TRAINING MY NEPHEW

Started helping my nephew train to be a pro wrestler a few weeks ago at one of my buddy's wrestling schools in Maine. My nephew and I had about an hour long phone call on a road trip recently and he said he'd like to give it a try. We chatted about the nuances and what I feel (and a lot of people in power feel) is most important in the modern wrestling era. He seemed to agree.

I've forgotten so much, especially about being 17 - and it's been a bit intense and contentious for brief moments. 

Regarding the training, I wanted to walk him into what I feel is the "easy" stuff - taking falls and slams. I mentioned forgetting being a teenager, well, I also forget some of the finer points of doing and coaching pro wrestling. It's been a re-learning experience for me. Like anything in life, it takes a lot of effort to gain knowledge and skill, however, it disappears in a flash. 

I have faith he'll get there, if he wants in. I mean, he's a great kid and he's got one of the best as his uncle 😜.

AI GEAR DESIGN

I've been goofing around on ChatGPT to help develop a character building cheat sheet like I've seen for people who write books and movies. With all the updates I've heard about, I thought I'd see what happened when I tried to design some pro wrestling costumes. 

It was a little generic in some of the designs, however, overall - Holy SHIT!

With just a few key words it came up with some amazing costumes including a lucha libre outfit with full on feathers. Obviously, bringing these things to life aren't always completely possible - but it's great for getting the creative juices flowing. 

Plus it gives you a nickname and brief origin story for the character in the outfit. 

STARTING A CORRESPONDENCE COURSE

I've been away from pro wrestling since my back injury in July 2024 and being around wrestling practices the last few weeks has really gotten me thinking - why hasn't their been a proper PRO WRESTLING TEXTBOOK. 

So much pro wrestling training involves the physical aspect of pro wrestling, which is important - however, I'd argue not the most important. I'd say it is a rare day at a pro wrestling practice that I see guys doing interview, promo and mic skill training. To be honest, I don't think many of the "trainers" understand how to explain story-telling via microphone work...and, to be fair, I think a lot of this stuff the big stars had to discover on their own. 

I recall Jobe Zander explaining to me what his trainer suggested were the most important things - a catchphrase, a hand symbol, a unique signature move and a unique look/character. I enjoyed all my matches and videos with Jobe. He was so fun and easy to wrestle. One of my favorite's was a Can-Am match where I don't think we planned much except a basic theme and that he would hit his signature move. 

It's more philosophy than anything. Nothing is definitive, however, there are a ton of tricks, tips and formulas you can understand to stand out. I have notebooks full of seminars and wrestling classes that I've attended. I like chatting with my friends about the idea of wrestling and lord knows I've enjoyed my share of wrestling bouts. Now, I'd like to pass that on....and I'd like to think some of my more successful friends would love to lend some of their insight. 

WE ARE BACK UP & RUNNING

I'm still in the process of finalizing applications and making sure everything is up to par with the website. Changing some wording, removing some videos, adding policies and legal wording. Not to mention the rising cost of everything that I use to bring the site to life and make sure you get the videos you purchase.

One program I use just went to 10x its' monthly fee, so I'm working on them lowering the price or finding a new way to deliver the goods.

It's amazing how quickly the "business" side of the wrestling world is changing. I definitely miss the Wild West Days and I wish I could just film wrestling matches instead of worry about the business and legal aspects.

I am excited to for the future though. What is 2026 going to bring? I, personally, expect Wrestler4Hire to dominate the wrestling world. 

I'm listening to fans, I'm exploring new ideas and I am giving people what they expect and what they ask for! Let's take Wrestler4Hire right to the top.

TREASURE HUNTING

Been digging through old boxes, online folders and hard drives recently looking for some overlooked or forgotten matches. I've already found 18 that I'd like to release featuring Lane Hartley, Austin Cooper, Caleb Klein and Cyberfights legend, Kidd USA. I also found a match with Ring of Honor/WWE Superstar, Mike Bennett. Hopefully I come across some high quality matches with some of my old pals who went on to big TV wrestling companies.

If you have any earlier customs that I filmed for you, please contact me as I'd love to take a look at them and possibly, if it's cool with you, release them for the public to see. We had some great times back-in-the-day and I know we have more matches out there with Brian Cage, Maverick, Big Sexy and the likes. It's amazing to think how many people have stepped on stage and in the ring over all these years that I've been doing it.

A few years ago, my buddy mentioned he had a shoebox full of old Hi-8 and DVC cassettes from our shoots. There was over 100 matches in the box and I had a lot of them converted. However, I figured I'd never release matches with some of these guys for various reasons and (this is painful to say) I threw those tapes away. In hindsight, I did a lot of stupid shit. I remember we used to film over the cassette tapes to save money which means A LOT of matches were lost.

Hence, I plead with you, if you still have some old customs that were filmed for you, let me know - please.