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http://www.foxsports.com/ufc/story/...the-kimbo-hype-to-lead-trainer-for-wwe-051716
The question that Petruzelli usually faces when he mentions that he's the head striking coach at the WWE developmental center is why do professional wrestlers who aren't actually hitting each other need to learn how to strike?
Professional wrestlers train for years to put on huge feats of athleticism while doing as little damage to each other as possible. So knowing how to punch an opponent seems counterproductive to the staged violence that takes place at any WWE show.
"A lot of guys asked about that, too, and that was one of my main concerns. Like, these guys are going to hate me because 'We don't need to learn this crap if we're not doing the same stuff; we're not really trying to hit the person'," Petruzelli explained. "But Triple H really wanted them to get a real look at it — MMA is so huge now and people know like, 'Oh, he dropped his hands' or 'Oh, he got caught with a punch', so they are catching on to the phony stuff.
"So they really wanted me to teach them the proper footwork, the way to turn your hand over (for a punch), the proper hand and foot combinations, the timing, speed, and about how to keep your hands up to block, how to slip, how to bob and weave. They really wanted the wrestlers to look like they knew what they were doing."
Petruzelli began teaching classes once a week and instead of getting push-back about training for something that wouldn't be applicable in a match, most of the wrestlers wanted to know more.
Over time, Petruzelli's lessons morphed from striking to grappling because the submission game is a big part of wrestling these days. Before long, he had a number of students making huge strides in the evolution of their overall striking games, and they were starting to recognize the improvements while in the ring.
"Once I started doing the striking after about four or five months, I started getting a few of them interested in jiu-jitsu, so I started showing them some cool flying arm bars and different triangles. So the coaches wanted me to start doing submissions with them. So once a week I do Brazilian jiu-jitsu with them and once a week I do striking with them. It's like a combo class of both," Petruzelli said.
"A couple of the women's matches, they came back and said 'Hey Seth, did you see that bob-and-weave slip I hit?' And I was like, Hell yeah I saw that, that's awesome! They are starting to put it into their matches and they're thinking to incorporate it. Now it's working into the matches, so it's awesome."
Petruzelli takes a lot of pride in teaching the wrestlers at WWE, and now quite a few of them are taking more of his classes as part of his gym in Orlando.
He's seen massive improvements over time and Petruzelli couldn't be happier with the results when watching his students perform on television each week.
The question that Petruzelli usually faces when he mentions that he's the head striking coach at the WWE developmental center is why do professional wrestlers who aren't actually hitting each other need to learn how to strike?
Professional wrestlers train for years to put on huge feats of athleticism while doing as little damage to each other as possible. So knowing how to punch an opponent seems counterproductive to the staged violence that takes place at any WWE show.
"A lot of guys asked about that, too, and that was one of my main concerns. Like, these guys are going to hate me because 'We don't need to learn this crap if we're not doing the same stuff; we're not really trying to hit the person'," Petruzelli explained. "But Triple H really wanted them to get a real look at it — MMA is so huge now and people know like, 'Oh, he dropped his hands' or 'Oh, he got caught with a punch', so they are catching on to the phony stuff.
"So they really wanted me to teach them the proper footwork, the way to turn your hand over (for a punch), the proper hand and foot combinations, the timing, speed, and about how to keep your hands up to block, how to slip, how to bob and weave. They really wanted the wrestlers to look like they knew what they were doing."
Petruzelli began teaching classes once a week and instead of getting push-back about training for something that wouldn't be applicable in a match, most of the wrestlers wanted to know more.
Over time, Petruzelli's lessons morphed from striking to grappling because the submission game is a big part of wrestling these days. Before long, he had a number of students making huge strides in the evolution of their overall striking games, and they were starting to recognize the improvements while in the ring.
"Once I started doing the striking after about four or five months, I started getting a few of them interested in jiu-jitsu, so I started showing them some cool flying arm bars and different triangles. So the coaches wanted me to start doing submissions with them. So once a week I do Brazilian jiu-jitsu with them and once a week I do striking with them. It's like a combo class of both," Petruzelli said.
"A couple of the women's matches, they came back and said 'Hey Seth, did you see that bob-and-weave slip I hit?' And I was like, Hell yeah I saw that, that's awesome! They are starting to put it into their matches and they're thinking to incorporate it. Now it's working into the matches, so it's awesome."
Petruzelli takes a lot of pride in teaching the wrestlers at WWE, and now quite a few of them are taking more of his classes as part of his gym in Orlando.
He's seen massive improvements over time and Petruzelli couldn't be happier with the results when watching his students perform on television each week.
