The world of professional wrestling has a large audience, with over a million weekly viewers. In the past, passionate viewers made the perfect future recruits. But recently, fans wanting to find their way into the business have run into difficulties as more athletes from other sports are being scouted.
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is the biggest professional wrestling company, dating back to the 1960s. Their current roster holds 212 people working as wrestlers, managers and behind the scenes. With their global reach and millions of viewers wanting to get their shot, there is not enough space for everyone.
Independent wrestling
Carrie is a professional wrestler on the independent scene. She wrestles for Coventry Pro Wrestling, having started training in the beginning of 2020 and debuted 3 months later in March. Since then, she has held multiple titles in her company, with a range of professional wrestling goals.
“My aspirations are to join WWE, AEW [All Elite Wrestling] or TNA [Total Nonstop Action], whoever I get first. I’ll gladly take any opportunity I can get, but my main goal is to be in the WWE,” Carrie said.
Many independent wrestlers share the same sentiment, with their ultimate goal being to wrestle for a major company. However, with the recent WWE recruiting trend, this proves to be more difficult.
WWE standards
As years have gone by, people have noticed the company cares less about actual wrestling ability and passions and more about if a person fits a certain look.
Riju Dasgupta, a writer and interviewer, got a behind the scenes look at this process and shared observations.
“Unfortunately, I’ve been to so many of those tryouts [WWE], so many of those extra gigs where it’s like, ‘How tall are you? How much do you weigh?’ Just all these things, and it’s like, wait. You’re not even giving me a chance to wrestle yet before you’re asking me these questions?” Dasgupta said.
According to Dasgupta, passion for the sport and company do not hold the same weight as they used to. A major superstar on the current WWE roster, Sol Ruca, shared on “Going Ringside” with Scott Johnson, that she had never watched a match before signing a contract.
Looking back to the start of the company, the roster was full of wrestlers who had a passion for wrestling, whereas today there are lots of celebrity appearances and athletes coming in from different sports.
Shawn Michaels was one of the most famous WWE superstars from the 1990s into the early 2000s. He currently runs the developmental branch, and on the Undertaker’s podcast he shared what he looks for in his wrestlers.
“That’s how this is, knowing the ones that are genuinely into it and the knowing the ones, and I don’t mean to be hurtful or disrespectful, but knowing the ones that are playing the game,” Michaels said.
Multiple WWE tryouts take place each year, with opportunities for interested wrestlers to take their shot. However, over the years being scouted on the independent scene has become less frequent as recruiters have prioritized other methods, which involve less passion for the sport itself.
