In WWE right now, the WWE Performance Center has been set up to train the stars of the future. Even those wrestlers who worked on the independent scene are brought in and thought the "WWE method" of wrestling. However, the varied styles in WWE are because of different lessons taught by the men who initially trained them.
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The training of the best names in professional wrestling usually has some of the best trainers in history behind them, although there are a few interesting exceptions. With so many great trainers around the world, here is who trained 10 of the top WWE legends in wrestling history.
10 TRIPLE H (KILLER KOWALSKI)
Triple H has always prided himself on being old-school, and his booking of NXT has proven that he learned much of his wrestling knowledge from NWA than WWE. The man who trained him might be a big reason for this, as Killer Kowalski trained triple H at his wrestling school in Massachusetts. Kowalski was a heel in both the NWA and WWWF, and he also trained Kofi Kingston, Eddie Edwards, Perry Saturn, and Tommaso Ciampa.
9 SHAWN MICHAELS (JOSE LOTHARIO)
The man who trained The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels is no secret. This is because he brought out his trainer Jose Lothario to work with him as he tried to win his first world title against Bret "The Hitman" Hart. Lothario worked in both the NWA and WWF, and he was mostly enhancement talent, losing over 500 matches in a row at one point. Lothario died in 2018 at the age of 83.
8 DANIEL BRYAN (SHAWN MICHAELS & WILLIAM REGAL)
While Shawn Michaels was trained by Jose Lothario, he went on to train wrestlers himself. When he was out of wrestling after his back injury, he opened a training school in San Antonio, and his best student was a man named Daniel Bryan, as well as Brian Kendrick and Lance Cade. What makes Bryan an interesting case is that he went on to train with another WWE legend in William Regal after that.
7 CHRIS JERICHO (ED LANGLEY)
Anyone who has followed the career of Chris Jericho likely knows that he trained in the Hart Dungeon. However, while this makes people believe that the Hart Family trained him, that is not true. As Jericho said in his biography, A Lion's Tale, he went to the Hart Dungeon, thinking he was getting trained by the Hart's, but that didn't happen.
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Instead, Jericho showed up and met Lance Storm at the Hart Dungeon, and the two men trained under a man named Ed Langley. He did train them based on Stu Hart's classical instructions, but there was only a Hart there for one day, and it was Bruce Hart.
6 BATISTA (AFA ANOA'I)
Dave Bautista came to WWE and signed on with the company, joining Ohio Valley and taking on the role of a monster villain known as Leviathan. However, that wasn't Batista's first attempt to break into the business. He went to the WCW Power Plant and was turned away. He went to WWE and was told to train with Afa Anoa'i at the Wild Samoan Training Center and worked there before returning to WWE.
5 STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN (CHRIS ADAMS)
Before Stone Cold Steve Austin became the biggest star in the world in WWE, he worked in WCW as Stunning Steve Austin. However, before this, he worked in World Class Championship Wrestling, the land of the Von Erichs.
It was here he was trained by none other than Gentleman Chris Adams, although he just taught Austin the moves but not the kayfabe world of wrestling. The two even worked an early feud where Adams' girlfriend left him for Austin and joined Austin in WCW as Lady Blossom.
4 RIC FLAIR (VERNE GAGNE)
Nature Boy Ric Flair is considered one of the best wrestlers of all-time. When choosing the Mount Rushmore of Wrestling, Flair's face is on almost everyone's list of the best in the world. With that said, every wrestler had to start somewhere.
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Flair got his start in Minnesota before he became the biggest star in the NWA in the '70s and '80s. In Minnesota, there is not a more prominent wrestling legend than Verne Gagne. Flair attended Gagne's first wrestling camp in 1971, alongside names like Iron Sheik, Ken Patera, and more.
3 BOOKER T (SCOTT CASEY)
Booker T got into wrestling for one reason. His older brother Stevie Ray wanted to become a wrestling star, and Booker T agreed to join up with him to help him achieve his goals. What happened was that Booker T became one of the biggest stars in wrestling. They got their start in GFW in Dallas and trained with Scott Casey at Ivan Putski's wrestling school, which Booker T credited with teaching him in-ring psychology.
2 ULTIMATE WARRIOR (RED BASTIEN & RICK BASSMAN)
In the '80s, Rick Bassman and Red Bastien wanted to create a new faction of young stars and went out looking for bodybuilders to develop the new group. The two biggest superstars to come out of this unit were Sting and The Ultimate Warrior. Bastien and Bassman trained the entire group before they broke up. Warrior went to Mid-South for a short time and then went off on his own for World Class Championship Wrestling.
1 MICK FOLEY (DOMINIC DENUCCI)
Mick Foley is a hardcore legend and a WWE Hall of Fame superstar that many credits with bringing hardcore wrestling to WWE. Before he was Mick Foley, he was Mankind in WWE, and before that, he was Cactus Jack in WCW and Japan. Foley started training in college when he attended Dominic DeNucci's wrestling school in Pennsylvania. Attending this school gave Foley the chance to work in WWE in squash matches and got him his big break.
