THE IMPORTANCE OF HUSTLE, or: How to get bookings (and what to do with them)

Okay, you’re at the stage in your career where you have completed training and are actively taking bookings (which is an achievement in itself, congratulations). What’s next? How do you become relevant on an independent level? Let me tell you, quality performances alone will not get you to that upper tier. What you need in combination with that is the three P’s: presence, persistence, and patience.

Presence: This is perhaps the most crucial of the three P’s. You need to know how to present yourself. This applies to your behavior in front of fans and backstage as well. To the fans you need to put on quality performances and, while doing so, carry yourself as a professional. If you don’t act like a big deal, they won’t treat you like one. And why would they pay to see you if you’re not a big deal? You need to be a larger than life figure (don‘t confuse this for acting like a self-important douche bag). Backstage it is the exact opposite. Be humble. Appreciate all feedback and assistance that you receive. Never be above hearing someone’s take on things. The best teachers can come from the most unlikely of people. Essentially what it all adds up to is don’t be a dick.

Note: Just about everyone in the wrestling business has the sensibility of an emotionally-imbalanced teenager. The tiniest thing can and will offend just about anybody. Always be on guard. Watch what you say and what you do when you are around anyone you do not absolutely and completely trust with your life (lest you get the dreaded HEAT).

Conquering interpersonal and fan interactions isn’t the only thing you need to pave your own personal road to success. It is essential that you present yourself professionally. Having good matches isn’t enough, you need to send them to promoters in a business-like manner, which means having a resume. And not just a list of the alphabet soup of places you’ve worked. You need to list your stats, contact information, a picture, who trained you, how long you’ve been performing, notable places of employment, any other marketable abilities, and references. Just like any resume you use in the real world, it should be condensed to one-to-two pages. Sell yourself. Don’t just copy it into the body of an email. Link it or upload it as a document or PDF. Play with the font and sizing and make it your own.

Note: be smart about who you list as a reference. Make sure they will put you over if anyone should contact them. Don’t just list Joe Shmoe here. List well-respected figures. This is not the place to list controversial or irrelevant individuals, regardless of how near and dear to your heart they may be. You’re doing this to get business opportunities, not to name your BFFs.

Persistence: As I said earlier, being good isn’t enough. Hell, all the talent in the world isn’t worth a damn if you don’t market yourself to all of the promoters out there. Tree falls in the woods, so on and so forth. You know what I mean. Once you’ve got the whole professionalism thing nailed, start sending that resume out. Find any and every promoter you can and get your information out to them. They might not have something for you right away, but don’t let it discourage you. Check back in every now and then. Be warned, use your judgment on exactly how persistent you are. There is a fine line between persistence and annoyance. Touching base every couple of months or so is a reasonable time frame.

Patience: Promoters will not always immediately have a spot available for you, regardless of how talented you are. Sometimes it just isn’t feasible. Don’t sweat it. Handle it with grace, understanding, and dignity. If you have the necessary tools, handle yourself professionally, and are reasonably persistent, I guarantee you will eventually find yourself on the receiving end of an opportunity.

Those are the three P’s: presence, persistence, and patience. When added together you get hustle. How well this tried and tested formula will work is entirely dependent on how you apply yourself to it and how much hustle you use to get it done. You kids have it so easy today, with the internet and instant messaging. It costs literally no money to send a video and a resume electronically, and it is possible to receive a response virtually immediately. The veterans of yesteryear didn’t have it so easy. So appreciate it and take advantage of it. It boggles my mind how truly easy it is in this day and age to get your name out there to promoters and fans, but guys simply can’t get it or won’t do it. Is it laziness? Genuine incapability to understand it? I’m not sure. But know this: most can’t or won’t do what I just outlined for you all. By doing this you are stepping it up and are in the top percentage, and I guarantee it will bring you more opportunities. You’ve been given the ball, take it and run. Opportunity doesn't knock twice. “Never miss a chance to have sex or appear on television.” - Gore Vidal. You get the picture.

Now I told you how to get bookings. What do you do with them? This is what I advise to all young guys in the business: for the first, say, three-to-four years, take as many bookings as you can (of course the amount of time varies based on the individual, I’m just throwing out a good average number). Take those year to work as frequently as you can and to work as many places as possible. Be a sponge, observe and learn not only what is good and why it works, but what is bad and why it is counterproductive. Don’t worry about pay. If you get it, great. But if not, that’s not the goal just yet. Your goal is to get your name out and build not only a fan base, but to build a network of promoters who know who you are and have you on their radar. Will it be costly? Yes. Will it help you find success? Maybe. It depends what you define as success and what your goals in this business are. Do not allow your need of a short-term, often ego-based pittance to get in the way of a potential long-term fortune.

Aside from being costly, this can and will burn you out. Which takes us to the next step, how do you know when to reel it in and start being more selective about bookings? I have two ways of telling: rather when more promoters are contacting you than you are them, or when you begin to feel burnt to hell from the wear of it all. One way or the other, you need to start changing things up.

Regardless of which one is beckoning you to change (or perhaps even both are, they aren't by any stretch of the imagination mutually exclusive), this is my solution: work for places only if they provide one or more of the following:

1. A place where you can learn.
2. A place where you can have fun.
3. A place where you can safely tryout new things.
4. A place that will give you good publicity.
5. A place that pays well.

In the early stages of this, there is no reason not to have at least one booking a week (if not more). By the end of a career, if all goes to plan you can work only when you want to. Good luck and have fun, greenies. Try not to shit the bed.

Until next time,
-AWV