Talk 'Wrasslin' with Chakal

[chakal]

Originally Posted by madmike66

BTW, Chakal, you should start a new thread, "Wrasslin with Chakal" just so peeps can talk about wrestling, instead fo hijacking geezer goalie threads like this one!

As the quote says, if anybody wants the speak about Pro-Wrestling, I know a bit about it. I've been doing pro-wrestling for 10 years now and I wrestled in Canada, USA and Japan.

First, I have to buy that:

Greatest faction ever in Pro-Wrestling. They were selling out arenas even if they were heels (bad guys).

[efstratios1]

Does falling off a ladder from the ring to the outside really hurt? Or is it just fake like the rest of your profession

[makbeer]

what percentage of the cuts would you say are real...=p

[chakal]

Originally Posted by efstratios1

Does falling off a ladder from the ring to the outside really hurt? Or is it just fake like the rest of your profession

Wrestlers don't like the word fake, we prefer fixed. The falls are fixed but not fake. Your body really hits the canvas, we're not like stuntmen, we're not falling on air mattresses and then having the fall cut and edited on film. Everything is live and the hard floor is too. We're not faking the falls, we're just fixing them earlier.

To make it short, it hurts but we know when and how it's going to hurt. Of course there's techniques but since it's live in front of a real crowd, everything has to be as real as possible. The smaller and closer the crowd is, the more it has to be real.

When the crowd is silent, nothing his better than a real hard chop to the chest or a plain "90% real" punch to the side of the jaw. But of course, we know exactly where to hit and the opponent is aware of the up-coming punch, but it has to connect. Fans must be able to ear the flesh on flesh hit.

Originally Posted by makbeer

what percentage of the cuts would you say are real...=p

Every time you see blood it's real. We can't use fake blood because the event is live. Watch carefully, you'll see the gush on the forehead where the blood is coming from. Cut on the forehead are small, but due to sweat and thin skin on that region, you think there 10 times more blood. The razor blad used to do the cut is usually hidden in the wrist tape or the referee's pocket. You receive the hit, fall down, then your opponent has to distract the crowd while you're cutting your forehead. Cameramen must point their cameras elsewhere during that time. Then, when you get up, you bleed! Don't forget to take 5 Aspirin before the match if you want to bleed longer and more.

That's also why older wrestlers like Flair and a lot more others have foreheads full of scars.
Blading (professional wrestling) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[makbeer]

Geeze...that's some tough stuff to put up with...hehe.

Some of those matches tehre's blood EVERYWHERE...with all that blood loss it must be tough to perform physically, especially if it's a long match...wow.

[Lars]

What possesed you to become a wrestler? And how?

I admit we all sort of stumble into things at times, but I am curious about your story...
thanks

[Archer]

I love the "it's fake so it sucks" argument . . . yes to a certain extent things are planned out and punches pulled, but people don't actually get shot in action movies and it's still entertaining. Comic book characters are not real, but they're still entertaining. The fact that the outcome of Slap Shot was decided before it was filmed doesn't detract from it.

I get more enjoyment from rasslin' watching the skill of the wrestlers tell a mini-story and make it convincing than I do from thinking "Go on Stone Cold, kick his head in!" . . . and it's certainly a hell of a lot tougher than being a stunt man or action hero because, as Chakal says, a chop to the chest i(etc) is actually gonna hurt no matter what.

Ric Flair is my favourite all-time wrestler and in my top ten of athletes/sportsmen/performers/whatevers from any discipline . . . that dude is amazing. Finally saw him in the flesh in Belfast a year or two ago, even at his current age the dude is a fantastic athlete and he can work the crowd like no-one else. Legend!

Any videos online of you wrestling, Chakal? And what style do you have? I always loved the technical guys, very few high-flyers I like . . . a lot of them look good on TV but when you see them in person without the benefit of cameras they're very clearly not so hot

[Archer]

And anyone who thinks that it's "fake" needs to read Mick Foley's book . . . especially the story of how his ear got ripped off . . . ouch!

[CA-AK#31]

Chakal-Do you have a Finishing move (The People's Elbow, Stone Cold Stunner, etc...) and if so, what is it called?

Do you guys make you your own "finishing move"? How does the idea come about?

[chakal]

Originally Posted by Lars

What possesed you to become a wrestler? And how?

I admit we all sort of stumble into things at times, but I am curious about your story...
thanks

First, I was coming back from my leg injury, I was 18 and never was able to play like I did before since I wasn't training and 3 months out was fatal to my hockey career. I always liked wrestling, but just watching and Flair, Hogan and the rest of the Horsemen (Blanchard and Anderson) were my favorites. Then, Bret Hart and Shawn Micheals we there and I always told my friends that if I don't make it in hockey, I'll go and have some wrestling lessons. They were laughing at me (I was 135 pounds at 16yo).

So when I finished my next to last season, during the summer I had nothing to do, the Montreal Roadrunners (roller-hockey) were gone and I was supposed to have a try-out with them so I was doing nothing all day with one of my firend. I met one of his firend that I barely knew and he was taking pro-wrestling lessons and he brought me to one session since he knew I liked wrestling.

I took this as training waiting for september and the new (my last junior year) and never thought I'd be on a show one day. Usually it takes one full year in a serious promotion before graduating. So I thought, 2 months during the summer and then one season of hockey and then maybe wrestling next year... but after 3 weeks they offered me a spot on the show and bang! I'm still there after 10 years.

The next year, I played my Junior year and continue wrestling at the same time.

My style now is a mix between Bret Hart, Ric Flair and "The Franchise" Shane Douglas with a bit more aerial stuff à la MachoMan Randy Savage with "classical" Horsemen arrogance. When I was a good guy (babyface or face) American, Canadian and Japanese promoters were calling me "The young" Ricky Martel or the next Ricky Martel. I must admit he was my first idol (I was 6 or 7 when I first saw wrestling and he was the star). I met him and he told me he loved my style, he said it was like watching himself live in the ring! LOL That day was a great day for me.


For videos, I just saw that on youtube.
YouTube - Busty Love getting hit by a trash can
On the independent circuit, not all wrestlers are muscular, but the smaller you are the bigger is the beating.

Originally Posted by CA-AK#31

Chakal-Do you have a Finishing move (The People's Elbow, Stone Cold Stunner, etc...) and if so, what is it called?

Do you guys make you your own "finishing move"? How does the idea come about?

Usually, guys are coming out with their moves, but sometimes the promoters are telling you what to do depending on how they want to promote you. At WWE they told Steve Austin to do the Stunner because they wanted him to have a quick move he'd be able to do to everybody compare to the StunGun he was doing before (and it looked crappy on top of that). The guy who created the Stunner, Johnny Ace (the move was called the Ace Crucher in Japan and Ace is Road Warrior Animal's brother) is now working backstage for the WWE and he's responsible for Austin using that move.

Sometime, the crowd decides your finisher, you have to use your move that makes the fans react the most, just like the people's elbow. Weak move but tons of heat (heat=fan reaction, cheers for good guys and boos for bad guys) so The Rock was forced by the crowd to use it.

I personnaly have 2 finishing move. The 9-1-1, a Torture Rack (Luger's submission hold) where throw the guy in the air and finish him with a neckbreaker while he's falling. The second one is called "the No-Show". It's a pedigree (like HHH) but I lift the guy in the air (like a suplex) and I smash him face first while I sit with him. Christopher Daniels uses that move on TNA and they call it the Falling Angel but I used that move years before him.

[Archer]

Originally Posted by chakal

For videos, I just saw that on youtube.
YouTube - Busty Love getting hit by a trash can

BOOM! Something about the French commentary just makes it for me, heh.

[Lars]

Originally Posted by Archer

BOOM! Something about the French commentary just makes it for me, heh.

That aint french thats Quebec noise

[mikey_j]

I have always had the utmost respect for wrasslers and what they do to each other and not crippling each other (for the most part).

How much is choreographed beforehand and how much is spontaneous?

[efstratios1]

I was just kidding with my question, hence all the smileys

I respect wrestlers abilities and athleticism.

[bigbadcapitalist]

Originally Posted by chakal

Watch carefully, you'll see the gush on the forehead where the blood is coming from. Cut on the forehead are small, but due to sweat and thin skin on that region, you think there 10 times more blood. The razor blad used to do the cut is usually hidden in the wrist tape or the referee's pocket. You receive the hit, fall down, then your opponent has to distract the crowd while you're cutting your forehead. Cameramen must point their cameras elsewhere during that time. Then, when you get up, you bleed! Don't forget to take 5 Aspirin before the match if you want to bleed longer and more.

Sounds more like acting or theater than a sport IMO...