WWE: 10 Things I Learned Training To Be A Pro Wrestler With Lance Storm

8. Psychology

Anybody can climb to the top turnbuckle and leap off with two flips and a twist. Well, not anybody €“ not me, not Mick Foley €“ but what separates guys like Mick Foley from the indy scene's stuntmen-du-jour is knowing when to do what you can do and why. Lance Storm teaches how to structure a match in order to get the crowd most involved €“ how to get an audience to hate a heel and live and die on the actions of the babyface. Every match tells a story, and the stories that they tell aren't so different from the stories writers have been telling for millennia €“ the good guy starts off strong, the bad guy uses a dastardly tactic to take him down, and the good guy makes his comeback. It's as old as oral history. We also learned the specifics of milking a crowd reaction €“ exactly when to do big moves, how to make the end of a match work the crowd into a frenzy, and how to exploit each and every reaction as much as possible. Whoever first described pro wrestling as modern Greek drama was spot on €“ then and now, it's all about making people feel.