"Appearance is Everything"
If you've ever been around Tramel, Brian Thompson, or Derrick King...and several others, you've probably heard one of their favorite lines, "You know what's wrong with the business?"
This time around I figured I'd cover one of those problems. Appearance. Both inside and outside the ring, appearance is everything. When I was much younger, going to towns with my dad, he would always make me dress up. Well I never understood why it mattered so much until later when I started to referee and wrestle. Even when I was a kid, majority of the time I had to wear khaki pants and I collared shirt or something nice, "church clothes" as they've been referred to before.
I noticed that for the most part all the boys didn't look any different than the fans coming through the door. And that's when it hit me! I had to look different because I WAS different. Being part of the show means dressing the part before, during, and afterwards. Not to say I haven't occasionally done it because I have, but consistently showing up in shorts and T-shirt or something similar doesn't set you apart from the kid in the front row. It gives off the vibe that you're no different than the fans, and while that's true in some cases, its not true for a lot of the boys. Its hard to be taken seriously as a champion or even a wrestler if you show up looking like the ring crew.
Like I said, looking the part during the show is just as important. When I was about 6 or 7 I used to carry my "wrestling gear" to every town I went to. It all started when PG-13 had a midget and so did my dad as part of the American Eagles. I came up with the idea that since he was no taller than me that I could fill in if he ever no showed. So I started carrying shorts and a T-shirt as my gear. Sound familiar?
So of course I never wore that gear. But I noticed a lot of other "wrestlers" took my idea! A lot of guys were showing up, not only looking like everyday joes but would change into something similar and go to the ring. The only difference is they might have wrestling boots or would tape their wrists. The matches these guys were in usually meant an early intermission for the crowd. Reason being is that a lot of times the audience didn't seem to care to watch Wal-Mart Willy pretend to be a wrestler. The boys that usually had good matches were the ones with actual wrestling gear, whether it was just trunks or long tights or a singlet...the people sat there because the guy at least LOOKED like a wrestler.
Of course there are exceptions to these rules. But in general, that's really not the case. Dressing up only takes a few more minutes before you leave the house. And it makes you stand out whether you're just going down the road or to a bigger event. And as far as having gear goes, yeah its expensive. But its worth it. If its too much for you to afford, then you're probably in the wrong industry.
There's more where this came from on wnc's new series "Wrestling Unmasked". Be sure to check it out, it'll be interesting to see how much of it clicks with the boys around here.
