High Impact Wrestling returns to Yorkton with 鈥業gnition鈥� Apr. 20 at Sacred Heart High School.
Jeff Tyler, a local Regina-based wrestler, will be among those on the card. He said to expect lots of excitement that night.
鈥淵ou can expect high-flying, fast-paced action,鈥� he told Yorkton This Week, adding that is part of what excites him as a performer. 鈥淚 love the adrenaline rush that I get when I perform a high-risk aerial move, and I love to hear the reaction from the crowd.鈥�
Of course wrestling is typically larger-than-life entertainment, which is what attracted Tyler to the game.
鈥淲hat attracted me to wrestling was the characters; the athleticism. The storylines,鈥� he said.
鈥淢y youngest memory of wrestling would be when I was seven, or eight-years-old and I was flipping through the TV channels and found WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment).鈥�
But Tyler added he was never focused on going to the big show.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I ever aspired to be a certain professional wrestler,鈥� he said.
But Tyler was starting to emulate the wrestlers he saw on his TV set.
鈥淚 remember studying the moves from the time I was first watching it,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 would stop and re-watch moves over and over and then practice them with friends. I had a trampoline when I was young, so that was my wrestling ring.鈥�
That interest grew into more over time.
鈥淲hen it came to getting in an actual ring, I started as a referee, but I always knew I wanted to be a wrestler,鈥� said Tyler. 鈥淚 trained at the HIW training school.鈥�
聽So what was the most difficult aspect of learning the craft?
鈥淚 think the hardest thing is the mental aspect of it, as it is with any sport or activity,鈥� said Tyler. 鈥淵ou have to want to do it. It鈥檚 certainly not something that you can do if your heart and your mind isn鈥檛 in it.
鈥淚t hurts. The bumps, the bruises, even hitting the ropes; all of it hurts.
鈥淵ou have to get through that initial stretch when you鈥檙e sore every day.
鈥淥nce you get used to it, it still hurts; but not as much as the initial stretch.
鈥淥nce you become a wrestler, it鈥檚 another thing to continue being a wrestler.鈥�
In Tyler鈥檚 case, and most who toil with HIW, there is also the need to juggle a career out of the ring, with the time it takes to compete in it.
鈥淚t depends how much training/touring I want to do,鈥� said Tyler. 鈥淎s much as I鈥檇 love wrestling to come first, it doesn鈥檛.聽 The regular job comes first. I don鈥檛 make it to training as much as I鈥檇 like to, but when I first started, I was training four days a week. I鈥檝e never been a part of a long tour, but I have spent many entire weekends wrestling.鈥�
And even that means dealing with bumps and bruises when heading back to the 9-to-5 world.
鈥淚鈥檝e learned that it can be as hard as you make it,鈥� said Tyler. 鈥淎gain, this business is mental as much as it is physical. A lot can be accomplished when you are in the right state of mind. Now that鈥檚 not to say that it鈥檚 easy. It certainly helps when you have support from family and friends.
鈥淎nd a desk job helps too 鈥� after a weekend of wrestling, I鈥檓 sure a labour job would be much harder to get up for on a Monday morning than my desk job.鈥�
And along the way Tyler said he has fun, like when he was asked what his most memorable match was?
鈥淚 get hit in the head a lot, so for me the most memorable match would be the last one that I had,鈥� he began.
鈥淥n a more serious note, I recently had the opportunity to team up with Christopher Daniels, who is one of the best independent wrestlers in the world.鈥�
Now Tyler looks to build on the memories he has already created.
鈥淲hen I started wrestling, I had a lot of dreams but I never set goals, which was a mistake,鈥� he said. 鈥淭o be successful in anything, it鈥檚 important to set goals. I once heard someone say that if you鈥檙e not getting better, you鈥檙e getting worse. With that in mind, my current goal would be to continue to get better.鈥�
