Kemo
02-20-2016, 05:51 AM
In the latest sign of how WWE is changing, at least within the developmental system, Chikara founder and head trainer Mike Quackenbush was brought in as an NXT Guest Coach at the WWE Performance Center a few weeks ago. A veteran indie cruiserweight who originally had no formal pro wrestling training, prefers international wrestling, and runs a wacky comic book-inspired promotion does not sound like the type of person they’d normally look to. But times have changed, and they’ve changed so much that WWE.com actually interviewed him about the trip. That is also notable because a ton of guest coaches come through without public fanfare. You should check out the whole interview, but here are some of the highlights:
How did he end up being brought in as a guest coach?
Two WWE talents who spent some time at The Wrestle Factory had gone to bat for me and sung my praises to Head Coach Matt Bloom, those people being [Assistant Head Coach] Sara Amato and Cesaro. They were kind enough to stick their necks out a little bit for me. It came together very quickly through Coach Bloom and I was able to come down to the Performance Center and do my thing. […] I might have said [I was surprised] as well two weeks ago. I was really pleasantly surprised that they brought me down and gave me the measure of trust that they did in instructing this type of class and that type of class. I feel like I really got to put all of my skills to work in a variety of different ways and settings. They showed me such respect and trust in giving me the reigns. That was surprising and very flattering.
What did he want the talent to take away from what he taught?
I wanted to leave everyone at the PC with a sense of my passion for the craft, and to renew their belief in this simple thing, which I think goes overlooked when you spend hours in the ring, gym and on the road: The true net yield of wrestling is always joy. It is our responsibility to give that to our audience, time and time again. Sometimes, you need to hear a different voice, a different perspective on it to remind you of the value of it. That’s what we’re trying to give the audience. You have people down there from all over the world, from all kinds of disciplines, different age groups, they speak different languages. If I was able to remind them of that in a way that really resonated, then I think I did my job.
The article has a whole lot more, including Quack talking about working as a road agent/producer at that weekend’s NXT live events, spending time with Chad Gable, and much more. Which you can read here. (http://www.wwe.com/article/mike-quackenbush-exclusive-interview)
How did he end up being brought in as a guest coach?
Two WWE talents who spent some time at The Wrestle Factory had gone to bat for me and sung my praises to Head Coach Matt Bloom, those people being [Assistant Head Coach] Sara Amato and Cesaro. They were kind enough to stick their necks out a little bit for me. It came together very quickly through Coach Bloom and I was able to come down to the Performance Center and do my thing. […] I might have said [I was surprised] as well two weeks ago. I was really pleasantly surprised that they brought me down and gave me the measure of trust that they did in instructing this type of class and that type of class. I feel like I really got to put all of my skills to work in a variety of different ways and settings. They showed me such respect and trust in giving me the reigns. That was surprising and very flattering.
What did he want the talent to take away from what he taught?
I wanted to leave everyone at the PC with a sense of my passion for the craft, and to renew their belief in this simple thing, which I think goes overlooked when you spend hours in the ring, gym and on the road: The true net yield of wrestling is always joy. It is our responsibility to give that to our audience, time and time again. Sometimes, you need to hear a different voice, a different perspective on it to remind you of the value of it. That’s what we’re trying to give the audience. You have people down there from all over the world, from all kinds of disciplines, different age groups, they speak different languages. If I was able to remind them of that in a way that really resonated, then I think I did my job.
The article has a whole lot more, including Quack talking about working as a road agent/producer at that weekend’s NXT live events, spending time with Chad Gable, and much more. Which you can read here. (http://www.wwe.com/article/mike-quackenbush-exclusive-interview)