JBL Says Wrestling Companies Should Bring in Acting Coaches For Pre-Tapes

On the latest episode of Something to Wrestle, JBL was asked why professional wrestling has never made a consistent effort to bring in acting coaches, given how much of the modern product is promos and backstage scenes. He didn’t hold back on the current standard. You can check out his comments below:

JBL on Why It Never Happened Historically:

“I don’t know, and I think it should. Back in the day, we didn’t want to let outsiders into the business. And I don’t know if we wanted to admit there was as much acting as there was. Basically, the character was an extension of yourself. But George Steele was not an animal who ate turnbuckles. He was a high school coach who was a really smart guy, by the way.”

On Current Pre-Tapes:

“You look at what some of these skits are now — the pre-tapes. They’re cringeworthy. I mean, some of them are freaking horrible. Now some of them are very good. They’ve always been like this. Some have always been bad. You look at some of them, and they’re horrible. People overact, they underact, they just don’t respond right. Get somebody there that can show people who don’t know what they’re doing. Even the ones that know what they’re doing, make them better.”

On What Convinced Him:

“We were down in Mexico doing the national anthem, and there were some Mexican wrestlers singing with such passion, throwing their hands, mouths wide open, singing as loud as they can. I don’t know if that was just them, or if it was them being in character. But I’m sitting there watching this going, ‘This is freaking amazing.’ Those Mexican fans sit there and watch these guys in big title matches and go, ‘Oh my God.’ Whether that’s acting or not, people believe it and people buy into it.”

On What Actually Matters:

“It doesn’t matter if it’s real or if it’s acting — if people perceive it to be authentic, that’s the main thing. It doesn’t matter otherwise. It’s just what the perception is. So I think it’s a great idea to have acting coaches. I think it would help our business significantly.”

On Why It Matters More Now:

“Back in the day we used to always say, ‘Look, we’re not Al Pacino or Marlon Brando. We’re not a person who can get into roles. So our characters had to be kind of an extension of ourselves, something we understood well. Look at some of these old promos — it’s guys who understand what their character is. Dusty Rhodes used to say, for me, for example, ‘What was Bradshaw on his sixth birthday? His 12th? His 18th? You’ve got to know this guy’s background. You’ve got to be able to feel who Bradshaw is.’ That’s why so many of the characters that worked were outcroppings of the person themselves. Stone Cold wasn’t far away from Steve Austin. The Undertaker pretty much was the Dead Man. Shawn Michaels — that guy’s the Heartbreak Kid.”

On Who Needs It Most:

“I think it would help significantly for guys that have to play something that is a big departure. Because now you’re starting to see characters that guys get put into that are big departures. That’s hard. That’s hard for world-class actors to do. So I think it would help significantly if you brought somebody in and said, ‘Here’s what you need to do.’ Watch the clip back and say, ‘Here’s what you did really well, here’s what you didn’t do so well, here’s what you can do to improve.’ A lot of guys will watch their interviews and come to the same conclusions themselves, but it would always help to have a coach there — someone that knows what they’re doing.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Something To Wrestle With an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.