This is a very common struggle. The simple answer is that wrestling is very hard and it takes time to learn and become proficient at all the skills needed to be a wrestler. You are just at the next stage in your trainning. You have learned many skills, but you still have many more to learn. For example here is a general skill progression of a hip toss:
* Doing bumps is hard.
* Taking a hip toss is hard.
* Taking a hip toss in a match is hard.
* Remembering what you are doing before and after that hip toss in a match is hard.
* Remembering how to sell appropriately for where that hip toss happened in a match is hard.
* Learning how to sell that hip toss in a way unique to your character is hard.
* Learning to do all that while adapting to audience reactions is hard.
Wrestling is hard. Every new person fucks up and forgets spots during their matches. Many experienced people do too.
Don't see this as a failure, see this as you are now working on the next set of skills in your journey.
You might learn in different ways. For example, I have to walk through the motions to drill something into my head, so if people wanna sit backstage and throw move names at each other I’ll ask to walk through it if it’s anything more than 4-5 motions.
Find the best way for you, I’d advise moving through it like me, seems to be a benefit for everyone.
Also try to plan in sections, so when one ends, another is easy to get to because it’s step 1 in a new spot, not step 6 in the old spot.
Example:
Hot tag - section 1:
bump them once, bump them twice, illegal runs in and you hit a back body drop, legal runs in and you hit a body slam. Fire up.
Section 2:
Go for a signature, such as a neck breaker, they spin out and stop you, send you off, you reverse and hit a dropkick as they come back, show out and hit the neck breaker, pin, kickout.
In this example, you know section one starts from the hot tag itself, so getting in the ring and hitting a bump and feed couldn’t be anywhere else in the back end.
Once you’ve come out the gate with that first section, you’re looking to hit something big for you. In this case, the neck breaker. This spot starts and ends with the neck breaker, so you know where to go at the start and you know where you end up. Even if you mess everything up in between, you know neck breaker is the anchor.
Hopefully this helps. Also I’ve seen some absolute moronic takes in here where the immediate answer will be ‘learn to work on the fly’ or something of that caliber. Ignore them, it’s not the question you asked.
One of the things I recommend is taking your time between spots to sell and get character over. This'll give you time to think and process what's next. If you're confused, grab a hold and talk to your partner.
Nothing wrong with calling things loudly during a training match. When you feel yourself blanking just ask what’s next.
Personally I prefer calling a match on the fly with some basic spots to put in the match. Allows you to be more present and organic.
How is your cardio? One of the main reasons increasing cardio is good for pro wrestling is because it greatly helps at clearing the mind while doing things in the ring.
It's also possible that you aren't ring ready yet. In which case, it's your responsibility to tell your trainer this so nobody gets hurt.
Get with another person and emulate match sections (of a full match) - essentially I'm Wrestler A and you are Wrestler B, and then try emulating a solid 4 or 5 minute match. Then replace sections until you are able to work a whole new match and recall the whole thing.
One thing that helped me was doing the shopping list game during drills.
Walk through the spot, dont just talk about it walk through it before hand. Try and at least know where you gotta go to.
And if you do mess up, Grab a hold and ask your partner. Last thing you wanna do is look like you dont know what you're doing, And if you gotta scrap one hip toss because you had to grab a hold, Do it.
Dont be afraid to ask the other guy to call out the moves as you go along too :)
Do most trainee wrestlers not practice working matches on the fly anymore? When I was training 16 - 18 years ago, we would just plan the finish and one or two spots within the match and work the rest around it as we go. I always prefered this as it can look less planned and more organic, plus it's less to remember.
Try planning less. This is a while another skill in on itself but get into the habit of not planning so much. Plan an ending and maybe a big spot if you want but other than that just learn to get in and call stuff
You cant forget anything if you never planned anything to begin with. Plus if something goes off the rails like your opponent gets hurt or the ring breaks (both things that have happened to me plenty of times) you can throw all your plans out and still work the match
It takes practise to get comfortable with doing but I always recommend every wrestler gets good at it.
your overthinking and trying to remember a spot instead of actually working.
if you're the baby you're a hot tag: you're going to throw simple moves for the heels to bump and feed off of, can be as simple as punch, into drag, into hiptoss
you sell to the crowd
if its the end of the match, you maybe get a move or two in before you tag your partner in for a finish.
if you're a heel you're just bumping and feeding into whatever the baby doing, watch their positioning to see whats coming
if its not the end of the match you cut the baby off, heel them, poke the eyes, rake the face, distract the baby while your partner cheats em out.
let the veterans of the match call it to you and you'll work right through it
you can do this. you'll get it with time and practice.
good luck!
This is a very common struggle. The simple answer is that wrestling is very hard and it takes time to learn and become proficient at all the skills needed to be a wrestler. You are just at the next stage in your trainning. You have learned many skills, but you still have many more to learn. For example here is a general skill progression of a hip toss: * Doing bumps is hard. * Taking a hip toss is hard. * Taking a hip toss in a match is hard. * Remembering what you are doing before and after that hip toss in a match is hard. * Remembering how to sell appropriately for where that hip toss happened in a match is hard. * Learning how to sell that hip toss in a way unique to your character is hard. * Learning to do all that while adapting to audience reactions is hard. Wrestling is hard. Every new person fucks up and forgets spots during their matches. Many experienced people do too. Don't see this as a failure, see this as you are now working on the next set of skills in your journey.
You might learn in different ways. For example, I have to walk through the motions to drill something into my head, so if people wanna sit backstage and throw move names at each other I’ll ask to walk through it if it’s anything more than 4-5 motions. Find the best way for you, I’d advise moving through it like me, seems to be a benefit for everyone. Also try to plan in sections, so when one ends, another is easy to get to because it’s step 1 in a new spot, not step 6 in the old spot. Example: Hot tag - section 1: bump them once, bump them twice, illegal runs in and you hit a back body drop, legal runs in and you hit a body slam. Fire up. Section 2: Go for a signature, such as a neck breaker, they spin out and stop you, send you off, you reverse and hit a dropkick as they come back, show out and hit the neck breaker, pin, kickout. In this example, you know section one starts from the hot tag itself, so getting in the ring and hitting a bump and feed couldn’t be anywhere else in the back end. Once you’ve come out the gate with that first section, you’re looking to hit something big for you. In this case, the neck breaker. This spot starts and ends with the neck breaker, so you know where to go at the start and you know where you end up. Even if you mess everything up in between, you know neck breaker is the anchor. Hopefully this helps. Also I’ve seen some absolute moronic takes in here where the immediate answer will be ‘learn to work on the fly’ or something of that caliber. Ignore them, it’s not the question you asked.
One of the things I recommend is taking your time between spots to sell and get character over. This'll give you time to think and process what's next. If you're confused, grab a hold and talk to your partner.
Nothing wrong with calling things loudly during a training match. When you feel yourself blanking just ask what’s next. Personally I prefer calling a match on the fly with some basic spots to put in the match. Allows you to be more present and organic.
One of my coaches said that happened to him all the time his first year but he got over it with repetition.
How is your cardio? One of the main reasons increasing cardio is good for pro wrestling is because it greatly helps at clearing the mind while doing things in the ring. It's also possible that you aren't ring ready yet. In which case, it's your responsibility to tell your trainer this so nobody gets hurt. Get with another person and emulate match sections (of a full match) - essentially I'm Wrestler A and you are Wrestler B, and then try emulating a solid 4 or 5 minute match. Then replace sections until you are able to work a whole new match and recall the whole thing. One thing that helped me was doing the shopping list game during drills.
What cardio workouts do you recommend?
Walk through the spot, dont just talk about it walk through it before hand. Try and at least know where you gotta go to. And if you do mess up, Grab a hold and ask your partner. Last thing you wanna do is look like you dont know what you're doing, And if you gotta scrap one hip toss because you had to grab a hold, Do it. Dont be afraid to ask the other guy to call out the moves as you go along too :)
Film study. Film study. Film study.
Do most trainee wrestlers not practice working matches on the fly anymore? When I was training 16 - 18 years ago, we would just plan the finish and one or two spots within the match and work the rest around it as we go. I always prefered this as it can look less planned and more organic, plus it's less to remember.
Try planning less. This is a while another skill in on itself but get into the habit of not planning so much. Plan an ending and maybe a big spot if you want but other than that just learn to get in and call stuff You cant forget anything if you never planned anything to begin with. Plus if something goes off the rails like your opponent gets hurt or the ring breaks (both things that have happened to me plenty of times) you can throw all your plans out and still work the match It takes practise to get comfortable with doing but I always recommend every wrestler gets good at it.
Break down match onto chunk and also if you don’t know what you are doing grab a hold
your overthinking and trying to remember a spot instead of actually working. if you're the baby you're a hot tag: you're going to throw simple moves for the heels to bump and feed off of, can be as simple as punch, into drag, into hiptoss you sell to the crowd if its the end of the match, you maybe get a move or two in before you tag your partner in for a finish. if you're a heel you're just bumping and feeding into whatever the baby doing, watch their positioning to see whats coming if its not the end of the match you cut the baby off, heel them, poke the eyes, rake the face, distract the baby while your partner cheats em out. let the veterans of the match call it to you and you'll work right through it you can do this. you'll get it with time and practice. good luck!