Tito Santana has reflected on how matches were put together during wrestling’s territorial era, revealing that much of what fans saw in the ring was created on the fly with little to no preparation beforehand.
Speaking on the In The Front Row podcast, Tito Santana explained that wrestlers in the old WWF rarely rehearsed matches before heading out in front of live crowds.
“Believe it or not, we never practiced,” Santana said. “We’d fly into a different city, check into the hotel, eat, go to the gym, get a couple hours of rest. We had to be at the arena an hour before the matches started, so the fans were already in.”
Santana said the lack of preparation was possible because wrestlers were so experienced during that era.
“We didn’t need to, because everybody back then was so good.”
Santana credited Mr Fuji as the person who truly taught him how to work a crowd and structure a match.
“Mr. Fuji taught me this. He said, ‘Listen to the people, the people tell you what they want.’”
Tito Santana recalled Fuji calling spots and guiding him through matches in real time while they were wrestling.
“I remember Fuji had me in a hold and all of a sudden he says, ‘Okay Tito-san, put your arm up a little bit and start shaking.’ The more you shook the hand, the more the people went crazy.”
According to Santana, he spent the early years of his career learning from more experienced opponents every night.
“For the first five years, everybody that I was wrestling against was better than me. So I was learning every night.”
He compared wrestling to dancing, describing himself as the follower while veteran heels led matches and controlled the pace. Santana also revealed that wrestlers were often only given the finish of a match in advance, with the rest improvised in the ring.
“The only thing we knew, the agents would say, ‘Okay Tito, you’re going over tonight. This is how you’re going to go over.’ Everything else we would put together.”
He then broke down the traditional babyface formula used throughout wrestling for decades, explaining how heroes would outwrestle villains before overcoming cheating tactics during the final comeback. Tito Santana also shared concerns about the modern wrestling business, saying today’s wrestlers do not have the same opportunities to learn inside the ring.
“The wrestling guys now don’t have anybody to teach them in the first place, but they also don’t have that much time in the ring,” Santana said. “Most of the wrestling is interviews in the middle of the ring nowadays.”
Tito Santana Criticised WWE Over Current Ticket Pricing Structure
Tito Santana also criticised the rising cost of attending major wrestling events such as WrestleMania.
“I went to WrestleMania last year in Vegas. I didn’t want to go this year,” Santana said. “I understand a lot of the tickets are not sold. They’re so expensive. How can anybody afford to pay $1,000 for your kids to sit at the matches? I think they’re outpricing themselves.”
Mr Fuji, whose real name was Harry Fujiwara, passed away in August 2016 at the age of 82. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007 after a career spanning several decades as both a wrestler and manager.
