Serena Deeb is all about respecting the one true sport and putting the ‘professional’ in professional wrestling.
During an appearance on Under The Ring, Serena Deeb was asked about what would be on her wrestling syllabus. The self-proclaimed “Professor of Professional Wrestling” shared some of the things she’d implore her pupils to learn, noting that it’s all about respect.
“First and foremost, when you’re getting in my ring, wipe your feet. Wipe your feet. It’s a respect thing. The ring crew does a lot to take care of the ring and those canvases can get ruined really quickly, and it’s such a pet peeve of mine when I see people just getting in the ring with dirty shoes and all of that. So every time I have an entrance and I get in the ring, I always wipe my feet because it’s a respect to the ring, it’s a respect to the people that put in a lot of work to care for those very expensive rings. That’s number one.”
“Second thing on the syllabus, gotta have a great lockup. The lockup is so important. That was embedded in me in OVW. I remember The Dudley Boyz coming for about a week to do some extra training and they literally did a whole entire three-hour class of only lockups. And they were not pulling punches. If you did a bad one, that was s—-, do it again. Just three hours of lockup, boom, lockup, boom, lockup, boom. Until you got it. And it’s so important and I think it sets the tone for the match. And if it’s lazy, or if you’re not present in that moment, you gotta capture people right from the start, and that’s the very first thing they see. So you have to have a great lockup.”
“Third thing, study. Study. Watch wrestling. If you’re an aspiring young wrestler, even if you’re not an aspiring wrestler, I was watching on the plane today Arn and Brad Armstrong marchers and Rick Martel. I watch a lot of Bret, and I’m 17 years in. People ask me do you watch any TV, are you into any shows? I’m like no, I don’t watch any TV. Literally, I’m n exaggerating, I don’t watch TV. If I have the time in my schedule to watch something, I’m gonna watch wrestling and try to pick out one thing I can learn, even if it’s just like a mannerism or a pacing thing or a ring positioning thing. I just love to watch wrestling and learn.
“I had a young girl that I was kind of helping out somewhat recently and I said how much wrestling are you watching? And she said I watch it here and there. And I’m like no that’s not an acceptable answer. I understand we’re all busy and people have jobs and all this stuff. But if you really wanna excel in this business, you have to watch it. And you cannot just the watching WWE and AEW and IMPACT. You have to watch All Japan from the 90s, you have to watch New Japan, you have to watch even Lucha. You can get something from everything. But especially like 80s and 90s and old-school wrestling, you have to. So I wouldn’t even rank those in order of importance. They’re all equally important. But if you’re not watching wrestling and studying, you’re doing yourself a disservice.”
Serena Deeb challenges Thunder Rosa for the AEW Women’s World Championship at AEW Double Or Nothing on Sunday, May 29. Learn more about the event card and where to watch Double Or Nothing at this link.
Read More: Serena Deeb On Her AEW Run: I’m Really Proud Of Where I’m At, I’m Having A Lot Of Fun
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