Wanna be an ECW superstar? - (like Tommy Dreamer?) - Aliens - http://maxpages.com/sdcskatepage/Wanna_be_an_ECW

Professional wrestlers don't just walk off the streets ready for the ring. It takes years and years of training to make the cut, and only elite athletes have the stamina to hang in there as they follow their dream. ECW's Taz explains the steps wrestlers must master before you ever see them take the ring before an audience. They might make it look easy, but Taz says it's not. "I swear on my career that's not the way it is! There's so much more to what we do, there really, really is. And it's so unrespected, and it bothers me because I'm an old-school type guy. I was taught by an old timer, and I can't stand when people think that 'oh, you're a pro wrestler, you get hit in the head with a chair and you go out there and you've got big muscles, so you can make a lot of money.' That's such a crock, you know it really is! I played football in high school and college and wrestled in high school and college and I competed in judo since I was 9 years old, and this is the physically toughest thing I've ever done."

Do you think you could hang in there with the best of the best? Check out the steps of training for the ring, and you might have a better understanding of the world-class caliber of athletes that you'll see on ECW. Of course, each step differs for each wrestler, but you can get the idea that it takes years of dedication to reach the level that ECW wrestlers have attained.

Step 1: Amateur Wrestling. Duration -- 2 months
Taz: "There are a lot of wrestling schools out there, but there are only a couple that are very good. And if you go to a good school, the first thing you're taught is how to wrestle. Just straight wrestle. Hold for hold, takedowns, like you watch in the Olympics or collegiate style. Amateur wrestling, it's called. You teach that base for about two months, so you master the art of straight wrestling."

Step 2: Falling. Duration -- 1 month
Taz: "In the ring you learn how to fall: fall back, fall forward, how to protect yourself in falling so you don't break your neck or blow out a knee. That can take about a month. So now you're into three months already."

Step 3: Hitting of the Ropes. Duration -- 2 weeks
Taz: "Hitting of the ropes is a very hard thing, and most people just think it's a joke, that it's easy. It's very hard. There's an art to it, there's a trick to it, and that takes about two weeks to learn how to do."

Step 4: Takedowns. Duration -- 1½ months
Taz: "After you run and hit the ropes, you learn how to take guys down. At the ECW wrestling school we go through a format of 15 takedowns. So you have to master these 15 takedowns, like body slams, hip toss, all different moves, different takedowns. That's about a month and a half right there. So now you're into about five months."

Step 5: Showmanship
Taz: "And now you haven't even touched showmanship and interacting with the fans, because that's the very last thing you do, which usually comes after about a year."

Step 6: Putting it all together. Duration: 2 years
Taz: "Now you've got to learn how to put all these things together, the falling, the actual amateur wrestling, the takedowns, the hitting of the ropes, and doing moves on the run. You have to learn how to put all that into a match, and then you have to learn the psychology of a match, which usually takes a couple of years to learn on the road. You learn that while you're working."

Prepare yourself for hard-hitting action when it's all put together on ECW Wrestling, Friday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on TNN!

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Page Updated Sun Mar 19, 2000 12:01am EST