High School Students Learn The Ropes With Oregon Pro Wrestling School

Bring a journal or a notepad.

Next to a pair of wrestling boots, knee pads, elbow pads, and plenty of water to drink, keeping a physical journal during each training session at Oregon Pro Wrestling’s school is a standard requirement for students to help track what they’ve learned, areas they can improve upon, and questions to ask lead trainer and professional wrestler, “Rockin” Ricky Gibson.

That goes for the high school hopefuls who Gibson has worked with during focused classes that teach the sound fundamentals of the sport, all the way up to the aspiring men and women developing their pro wrestling craft daily at 2092 NE Aloclek Drive #522 in Hillsboro, Oregon.

“Everyone learns in a different way, so you constantly have to adjust your teaching to best meet the student,” Gibson told High School on SI.

"My advice is always to start young with high school sports to build the habits and rituals of being an athlete."

As one half of the tag team Midnight Heat along with "Precious" Eddie Pearl, Gibson started tag team wrestling in 2017 on the West Coast and captured championship gold with independent promotions like Defy, Prestige, United Wrestling Network, and POW! Tag Team Titles. Gibson and Pearl have also been featured on cards with AEW, Ring of Honor, New Japan Pro Wrestling, Japan’s Dramatic Dream Team (DDT), Beyond Wrestling, and Future Stars of Wrestling. But before all of the belt collecting around the world, Gibson himself began training to become a professional wrestler while in high school. Even in a pro wrestling ring, life tends to come full circle.

Sharing his experience and insight about high school students making the transition into professional wrestling, Coach Gibson recently took time to talk about his long road to opening Oregon Pro Wrestling and operating a professional wrestling school, his approach to teaching and training local high schoolers about the business, and looking ahead to training sessions for teenagers this coming summer in Oregon.

Before we talk about your work training high schoolers to become future pros at Oregon Pro Wrestling School, can you share how old you were when you started training to become a professional wrestler?

I started professional wrestling at 16 years old. I was able to wrestle amateur in middle school and high school at Tualatin High School and then started training professionally during my junior year.

How long into your career did you consider opening a pro wrestling school in Oregon? Was training and coaching wrestling something you always envisioned doing?

I have a passion for training and development, so it’s something I’ve thought about for a long time. I wanted to make sure that I had a really good understanding of what I was teaching and was confident that I had the knowledge and ability to teach before I started training others. It was 15 years into my career that I started helping a school as their assistant trainer, and then 19 years before I opened a school of my own.

For high school students and athletes getting started in the sport, what will help them navigate the transition into professional wrestling?

We often get asked the best way to transition into professional wrestling as a young adult. My advice is always to start young with high school sports to build the habits and rituals of being an athlete. We've had six high school students work with us to get closer to their dream of being a pro wrestler. It starts by setting specific goals around health and fitness. We encourage the kids to stay focused on eating healthy, working out consistently, and studying the basics of fitness while they wait to turn 18 years old.

With your school up and running since 2021, how many high schoolers have you seen become interested in training and pursuing wrestling as a career?

I have students from North Marion High School, Aloha High School, and Century High School. We've worked directly with 6 students while they were in high school, and we have 8 students that reached out while in high school and joined once they turned 18.

Are promotions open to book a high school pro wrestler more than in the past? Or does it become more of a concern because of their age?

Most promotions are cautious, and wait until a wrestler is 18 or older, but there are always exceptions.

Belts — Flanked by Midnight Heat tag team partner "Precious" Eddie Pearl, Gibson and Oregon Pro Wrestling school has been white hot since opening its doors in 2021 in Hillsboro, Oregon. | Instagram

This coming summer, OPW will be offering training sessions solely for teenagers (13-17 years old) to understand the basics of professional wrestling. This is a follow-up to training sessions conducted last October. How did you feel those training sessions went? And what can kids and parents expect from the upcoming training sessions this summer?

This will be the second kids training course that we’ve taught and we are really excited for it. Last year in October we had an amazing first group of kids that surprised us with the energy, excitement, and attitude. The kids all had an amazing time, and the parents loved that they were exercising in a fun way. Parents and kids were all happy about the individual time and attention they received. We encouraged the kids to try things that scared them, and supported them through it. Their peers all cheered them on, and congratulated them when they accomplished it.

What sticks out the most from working with that group of teenagers and kids in that October training session?

We saw a lot of growth from the students in many different ways. Obviously, everyone picked up some new skills and were excited about it. But we also saw an increase in self-confidence and bravery. The students were doing things they never thought they were capable of, and that led them to trying things that initially scared them.

As a coach, how do you approach training kids and teenagers versus adults?

You’d be surprised how similar the styles of training are. Everyone learns in a different way, so you constantly have to adjust your teaching to best meet the student. We tend to have a lot more patients with kids and teenagers, but other methods vary from student to student. We want to push the kids to do the best they can, and encourage them throughout the workouts. So we find out what motivates and excites them individually, and go from there.

What’s your biggest word of advice to anyone learning to become a professional wrestler?

Like any other skill, this takes time to perfect. Don’t get discouraged because it’s difficult. Stay focused and practice, practice, practice.