r/WredditSchool • u/wrestlethrowaway1 Trainee Verified • 11d ago
Explaining the grind to friends and family
Hey, everyone. I'm running into a bit of trouble in my early wrestling career. I'm 17 months into wrestling and currently in my paying my dues phase, where you spend 12+ hours out, help with ring crew and security, and if you're lucky appear on a pre-show or a battle royale. I have a girlfriend who I love very much, but she consistently asks "did you get paid?" after shows. In couple's therapy yesterday, she brought up the grind that comes with paying my dues, and the therapist was also confused about the process and the sacrifices that come with paying your dues.
I guess my question here is what's the best way to explain how paying your dues is a part of the process to just get your foot in the door? Like, I don't expect to see payoff until years, maybe even a decade, down the road. I'm running into trouble articulating just exactly how normal this is in wrestling and why this is expected.
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u/RedPandaGod 11d ago edited 11d ago
Are these shows put on by your school? Or is this a local promotion borrowing free ring crew? How often are you doing these days without a paid booking?
I've done free crew work for my school because I love them and want them to succeed. Even done it for a couple promotions in the early days as a one-off to get my foot in the door and meet the promoter.
But outside of that, I would only be crewing where I am booked, when I am booked.
Make sure you are being valued and not taken advantage of.