If you don’t know much about the sport, wrestling may seem like a bit of an act – a lot of big talk, tight outfits and throwing each other around. While wrestling matches are generally scripted, however, that’s not to say that it’s an easy gig.

In fact, there are several aspects of wrestling that often go unnoticed. In addition to the performative side of things – which does actually take some skill – wrestlers also need to be incredibly strong, fit and flexible, among other things.

So, let’s take a sneak peek into the world of wrestling and find out just what it takes to be a successful professional wrestler.

Physical Fitness, Strength and Agility

Unsurprisingly, being a successful professional wrestler means that you need to be incredibly fit, strong, agile and flexible. Even though the matches are scripted and most of the big moves are staged, the participants still need to be able to pull them off.

Not only do they need to be able to execute big moves, but they also need stamina in order to be able to exert a lot of energy in a short space of time. This requires immense cardiovascular fitness.

Self-Promotional Skills

A large part of the wrestling world and being part of the community at large is the ability to be able to self-promote. Wrestlers need to be able to show charisma in order to gain fans and amass a following. Of course, their success in the industry is largely dependent on their fans and how popular they are relative to other wrestlers.

Resilience and Determination

Wrestling is incredibly physically demanding, and it takes serious strength and determination to continue to push through day after day – through training sessions, scripting and live shows It’s incredibly tough on the body and performances require wrestlers to put in their all – over time, that can be mentally exhausting.

Thus, wrestlers need to be resilient not only physically, but mentally too. To be able to put up with the physicality of the sport, the mental side as well as the competitiveness that ends up becoming their persona. Because, let’s not forget, many people forget that wrestlers are playing characters. And so they often end up having to play these characters whenever they’re in public, which can be exhausting.

Acting and Improvisation

In the same way that Canadian online slots are designed to be entertaining, a large part of wrestling is about putting on a show – pretending that there are massive rivalries between competitors and showing this off on screen. Of course, this follows through to the actual fights, during which participants need to be able to act effectively and convince viewers that whatever’s being shown on television is the real deal.

In addition to acting, wrestlers also need to be able to improvise. Since the physical side of things is all real, wrestlers need to be able to improvise in the moment if something doesn’t go according to plan – say a move isn’t executed as well as intended. This takes great skill, never mind the ability to think on the spot while taking part in an incredibly physically demanding sport.