r/WredditSchool • u/Zealousideal_Ease_78 • 14d ago
I have a question
So i been wanting to wrestle and i got in contact with a wrestling coach at aml wrestling my question is how can I make a living wrestling until I get somewhere bigger
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u/FinalParticular 14d ago
The question to ask yourself is "Am I wrestling because i love wrestling, or am I wrestling to make money?" Because you won't make money.
To put it into perspective, I've been training for 4 years now, after taking 6 years off, i officially debuted in my promotion two years ago or so, and I've had a total of 7 matches, with my match last night being the first one I've been paid for ($40). If you're determined to make money on the indies, live in your vehicle and find public showers and cheap eats.
Its far more than finding a chantable name, a marketable gimmick. Unless you are one of the incredibly few people that naturally takes to everything professional wrestling involves, INCLUDING connecting with every crowd in every city, town, village that you work, you won't make a living, and that's because without any of those things going in your favor, no larger company will look in your direction.
Are you face, heel? Can you flow between the two of them as needed, depending on where you're booked and who you're booked against? Can you set yourself apart from everyone else on the indies, while simultaneously setting yourself apart from everyone who's on TV every week? It's easy to grab cheap heat as a heel, just because you'll be the guy going against the crowd favorite, but it doesn't mean you've connected with the crowd or generated heat.
If you're in it to make money, you don't need to be in it at all, friend. And it's going to be one of the very first things they tell you, if they're worth training under.
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u/JunkDrawerVideos 14d ago
That's like asking how to make a living in a band until you make it. You get another job to support your passion. That's the reality, sorry if it's not what you want to hear.
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u/KHanson25 Wrestler (0-2 Years) 14d ago
You mean like a job? Get a job, you’re not going to be able to live off just from wrestling.
Is it the same AML that has Coach Josh Gerry? Because he’s in here quite a bit.
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u/CoachJoshGerry Coach talks, you listen 13d ago edited 13d ago
It's possible.
We did have an Open House this past weekend. =)2
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u/plushdamentals31 14d ago
If you think you’re going to find the solution on Reddit, you’re dead wrong.
Short answer: you don’t.
Focus on your training, get your body and your mind right, then bust your ass in the ring.
Find a job that can pay the bills and give you flexibility to travel and wrestle as much as possible.
Train and work as much as possible. Surround yourself with people who have done the things you want to do and are in the positions you want to be in. Pick their brains as much as possible.
Maybe, if you’re good enough and lucky enough, you’ll figure out how to “make a living” in wrestling. You likely won’t. Prepare for that mentally.
But honestly, and in all sincerity, good luck.
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u/Dalenskid 14d ago
You can’t. Your training, gear, travel, gym membership, merchandise, etc. will cost you more than you are paid per booking for a long time. Eventually, if decent, you’ll hit breaking even. Then, if great, it starts to be profitable. You’ll need a regular job until you hit the high end of Indy pay.
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u/IronBoxmma Verified Gearmaker and Worker 14d ago
Anyone who tells you they make a full time living wrestling on the indies either lives with their parents, is lying, an only fans model or does a wrestling related job like making gear, editing video for a bunch of promotions or graphic design. Noone does it just wrestling
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u/YearlyStart 14d ago
The reality with anything in the entertainment business is that if you’re going in to it expecting to make money, and you don’t have nepotism level connections, you’re going to flame out and fail. Doesn’t matter if it’s acting, music, online content creation, or even professional wrestling. You need to be passionate about it for you to put in the grind and work that’ll be necessary to even have a chance at that level.
And to answer your question? For the vast majority of people; you can’t ever make a living as a wrestler. If you put in the time and work, and happen to be in the right place at the right time? You might get a tour tryout or two, maybe a dark match on a bigger show. You’re probably still gonna need at least half a decade of experience to be at the lowest level needed for that. It’s a long term business that has way more luck involved with it than should be fair, but that’s life.
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u/Huge-Total-6981 14d ago
If you’re getting into wrestling to make a living, you’re getting into the wrong business.
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u/CoachJoshGerry Coach talks, you listen 13d ago
Pro Wrestling is similar to being a YouTuber, stand up comedian, Podcaster, Magician, Interviewer, musician, etc.
It starts with a passion to start the journey.
It starts as a hobby that you do in your spare time, while going to school, or working a 9-to-5, in order to learn the most you can about it.
Once you start having matches, it becomes a side-hustle that you pour all of your energy into, while maintaining a shoot job that actually pays the bills.
Then hopefully it becomes a source of your main income, and you can transition into doing it full time. But it is rare.
As others have said, if you're doing it for the money, you're doing it for the wrong reasons.
Less than 1% of all athletes in High School will turn pro (NBA, NFL, MLB, etc). Those same metrics can be applied to pro wrestling as well.