Karmen Petrovic had the striking background when she arrived at WWE, but she had never locked up in a wrestling ring. In a July interview with The Takedown on SI, the NXT wrestler credited Fit Finlay and Shawn Spears with helping her turn years of karate training into a style that works in pro wrestling.
Petrovic said the mental adjustment took more work than learning to bump. Karate taught her to maintain distance and avoid going to the ground, while wrestling required her to get comfortable with the ropes, grappling and contact at close range. “I had to rewire my brain,” she told Zack Heydorn.
Finlay’s classes helped her see that her striking could remain the centerpiece of her work without trying to wrestle like a high flyer. Petrovic said that approach gave her a way to connect the combat sport she knew with the performance she was learning.
Spears contributed a different part of the education. “He’s been my coach most recently,” Petrovic said, describing his approach to producing a match and telling a story as an area she continues to study. She told SI that karate never asked her to build character moments or shape an audience’s response the way wrestling does.
Those lessons have come as Petrovic’s opportunities have expanded beyond NXT, including work with AAA and TNA. She said wrestling outside WWE’s usual environment initially made her nervous, but the experience helped her adapt. WrestlingHeadlines previously covered the change in her WWE schedule earlier this year.
Source: The Takedown on SI interview with Karmen Petrovic.
