takanashi kept on showing his love for wrestling to the community.
"If you have that (passion) first, that's the most important thing and then you can work on the physical stuff. If you don't have the heart to begin with, you can't be able to get that over time," he explained.
And that passion has also extended to the Filipino wrestlers, something that Jake De Leon reflected.
Back when De Leon started, the wrestling culture in the Philippines was non-existent, thus the need for a small community to cultivate the scene.
"Honestly when we started out, we had no pro wrestling here. All we had was YouTube videos on how to be a pro wrestler, then eventually we got more people to come along and train us. Then we learned from them and taught it to everyone else, and that's where we have the scene now," he looked back.
Learning to get up
Since the wrestling scene in the Philippines barely had any foundation to begin with, comes the birthing pains.
In pro wrestling, there are specifications when it comes to designing the ring and a simple boxing ring would be problematic as it lacks the features to keep a wrestler safe.
Pro wrestling rings have 'gives' which allows the combatants to safely keep on slamming or bumping their bodies to the ground.
Boxing rings on the other hand, don't have 'gives' making it an uncomfortable experience for wrestlers, which could lead to injuries.
But for these Filipino aspirants, who have no choice but to practice their antics on a boxing ring, the lack of a safety net is both a blessing and a curse. It may be a painful experience to bump, but it has led to some important life lessons for these trainees.
"My first training experience was in a boxing ring, meaning there's no give. Everytime I took a bump, it hurt. But that's what kind of molds you, your first experience kinda molds you. So yeah it's going to be really hard at the start, but as Masa (Takanashi) would say if you have the passion, you're going to keep going," as stated by Jake De Leon.
De Leon has suffered from sprains and bruises throughout his career and he eventually had to learn how to take care of his body.
And because of the pain that can be associated with pro wrestling, it is important to be in shape, something that De Leon's tag team partner, Dabid Ravena highlighted.
"You really need to have a foundation first before going into this physical endeavor. You need to make sure that your cardio is up, your strength is there. It may not be as solid as what you see in the professional, but having that sound foundation is always a good way to start any kind of physical activity."
Many wrestlers would go back-and-forth in the ropes conducting a lot of runs during warmup sessions. Then once the show begins, it's possible that matches could last more than 20 minutes, testing a wrestler's stamina.
Getting outside of your head
But stamina isn't the only attribute that would define a wrestler as there are other traits that would also be placed under the microscope.
For example, the likes of Rey Mysterio, Rob Van Dam, Seth Rollins, and locally Robin Sane are known to produce a lot of high risk, high reward maneuvers, that are jaw-dropping to watch, but are actually intimidating to perform.
Then during warmup sessions, wrestlers would do the rounds by rolling their bodies or conducting aerial flips.
So how do these wrestlers overcome their fears to do these moves? Ken Cifer has this to say.
"Getting outside of your head. You're going to overthink everything, kung kaya ko ba ito? I'm not strong, I'm weak, so you need to get out of your head and try," he told SPIN.ph.
This advice doesn't only apply in high flying maneuvers as the journey to becoming a wrestler is going to be a long and challenging experience.
For those who wish to start their journey, Ken has an important advice to aspiring wrestlers.
"Put yourself in the ring, do whatever you can for the next three to four months, and you decide if you want to push through. If you think you're improving, then go ahead and go through with your wrestling career," he reflected.
And if you think you don't have the proper build to be in the ring, Ken also has this to say.
"If you think you're fat, you're skinny, you're weak, or you're too short, don't mind all of that. We will fix it later."
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