Gisele Shaw recently looked back on training with Lance Storm and emphasized how the veteran taught her about the small details in wrestling.
Shaw is one of the most buzzworthy women's wrestlers in the business today. She has won titles around the world for promotions like Revolution Pro Wrestling and PROGRESS. She currently competes for IMPACT Wrestling, where she has been reunited with Storm, the man who trained her.
In an interview with Zack Heydorn of the PWTorch, Shaw reflected on her experience training with Storm and recalled how he made sure that none of his other students disrespected her when she was first starting out.
"He’s so amazing. I did watch Lance Storm growing up, so when I first went into the school, I always will remember this, him taking attendance like, ‘Who’s here? Who’s not here?’ I’m just so starstruck like what? This is so cool, this is Lance Storm we’re talking about, you know? I’ll always have respect for him. The first day, I was the only female talent in that class, and he sat down everyone, first day, and he said, ‘Hey, if you ever disrespect her, you will have a problem with me, and we will have a chat.’ I feel like having set that precedent and that expectation really made me feel confident and just comfortable. I feel like that’s so important because as a woman going [into] training and it’s a male dominated industry, it is very intimidating, but it’s nice to have him just be like, ‘Hey, no,'" Shaw said.
When asked whether Storm's training focused on taking bumps or teaching psychology, Shaw noted that it balanced both, but the emphasis was on technique and the reasoning behind it. She stated that the minute details Storm teaches his students about makings his school, the Storm Wrestling Academy, stand out.
“I think it was definitely evenly paced, but I feel like he focused a lot on the technique and the psychology of it, which I think is important. A lot of people aren’t great wrestlers. You know, [they’re] athletic, but sometimes they don’t have the psychology and you go wait, what? What’s happening? So I feel like that’s really important. He touches a lot about the subject and the technique, too. You could be athletic, [but] if your technique is not that great, it’s just like a, ‘Oh yeah, cool.’ So it’s the minute details that he focuses on and I feel like that’s what’s so special about the Storm Wrestling Academy," she said.
Shaw then provided an example of these details by explaining how Storm once told her about the differences between an offensive move and a defensive maneuver. She made it clear that having this emphasis on technique and psychology helped make her a better wrestler.
"I think the one thing that really stood to me the most is because I did this with my match and he questioned me, and he said, ‘Oh, why would you do a head-scissor like that? I go, ‘Oh, well, I wanted to do a head-scissor.’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, but do you know if it’s an offensive move or a defensive move?’ I go, ‘No, I didn’t really think about that.’ He’s like, ‘Well, it’s a defensive move, so it’s not offensive. You’re not just gonna run at someone and then do a head-scissor because if someone did that, then why would they pick you up? I would just drop you or I’ll just clothesline you or do whatever. But if it was a defensive move and someone picked you up, let’s say I go a sidewalk slam, then you can counter it,’ I go, oh my god, yeah, that really makes sense. I feel like learning that psychology and the technique right from the get-go really helped me to be a better wrestler and focus on those details that make a difference in matches," Shaw said.
Storm returned to IMPACT as both a coach and producer earlier this year. More information is available here.
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