Missouri Wrestling Revival

$25.00, The Seminar will be held at South Broadway Gym
3331 South 7th street
St. Louis Mo. 63104

You can pay by Money Order or check. Deadline is July 7th
Nick Ridenour
1-314-631-3878
8406 Alaska ave.
St. Louis, Mo. 63125

He is one of the most respected minds in pro wrestling today and this weekend wrestlers, referees and announcers can go to school with the DR, Dr Tom Prichard that is. A ultra talented wrestler with memorable moments in his career in singles and tag team action, Prichard is a man that has a wealth of knowledge.

He has trained the likes of the Rock and Edge and continues to have a love for pro wrestling.

I want to share an interview with you that showcases’ his passion and love for helping others and that for the measly $25.00 you will have a chance to work with Pritchard this Saturday at the Historic South Broadway Athletic Club.

The steal of the summer is this Saturday, and all you have to do is call Nick Ridenour
1-314-631-3878

This is from a small piece from Dr Tom Prichard’s blog that showcases just a bit of what you can learn from one of todays’ top trainers in wrestling.

I was asked recently about bringing old school wrestling back and if I thought it could work. It reminded me of what my mentor Houston wrestling promoter Paul Boesch once said:

I like fishing. I also like strawberries. When I go fishing, I put worms on the hook. Fish like worms so I’m not going to try and give them what I like.

In other words if people come to see old school wrestling and story telling, great. But if you promote something YOU like and no one comes to your shows, what’s the point? The point is “give ‘em what they want” or you won’t be running for long! I remember Houston having a solid line up of stars and the main events always featured something special. I might not have liked the over the top gimmicks, but enough people did that Houston was a hot bed for action in the 1970s.

Harley Race, Johnny Valentine, The Funks, Jack Brisco, Wahoo McDaniel, The Great Malenko, Fritz Von Erich, Jose Lothario, The Great Mephisto, The Infernos, The Von Braunners, Toru Tanaka, The Spoiler, Ernie Ladd, Dusty Rhodes, Bill Watts and many others provided believable old school matches that might hold up today if fans were educated to it after a while.

But times have changed and with everything at a click of a remote control, the attention span of today’s fans is hard to contend with. I explained it would take patience to build a match and tell a story. The story sometimes built from week to week with undercard stories developing along the way.

I wish that formula could work but it would take a lot of talented veterans and rookies along with a solid promotional model to make it work. The original process consisted on the premise that wrestling was actually competitive and not pre-determined. Feuds over championships and personal issues were the focus and fans got the message that “these guys really don’t like each other.” The cat’s been out of the bag for years about the in ring performance and the competitive spirit backstage is where the real drama lies.

The nature of sports entertainment creates a sense of getting ahead at any cost and can carry over into the ring. People used to debate the legitimacy of wrestling where as now they are more interested in the politics backstage.

There was a time when the guys went out, had a match and either got over or didn’t. And that determined who was in the main event. Now it has been said and insinuated that it’s more who you know rather than what you know. That argument only goes so far because PPV and regular TV ratings don’t lie. Eventually the cream will rise. Of course learning the ropes and manipulation are all part of the road to the top.

The old timers knew how to manipulate and get their way. Buddy Rogers was one of the best and there’s enough people still alive who knew the antics of the original Nature Boy who can verify and confirm such stories. The tradition continues and is a rite of passage for anyone with the ambition and drive to do whatever it takes to succeed.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

There’s a lot of opportunity on the pro wrestling scene these days. To get a developmental deal is just the beginning. The goal is to get on the main roster and make an impact. How? Watch, listen and learn from the ones who’ve been there and are there now.

We can’t go back in time but we can tell stories in the ring. Working a body part in new and interesting ways has always been a key ingredient to a good/great match. The difference is in the emotion and feeling. People can tell when a performer is into his gig or phoning it in.

I’m a firm believer that you must enjoy what you’re doing to be convincing. If you don’t believe what you’re doing, how is anyone else going to? Too many times I’ve seen guys do high impact moves only to get up ten seconds later like nothing fazed them. Then one will win by a school boy. Amazing.