Wheeler Yuta provides advice for the next generation.
Over the past several months, Yuta has been one of AEW’s breakout stars. He has shared the ring with names like Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley, and Chris Jericho. This elevation came after Yuta put in the work on the independent scene and honed his craft around the wrestling world.
Yuta, the ROH Pure Champion, recently sat down with WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard to discuss a variety of topics. During their conversation, Yuta shared what advice he would give to up-and-coming wrestlers.
“Yeah, if I were able to give advice to younger wrestlers, I would just say travel as much as you can,” said Yuta. “Get as much experience as you can. Go as many places as you can. Obviously when I started wrestling, AEW didn’t exist and the only reason it does exist is because the guys that founded it like the Bucks, Kenny, Cody, like everyone was just traveling doing all those independents doing the same thing you were just saying. That was the model that guys like me coming up after them we’re following. We’re just trying to do the independents, trying to get as much buzz and recognition. It’s the same thing Claudio did. It’s the same thing Danielson did, Moxley did, like we’re just trying to follow the independents and trying to learn as much as you can from as many different places.
My goal was never never like, ‘I’m gonna do all this, get as much exposure as I can and get signed.’ Mine was more, ‘I’m gonna do all this, get as much exposure as I can so I can become the best wrestler I can be and then hopefully that will lead to bigger opportunities such as maybe a contract, maybe a full-time job somewhere, and then, of course, AEW gets founded. It’s incredible now that I have that place and it happens so much sooner than I thought. But yeah, I think that there’s immense value you grow so much as a competitor just getting out of your comfort zone like going to Japan made me just such a better wrestler. Going to Germany made me such a better wrestler. Going to all these places having to put yourself in these different situations that way when something does come your way and happens to be on television, you’re ready for it. You’ve done it in some capacity so it’s really exciting to have all those experiences and now see it kind of pay off. But yeah I would recommend that to anyone.
Yuta concluded with, “Anyone, anywhere who wants to be a professional wrestler, travel as much as you can and try to go to as many places as you can.”
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit WrestleZone with a link back to this article for the transcription.
You can check out Bill Pritchard’s interview with Wheeler Yuta in its entirety embedded below:
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