No one is more critical of wrestlers than wrestlers.
NWA Women's Champion Kamille joined GAW (Mickie James, So Cal Val, and Victoria) for an interview when the discussion turned into learning in wrestling.
Kamille began by praising Mickie's presence at NWA, calling her a legend and helping her out. Kamille hasn't had many matches in wrestling, especially compared to James, and was thankful that James was there to pass along her knowledge.
Mickie commented, "You go through your wrestling career and you're pulling information and asking people to give you input and advice, but not everything always clicks. Sometimes, it's the right way it's said to you. You can hear the same thing from 10 different people, but you really only hear it from one or two that say it in a way that makes sense to you. I'm always apprehensive to give big feedback...I don't just freely give advice because I feel like not everybody wants to actually hear it. They'll listen to the good stuff, but anytime you give corrective criticism, they stop listening. I don't ever want to feel like I'm just offering up opinions because my opinion may not match theirs or the way they are taught. I genuinely only offer it when it's something like 'they gotta know this.'"
Of course, not every wrestler is open to advice feeling it could be unwanted criticism. Victoria told a story of how she thought she was being helpful, but her advice backfired.
"I learned the hard way. I gave advice at a Wrestlecon and I was a big fan of this girl and I loved her wrestling. I wanted to give her a critique because I wanted to see her make it. She didn't receive it very well. Tommy goes, 'Don't ever offer to give advice. They should ask. If they want to make it and we are there, they should ask us to watch it.' I thought I was being nice. I was shocked. I was just trying to help and wanted to see her make it," she said.
Kamille said she prefers to have a "compliment sandwich" when it comes to receiving advice, wanting to know a good thing she did, followed by something she can improve on, capping off with another good thing. She said she's told her fiance Thom Latimer that this is how she prefers to be coached when they are watching matches together.
So Cal Val said, "We've all done that where, you're watching wrestling with wrestlers and they are very picky. I won't name names, but there are WWE wrestlers that will go, 'I don't want to watch Raw, I don't want to pick up bad habits.' Wait, what? It's because they are so picky."
Mickie picked up the conversation, explaining how she's watched so much wrestling from a coaching and learning perspective that it's taken her out of things as a fan.
"I've been watching wrestling for so long and it's almost like I wish I could watch it as a fan sometimes. I've studied and watched so much and now I'm watching (with judgment) and I'm like, 'Why would they do that there?' All these little things, psychology things that were drilled into me, and I can't escape the habit. I could watch this amazing match and one hokey or bullshit thing and I'm like, 'Awww,'" she said.
Mickie has been on the lookout for top women's talent over the past couple of months as she puts together NWA Empowerrr, an all-women's pay-per-view where she is serving as the executive producer.
Kamille will defend the NWA Women's Championship on the show, taking on Leyla Hirsch, who earned her title shot by defeating The Bunny on AEW Dynamite.
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