I’ve been thinking about all the wrestlers I’ve seen over the years and all of the wrestlers I see on different social media platforms. For all those hundreds of performers, think about how many actually make it as a pro wrestler. Now success and the idea of “making it” are subjective. For some people, making it may mean wrestling on the biggest stages of the biggest promotions. And for others, it could simply mean making enough money to comfortably live on solely through wrestling. Whatever making it means to each individual person, I thought about some of the things that could potentially halt that.
Injuries
Injuries happen in wrestling all the time. Wrestlers throw their bodies around for extended periods of time on a sometimes ridiculously packed schedule so they’re bound to happen. Most of us have seen our favorite wrestler sidelined by an injury at least once or twice. Many times, they’re able to recover and get back in the ring full throttle. However, some wrestlers are plagued with stop-start pushes due to sustaining injury after injury, often within short periods of time. Sometimes people even get labeled as “injury prone” and lose the trust of bookers, promotions, and even the fans. Why invest in someone that will probably have to vacate the title as soon as they win it?
On a more serious side, sometimes an injury or the complications thereof are so severe that it forces the wrestler into early retirement. It’s unfortunate to see young wrestlers retire in their prime due to things like concussions, neck, or spinal injuries but it’s a reminder that wrestling is dangerous and our health is precious.
Failure to Connect
Connecting with the fans is part of the foundation of wrestling as a whole. Just like other entertainment avenues, people have to want to see and consume the product for it to be a sustainable business. In wrestling, there’s a cocktail of charisma, character, and moves that a wrestler needs to perfect in order to connect with an audience. The cocktail differs from promotion and promotion and even country to country and that’s something that wrestlers must be aware of.
I feel that being unaware of these differences and the way one may have to tweak their cocktail often leads to a failed connection with the audience. Overall lack of character and a lackluster move set can also contribute to failure to connect. On the flip side of this, a wrestler can lose their connection with fans through bad character changes and problematic personal behavior (racism, sexism, sexual assault, etc).
Personal Demons
Perhaps one of the saddest reasons that wrestlers don’t make it is personal demons like substance abuse or mental health issues. With the amount of injuries that happen and the long hours on the road away from family and friends, some people suffer more than others. They may turn to substance abuse to cope with pain and separation or already-present mental illnesses like depression and anxiety may worsen. This in turn takes a toll on the body. A wrestler that is intoxicated, high on drugs, or disinterested/distressed becomes an issue for their opponent as they might not be completely present in the match. Sometimes a wrestler can get the proper help and rehabilitation that they need to overcome their problems. Other times, these personal demons can force a wrestler to hang up their boots for good.
Backstage Politics
Backstage politics are something that we as fans are really just now getting into, with the advent of the internet and talent writing books or revealing things on different media platforms. Many people like to live in a fantasy world where everyone is fairly and equally judged on their merit and body of work. However, most of us know that’s not what actually happens and a good portion of advancement is rooted in your connections and who likes you. Throw in the sexism, racism, and homophobia that is still quite pervasive in the wrestling business and you quickly notice just how prominent the nepotism is. And unfortunately until people start to truly change, it’s pretty much here to stay and backstage politics will always play at least a small part in a wrestlers’ success.
