Pro Wrestling and Blogging are two fields which do not seem like having too many similarities. One is physical and one is completely virtual (based on internet).
But when we take a close look, pro wrestling can teach us a lot about blogging as well as life.
In this post, I have discussed 9 Blogging Lessons That We Can Learn From Professional Blogging.
- Script Everything: Everything in pro wrestling is scripted. Every dialog, punch, kick and slam is pre-scripted. What does it teach us about blogging? Well, just like shows are scripted, you have to script your posts. Every post should be planned and have a specific purpose just like every dialog and punch has in wrestling storylines. Use editorial calendars to plan everything in advance and the present the best content to your readers.
- Unexpected Things Happen: No matter how much scripting goes in, unexpected things can and will happen. Many times, you will find errors popping out without any reason. I recently had a similar experience when my blog was hacked on Cyber Monday. I had written an affiliate post to promote HostGator affiliate sale but because the blog was down, the promotion did not go very well for me!
- Show Must Go On: No matter what happens, the show must go on. Wrestlers show this everyday. No matter how badly a wrestler gets injured, he will try to keep the fight going on. A recent example was Randy Orton’s injury. The guy dislocated his soldier in middle of a match but did not return back and provided an ending to the match. Similarly, no matter what unplanned comes in between, you have to keep blogging to reach the success!
- Presentation Matters: One thing that no one can deny is that presentation matters a lot. Wrestling companies spend lot of money on unique entrances and theme songs. Why do they do this while their business is wrestling? Because the right theme song can lift the crowd and encourage them within seconds. Want to see a proof? Just see any entrance of WWE Legend Brat Hart or Shawn Michaels. Similarly, you should present your article well. Choose a unique design and add great images to your posts to make them look good.
- Entrance Sets The Mood: Entrance of a wrestler sets the mood for the match. If wrestler is a popular one and has good theme song, crowd will be instantly energized and will give good response to the match. Similarly, if the entrance of your article is great i.e. the headline is eye catching and first paragraph is interesting, it sets the mood of reader and your article will surely get more comments or shares.
- Age Does Not Matter: On a light note, we can easily see that age does not matter in both wrestling as well as blogging. We have 60+ year old wrestlers in TNA who are still fighting and similarly, we have lot of great bloggers in blogosphere too. But it does not mean that young ones are left. Lot of teen bloggers are invading the blogosphere these days and in wrestling too, we are seeing many new young entrants.
- Shortcuts Do Not Work: One thing we can definitely learn from the demise of wrestlers who took drugs is that shortcuts do not work. If you take a shortcut, you will have to pay sooner or later. In blogging, if you take the shortcuts like black hat SEO, you will have to pay when Google and others find it!
- Everyone Is Not Popular: For every Shawn Michaels and John Cena, we have hundreds of backyard wrestlers who could not make it to the big leagues and remained anonymous. In blogging, we have several thousand failed bloggers for every Darren Rowse and John Chow. But…
- Never Stop The Hard Work: No matter how many people fail, we will still continue the hard work. Nothing can stop the people who have a dream in their eyes to wrestle in front of millions of people or becoming a ProBlogger. That’s what keep thousands of people going and that is the spirit and passion which fuels every blogger.
Also check : What Bloggers & Geeks Can Learn From Movies
What did you learn from Pro Wrestling? Do share your thoughts in comments.
awesome article. ya every thing should be planned before the posting and we should alway be prepared for unexpected things.
We learn from everyone………
blogging teaches you more things as compared to other fields.
the key to get success is never give up. and everytime give your best
every field teaches you something, but its on you, how you take it and implement it on other field as well…..
Great set of lessons shared Isham, There’s some powerful and inspiring ideas there!
What’s the little popup footer box your using that shows a related article?
Kimberly
PS: Came across your blog through Brian’s suggestions on BlogEngage, and glad I did!
Hi Kimberly, Thanks for kind words. This is not my blog and I am just a guest writer here. Maybe you would like to ask Pradeep about that. Just send him the question via Contact Form.
Hey Kim,
The name of the plugin is ‘upPrev’.
Download link : http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/upprev-nytimes-style-next-post-jquery-animated-fly-in-button/
Cheers. 🙂
well, the phrase that keeps me going is:
“The show must go on”
And yeah it does work out well.
Great post. It was kind of tribute to read, not only I learned, I also got motivated. Carry on friend.
hi ishan, nice comparison. you are we don’t have scope to stop working hard. this is sometimes boring for me, sometimes i feel, i’ve become a machine. thanks for your nice article and i enjoyed it very much.
cool….comparison makes things more easier to look at…..
great point to catch….. the unaccepted things happened with me also and from there i am ready to welcome any unaccepted things……
Cool post dude 🙂
Great Post 🙂
Hmm.. too many blogging lessons learned from all walks of life and all kinds of professions and sports 🙂
absolutely….we learn from every corner of the world….
Well explained about Wrestling.
( also blogging :))
lol.
Excellent Narration Ishaan…keeping contrast between wrestlers and bloggers was a good innovation in this post..
absolutely….the show must go on every time……
Nice connection between the two
Thanks for commenting!
Hey Ishan very interesting article. I’m impressed how you manged to bring it all together and make it work. This must had been a difficult post to do. Coming up with these 9 reasons why bloggers are like wrestlers was awesome! If I had tp pick one I enjoyed most it would be number 8. Not every one is popular… I still want to be popular lol.
Hi Brian, Thanks for the kind words! I am glad that you liked the article. And thanks for including it in this week’s predictions as well!
these are some of really cool ideas and some great lessons too…….
A very nice presentation to explain the learnings for blogging, one can take from anything and everything…
HI Amandeep, Thanks for commenting.
Glad that you liked the article.
there are few things in post which almost remains valid for most trades etc like never stop hard work, shortcuts do not work. Nice piece of work 🙂
Well pointed out. Thanks for commenting! 🙂
A wonderful things to link between wrestling and blogging.. a good one mate !!!!
HI Ram, Thanks for commenting. Glad that you liked the post.
Great metaphor Ishan 🙂
Thanks for the comment! Glad that you liked the post! 🙂
Keep writing post like this where you link tech with other stuffs 🙂
Hi Ishan,
Your a g8 fan of wwe i think.
If we are fan of something we get inspire of that.
Hello, I am casual watcher of WWE. However, I am pretty “connected” to wrestlers and maybe that was the reason I could write this article.
nice comparison and well thought out.
HI Abhishek,
Glad that you liked the post.
Thanks for commenting!
Awesome post Ishan! I never thought bloggers can learn so much from the wrestlers. All those popular wrestlers reach that position after years of hardwork. Similarly years of hardwork will only make us a Darren or John Chow or Daniel Scoco.
Hello Rojish,
Not only hard work, but smart work is also needed for reaching the top spot. It takes a lot of time but outcome is sweet!
Thanks.
yup bro, i agree with you, smart work is also required with hard work…..
Cool… I guess I must stock up some muscles before I can learn from those professional wrestlers. 🙂
Hi Jasmine, Well no need of muscles! Only a TV is needed. 😉
Very true, behind every successful john chow and darren rowse there are million of bloggers struggling to achieve the same success.
Hello Rakesh,
Thanks for your comment. That is a reality that many people forget but still, we have to progress!
Glad that you liked the post.
john chow and darren rowse are my favorite blogger….i always first look their blogs….