13 Essential Tips For Passing A WWE Try-Out
12. Have A LOT Of Free Time
No matter how good you are on the mat, or how much of a monster you look in your underpants, walking into a WWE tryout isn't a guarantee that anyone will take you seriously. You have to put the time in, in case anyone starts throwing around Hulk Hogan like "jumping the queue" accusations: experience is an important currency, even for newbies, as Max "The Axe" Damage was told when he flew in from KPW twice:
"As well as being an awesome experience in terms of international exposure and meeting the WWE superstars, an opportunity not easily got - it was a great learning experience about where I needed to develop myself and my wrestling skills. The thing WWE said to me after my last tryout was that I needed more experience, also of which Rip Morgan has said and why he gave me the opportunity in the first place- so I've definitely taken that feedback on board."
So basically, fight a lot. Get into a lot of promotions, get your name around but most importantly get a lot of mat time under your soles. Maybe don't treat it like a hobby, or go in thinking the world owes you a favour. As Mr Kennedy says, paying your dues on the independent circuit can breed the most important lessons:
"One of the things Kevin Kelly told me was 'I don't care if you're wrestling in front of five people and you're working the shi**iest guy in the world, you're going to learn something in that match. Have as many matches as you can and get as many matches under your belt and always try to learn something from every match.' I still do that today."
And not only that, you inevitably have to accept that a positive outcome will lead to a busy schedule. Quite why anyone would tryout without those expectations, or the desire to be a full-timer with WWE is somewhat baffling, According to Davey Richards - whose WWE tryout could have had one of two endings, depending on which version of the story he tells - he was too busy being a fireman and a student to possibly entertain the idea of signing with NXT:
"Pursuing my doctorate is kicking my butt, so I have a full time job and I wrestle full time and I go to school full time so for me to give up all of that just to go to NXT wouldn't work out. I have to concentrate on that."