What did WWE Hall of Famer “Rowdy” Roddy Piper teach Jared Ganem about the work? Read on to find out!

How awesome was Roddy Piper? He was one of the greatest of all times, wasn’t he? He taught me a really amazing concept called, “Think Shoot, but Work.”

What does it mean to Think Shoot, but Work? It means in wrestling, as a performer, you have to actually, in your own head, start to believe it’s real for a minute and get lost in the moment, yet still be cooperative.

Can I share with you a really cool personal backstage story with you about him?

I didn’t even know this until recently, but apparently, I was Roddy Piper’s last one on one match in the Northeast. I had no idea about this until a “This Day in History” thing came up. It was in the Mid-Hudson Civic Center. This was a different event.

Rewind to a few months earlier, this story begins when Roddy was scheduled to do a Piper’s Pit for an event at Northeast Wrestling. Northeast Wrestling was and still is a great promotion that draws huge crowds and does a great mix of up and coming independent talent verses established big named stars.

I was wrestling Jerry Lawler that night, and Lawler and Piper are apparently good friends. So Piper, being booked on the show already, watches Jerry’s match, which means Piper’s watching ME! It was awesome.

Anyway, I get back through the curtain, and he pulls me aside. “You did a great job in there. What do you want to do in this business?” And I explained to him that at the time, I wanted to make it to WWE, get tryouts, etc. He was very encouraging, and said, “If you ever need anything, I’d love to help you.”

I sincerely thanked him, but I also thought he was just being polite. Because if you’ve ever been in this wrestling business, we both know that people mean really well, but sometimes they don’t always do what they say.

I ended up going out to eat that night at a different restaurant than the rest of the guys. It was me and my group of friends that always hung out at the time. The regulars I used to travel with would have been Mike Bennett, Matt Taven, an independent star named Jason Blade, and Robbie E at the time. We didn’t want to be with the group of guys “Marking Out” to hang out with Piper and Lawler at the usual restaurant, so as professionals, we chose to eat somewhere else.

I get a phone call from the promoter, “Jared, are you coming to the restaurant?”

I say, “I wasn’t planning on it.”

The promoter responds, “Piper is specifically asking for you by name and wondering why you’re not here. Can you get here before he goes to the hotel?”

I’m looking at my friends and they were all like, “Dude, you have to go if he’s asking for you.” So I head over to the restaurant/hotel that Piper’s at with the rest of the guys.

Side note: ALL the “talent” are hanging out and partying with Piper as if they’re fans. Getting their pictures taken, loudly laughing, trying to impress him. It was kind of like a circus. Piper gives me an eye signal and a little “iggy” and he says, “10 minutes after everyone leaves, meet me near the elevators by yourself.”

So side note CONTINUED: Everyone gets their pictures taken, tries to peacock in front of him, then they’re all like, “OKAY! See you later Hot Rod! Bye!” and left HIM with the bill. No joke.

So I meet up with Piper at the elevator, and the first thing he said to me was, “I’m a Hall of Famer, and everyone wants to be your best friend, but all this ring means is they get to hang out with me until it’s time to pay the bill.”

He seemed kind of sad about the whole thing. He was gracious and loved hanging out with everyone, but he also knew who was just there to “get the rub” so to speak. Does that make sense?

So he says, “I asked you to come here privately because if I said this in public, they all would have showed up too and we’d never be able to really talk.”

So he invites me to his room. We go inside and this is what happens.

He goes, “So… you want to be in WWE. You’re getting tryouts soon. Is that right?”

I go, “Yes sir.”

Piper takes off his jacket, throws it on the bed, looks me up and down, and gets nose to nose with me.

“Why… the F*CK… are you in MY business?!”

I start to get very uncomfortable.

He goes, “Stand up like a man and answer me. I busted my ass. I bled for this business. I slept in my car. I’ve sacrified in the early days. I’ve paved the way. Why does some PUNK like you get to come in here and be in MY business? SAY SOMETHING. STAND UP FOR YOURSELF. WHY do you deserve to be in MY business?”

And I start sweating.

We’re nose to nose, in an empty hotel room.

I’m thinking to myself, “Oh my god, Roddy Piper is going to murder me in this hotel room. This is how it all ends for me. How do the newspapers write about this?”

Then, he asked me the question.

He goes, “Are you uncomfortable right now?” I said, “With all due respect sir, yes I am.” He goes, “Do you think I’m about to fight you.” I said, “Yes sir, I do.” He goes, “Yes. And so do these 15,000 other people right now.” And he points around to the imaginary 15,000 seat arena that’s surrounding him in his mind.

And then it clicked.

He goes, “If you want to get the emotion from the crowd, it has to start with YOU being emotional. It’s not enough for you to just remember moves and do them A B C.” He goes, “If you want them to believe, you have to believe it first.”

The rest of the evening, we sat down, we laughed, he shared stories, and he was VERY helpful in telling me psychology that would really help me out even today.

But it was in that demonstration it really clicked. I had to “Think Shoot, but Work.”

If this has been helpful for you, and you want to find out even MORE psychology on the REAL stuff that makes a difference in this business, put yourself on the Notification List for my booklet coming out! It’s called “Dream it or Do It” and it’s going to teach you all the tips and tricks that help people stand out and actually LIVE the dream rather than just saying they dream about it

https://innersquaredcircle.lpages.co/book-launch-list/

If you’re interested in Doubling Your Bookings right now, you can have a free one on one consultation with me to find out where you are now, what’s holding you back in your career, where you want to go instead! You can sign up for that right here:

https://meetme.so/DoubleYourBookingsStrategyCall

I’ll see you guys next week!

Can you imagine getting a lesson from “Rowdy” Roddy Piper?
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