Psychology is the best way to describe this week’s show. Psychology in all the forms that it appears in professional wrestling...and life in general for that matter.
Psychology is the best way to describe this week’s show. Psychology in all the forms that it appears in professional wrestling...and life in general for that matter.
First there's ring psychology, or how you "put together" a match. This week the trainees had to take everything they learned and put together a ten minute match. The psychology comes into play because you have to decide how you're going to tell a story with your moves and, at least for the most part, without words. When wrestlers put together their matches, it has to be plotted out so that fans are taken on an emotional journey, no different than when a screenwriter sits down to write a screenplay. They need to create a blueprint, and if they see that the crowd isn't feeling it, they need to be able to detect that and improvise in the ring. That's ring psychology.
Then there's the psychology of being injured, which brings us to the contestant Greg. If you remember from my earlier review, Greg was (and still is) my pick to win because he has "it." He's got the look, the personality, and there's that intangible that you can't put your finger on, but you know that he's going to succeed. Unfortunately Greg also has a two year old reoccurring back injury (a slipped disc) that was acting up, to the point where he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to continue. He had an emotional breakdown, because Greg knows that he has that intangible. He knows that he has a really good shot of winning the whole thing and was watching it slip away after a single botched move. Luckily for him when he went to have it looked at he was told to take it day by day, so for now he's still in competition.
Finally, there's the psychology of feeling like you’re missing something. While five of the trainees went to work out, Chris and Nidia were sent back to the house because they were injured. That's where your mind starts to play tricks on you because while the rest of the trainees are continuing with the training, you're home wondering what you’re missing and how this is going to effect your standing in the competition. This really hit Nidia hard because they're only down to two women. Every time she misses a workout that's a day that Taylor, the other female contestant, has to improve and impress the judges.
The show wasn't all depressing because this week’s guest lectures were the Hardy Boys and Lita. The Hardy Boys (Matt and Jeff) are 3x former Tag Team champions. Matt is the current European champion and a former Hardcore champion. Jeff is a former Hardcore, Intercontinental, and Light Heavyweight Champion. Lita is a former Women's champions.
The Hardys and Lita are perfect examples of people who didn't wait for their "big break" and who made their spot on their own. The Hardys used to train in their backyard on a trampoline and even started their own Independent organization in their native North Carolina. Lita watched wrestling one night and, on a whim, flew down to Mexico to learn how to wrestle. She's also one of the most influential women in American wrestling because while most women wrestler your basic match, Lita came out with a high flying arsenal and wrestled in more on a "men's" style that your traditional women's match.
This was the BEST SHOW they've had yet. I'd highly suggest you catch in during the replay's. It's MTV, so they should be repeating it all weekend.
John Brodigan is the Editor-in-Chief for Wrestling Bytes. For more great articles on wrestling, make sure you check it out!
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