MR. MARTINS AGBAEZA OPIA

Professional wrestling in Nigeria has come to stay. Today every home in Nigeria knows what Professional wrestling is all about.

It must be emphasised here that in the fifties no body knew what wrestling was all about, but today, thanks to some Nigerians who made wrestling what it is today.

Nigeria has the taste of a world champion in 1974 when Power Mike (real name Michael Okpala) won the world Heavy Weight Wrestling Championship to place Nigeria on the World map of professional wrestling. It, was from then on that we started hearing of wrestlers coming out from their shell.

Nigeria has so many potentials in professional wrestling if only we can learn to accept our mistakes and give due respect to those who deserve it. Professional wrestling in Nigeria today can compare favourably with those of other parts of the world if our wrestlers can choose between professionalism and their private employment.

Our wrestlers are very lazy set of Human beingswho can not combine hard work with skill; rather they will prefer to be heard in news-papers and Radio sets rather than laying emphasis on their training. Some of them choose to have their training only when they. have any fight coming up, which doesn't determine a good mats man.

Only very few of them take it seriously, the rest are always on the fence to follow the wind where- ever it blows them to.
Many Nigerian wrestlers are not willing to learn simply because they are lax, and shy away from taking responsibilities.

Nigerian professional wrestlers should stop their private employment and concentrate on full time wrestling to enable them attain world standards. If this is done, then we can boast of having good wrestlers in Nigeria. Looking at some Nigerian Professional Wrestlers one will pass them for fishermen because of their mode of dressing and how they appear in public places. In some civilised countries all over the world, wrestlers appear to be the most well dressed lots, but in Nigeria our wrestlers have thrown this professional ethics over board.

The few of them who looked well dressed are not serious with wrestling at the moment, because they devote most of their time in running around doing nothing in resepct of wrestling.

To be a good wrestler, a lot of things must be taken into consideration. A good professional wrestler must train hard to be in good shape at all times. He or she must not smoke any type of tobacco or drinking of alcohol.

A good wrestler must abstain his or herself from sexual involvment to enable he/she carry on with all vigor, this is because too much sex weakens the body and makes the fighter look stupid in the ring.

Finally, the Nigerian Wrestling Board should provide our wrestlers with facilities such as modern Gymna- sium and lecture rooms to enable them improve on their skill.

Source: ThrowbackTimes.com.ng : 1985