INDEPENDENT ADVICE ... with ex-Open the Brave Gate champion Ricochet

FSM: How did you start on your journey into becoming a pro wrestler?
Ricochet: I became a fan at a pretty young age - in around 1997 when The Rock and Steve Austin were feuding for the Intercontinental title. That whole era captivated me, but even when I grew up a little more, I always wanted to become a wrestler - I just didn't know how to get into it. As it turned out, my friend's dad knew a guy who knew a guy who wrestled (laughs). He invited me to go and watch a show, and meet all the wrestlers. They asked me if I wanted to stay behind and do some training, so I did.

Tell us a little bit about that training.
I've been wrestling for almost 10 years - I made my debut on October 11, 2003. That was my 15th birthday! My main trainer was a guy called Brandon Walker, but (U.S indy wrestler) Chuck Taylor was there from the start, too, and really helped me out a lot.
A lot of guys might have had it rougher during training, but I remember it being pretty relentless; bump after bump and a ton of running the ropes. They really drilled home the fact that we had to do this stuff until we got it right. In fact, since we were working in pairs, I had to keep doing it until my partner got it right, too (laughs).

Where do you stand on learning the amateur wrestling basics before progressing to learning pro style?
One of my early trainers was a guy who taught us a lot of jiu-jitsu basics, really just to prepare us in case anybody decided to shoot on us in the ring. That was really cool.
I think my natural athleticism helped me a lot during those early sessions. Of course, because the guys training me could see that athletic ability, they tried to push me a little harder than some others. I liked that a lot, though - I really don't mind working hard.
Before I started wrestling, I played (American) football a lot, which really helped my conditioning, so I think it's important to have some sort of athletic background, although it doesn't necessarily need to be amateur wrestling.

You're renowned for your high-flying ability. Do you have a gymnastics background?
I actually didn't take gymnastics at school, even though my parents wanted me to. It was always something I thought was just for girls - wearing tights and all that. Fast-forward to now, and I wear tights and wrestle other men wearing tights, so I wish I had taken it up then (laughs).
Trampolines have helped me out a lot during my life, and I've been through a lot of them. I remember being around five years old and wanting to jump on the trampoline and do flips, and I practiced back-handsprings and things like that. I really just taught myself along the way, although later on, I definitely patterned myself after Matt Sydal (Evan Bourne). I always wanted my own style, which I think I do pretty well, but I learned a lot from watching Matt. His work was always so fluid, which is what I really wanted to be - so precise and accurate.

You've wrestled in the States, and also Japan. What are the main differences working from one country to the next?
The biggest difference between working in the U.S and in Japan is that in Japan, you have so many matches in a row, day after day. With that schedule, you can work the same match with the same guy over and over, only in different cities. That's a big difference, because we work different people regularly in the U.S, and if we are working the same person, the crowds are usually similar, so we have to do remarkably different matches night-to-night.

In Japan, how much of an impact does working the same wrestlers regularly have on how you plan out your match?
In Japan, it can get quite confusing, as they like to work out the entire match in the dressing room. It can get hectic, especially during multi-man tag matches; sometimes they even like to plan things out the day before the match, which is pretty alien compared to what we do over in the States.
I'm very easy-going when it comes to planning my matches, so it's really up to my opponent. Chuck Taylor and I have went out there without calling a thing beforehand, but there have been times when we've planned everything in advance, too.
Whatever plans you make, I think it's important that both guys are allowed to shine. That's something El Generico is good at - helping the other person look great. He can make almost anybody look good, even if they don't have that many moves. It's something I try hard to do too, putting more effort into making my opponent look good than I do into making myself look good.

Aside from being in good shape, what's the best piece of advice you could give to rookie wrestlers?
Well, even if you're not in great shape, you can still be a success - if you have a good gimmick or something similar, like Greg Excellent. One thing I would say is to give it your all, regardless of the situation.
It's tough to give you an answer, because you can give someone advice all day, but it all hinges on what they do with it. CIMA would always tell me things were good when I asked him for feedback on our matches; he would just say that I needed more experience. I was quite sloppy when I first went to Dragon Gate, but guys like him were patient with me, and showed faith.
It is all about experience, really, and watching back over your matches helps. That's something I'll do 100 times, just because I can pick out different points to improve on every time. Just get out there, try to get as many matches filmed as you can, and watch them religiously, looking for ways to better your performance.