Storytelling is Everything

As we've been getting to know wrestlers through the Indy Wrestling Life Spotlight, one thing keeps coming up, and that is the word RESPECT.

You can tell the difference between a good movie and a bad movie by the quality of the storytelling. You can also tell a bad story because it seems to hop, skip, and jump from plot point to plot point. It's the difference from the Christopher Nolan Batman movies and Batman Versus Superman, the latter of which had a lot of "What the hell... where did that come from" moments.

We need to respect the art of storytelling, instead of moving from high risk maneuver to high risk maneuver. We're not slamming people who are doing the high risk stuff, and we have a ton of respect for them, and there are some audiences who love that, but how can you tell a cohesive story if you're always flying all over the place?

Take the audience on the journey. In fact, if you haven't heard of the Hero's Journey, here's a graphical explanation.

You'll use some of this in your storytelling, but there will be some that you'll say "what the hell does that mean." Skip the stuff you're not getting. This is not a cookie cutter approach to telling a story but a roadmap of sorts. #4 and #5 usually never happen in a match unless there's a Valet, Manager, or some type of run-in by another face or heel.

Remember that in a story you have to have a beginning, middle and end. Between the middle and the end, you want to definitely escalate the action and the stakes.

When we're talking about The Hero, it doesn't mean that the Face is always going to win, but you can switch out the Face for the Heel and the storytelling still works.

How can you bring your A-Game as a storyteller? What are you missing, or have you turned your matches into Spotfests? We guarantee that your body will thank you for telling more of a story and you'll last longer in the business (and avoid the risk of serious injury.)