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HOW TO PROP UP YOUR CHANCES OF GETTING A JOB AS PROFESSIONAL WRESTLER IN AUSTRALIA

Professional wrestling is rapidly gaining interest in Australia, most notably after the immense success of tours by foreign wrestlers, most of them American. Many Australian youngsters dream of making a career in professional wrestling to garner national recognition and get a chance to be signed up by an international organization.

Professional wrestling in Australia and the world

In 2017, Adelaide-born Rhea Ripley made international headlines after signing up with the WWE, the powerful Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment company. She went on to win the first ever NXT UK Women's Champion competition and the NXT Women's Champion title. Enough to make many young Australian boys and girls dream. How do you make it in such a competitive field?

Professional wrestling first appeared in the 19th century in the US and it was originally a competitive sport, although today it is also a carefully-scripted show designed to provide entertainment to the public. To make it big in this area you need both an impressive physical training and good showmanship.

Tips for aspiring professional wrestlers

If you want a career in professional wrestling it’s best to start early. Generally, 20 is considered a good age to start out, although there are some wrestling legends who started when they were 30, like Diamond Dallas Page, who was 35 when he made his debut.

Ask any professional wrestler and the first thing they will tell you it’s not easy. Just because you’re able to throw a few punches this doesn’t mean will be a big name in professional wrestling.

First of all you need an impressive physique. According to American wrestler Brutus ‘The Barber’ Beefcake you need to be ‘at least 6’8”, 270 pounds’ and have ‘rock-hard muscles’ to even consider a career in this field. Next, you have to work extra hard. 

“Just understand that it is a massive undertaking and you’re only going to get out of it what you put into it. When I started my training, I was at my wrestling school four days a week, two or three hours at a time,” wrestler Christopher Daniels said when asked of his advice for beginners.

Professional wrestlers have an aura of bad boys, but don’t let that image fool you. To maximize your chances of getting signed up as a professional wrestler in Australia you’d better have a clean record and be able to prove it at the interview. Any new recruit represents a big investment for an organisation and they’ll want to know who they’re dealing with. The best thing is to run a background check on yourself using the services of a government accredited online agency and have the report in your file when you’re invited for an interview. When applying for an Australian criminal history check, you will need to understand the check requirements in each state to see if there are any special requirements for criminal history checks in the area where you reside. For example, if you are based in the ACT, the background check may need to be completed by the Federal Police, whereas there is no specific requirement for this in the NT (Northern Territory).

Forget about big money

Everybody knows professional wrestlers get a lot of money for their shows. According to Forbes magazine, a WWE wrestler makes $500,000 with top performers getting $1 million a year. However, it will take you a while to get there and the road won’t be easy. You need to be mentally prepared for that.

This is what Dallas Page had to say on the issue: "I'll say: 'Dude, are you willing to live in your car?' And they're like: 'What?' And then I'll say: 'Are you willing to drive 200–500 miles to a gig for just $25?' That's what guys have to do to make it and many guys have that story.”

To sum it all up, to enter the world of professional wrestling you need an athletic body, dozens of hours of training every week, mental resilience and a clean criminal record. 

 

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