Art of wrestling: Stars Nic Nemeth and Mara Sadé discuss their craft before next week’s shows at Tingley Coliseum

When people think of professional wrestling, what first springs to mind are usually the high-flying acrobatic maneuvers — the missile dropkicks, spinning spinebusters and diving clotheslines. But beyond the sheer athleticism, pro wrestlers make use of creative storytelling, expressive acting skills and complex, well-timed choreography.

“Wrestling is an art,” said Mara Sadé (born Jamara Garrett), an Albuquerque native and rising star in the wrestling world, who previously performed under the ring name Jakara Jackson.

Sadé will join superstar wrestler Nic Nemeth at Albuquerque’s Tingley Coliseum for two nights of Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling on Thursday, Jan. 22, and Friday, Jan. 23. Both evenings will be shown on the AMC channel, the first as a live broadcast.

“It’s my actual hometown. That’s a big deal,” Sadé said. “That becomes an extra special moment. … You want to see your family and perform for them and do the absolute best.”

Nemeth, who wrestled as Dolph Ziggler during his 19-year tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), is widely considered one of the most talented pro wrestlers of all time. The Sportster, an online wrestling and combat sports magazine, recently ranked him as the second-greatest former WWE wrestler to make the switch to TNA.

Nemeth knew he wanted to be a pro wrestler from the age of 5, which he said is “kind of weird.” Pro wrestlers, he said, come from many backgrounds — sports, dance, even law. But as soon as Nemeth saw his first live wrestling match, he knew it was what he wanted to do with his life.

“My dad took me to my first show. … Cleveland did not have an arena, so we had to drive an hour to the Richfield Coliseum, where the Cavs (NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers) played, and where the first (WWE) ‘Survivor Series’ was,” Nemeth said. “It was much different then. Now, it’s pyrotechnics and people with their screens everywhere, but (back then) even at a live event, it was just black curtains and a ring. I watched the show … Hulk Hogan was the main event. And I just told my dad, ‘I want to be a professional wrestler.’ I was 5 years old.”

So, Nemeth’s father took him to a wrestling gym.

“I walked into the gym, and it’s just mats on the floor. I’m like, ‘Where’s the ring? Where’s the ropes?’ He goes, ‘This is a different kind of wrestling, but if you get good at this and stick with it, maybe you can get there one day.’ So, I stuck with it my whole life,” Nemeth said.

Sadé, by contrast, began her career as a fitness and fashion model in Albuquerque. After transitioning into bodybuilding, she appeared on “The Titan Games,” hosted by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. In 2021, she tried out for WWE, joining the company the following year.

“Everybody’s story is super different, and I appreciate that about the wrestling world. Everybody comes from completely different walks of life,” she said.

Sadé was inspired by other women wrestlers, including Jacqueline Moore and Mercedes Moné aka Sasha Banks.

“For me, Sasha Banks was somebody who opened my eyes to (the idea that) women can do this,” Sadé said. “I was like, ‘Wow, maybe I can do it, too.’”

Sadé and Nemeth said people tend to underestimate the creative side of pro wrestling.

“It’s a huge process. It starts weeks, months or years earlier,” Nemeth said.

The wrestlers work with an entire creative team, including producers and creative directors, to develop interlocking storylines that unfold over time. Certain sequences require extensive preparation, including rehearsing with the camera operators to ensure the shots are perfectly timed.

“You don't need to practice moves a lot, unless it's something out of the ordinary, or if you're thinking production wise, like, ‘Hey, we want this perfect camera angle for this shot, and I want this person landing in the background while I see this other person with tears in their eyes,’” Nemeth said. “So, you set up the scene cinematically.”

The precise coordination of action and camera work is similar to long, complicated action sequences in films — with one key difference.

“Sometimes they have to do 20 takes to get it right, but (in wrestling) you don’t have 20. You got one shot,” Nemeth said. “Sometimes you don’t get exactly what you wanted, or sometimes you get exactly what you wanted but the boss goes, ‘That’s the opposite of what I wanted.’ … Then, you go back to the drawing board, you figure some things out, and you fix it for next time, whatever the next story is.”

Keeping the staging and blocking straight is not always easy in the midst of knock-down, drag-out fights.

“A lot goes into it, and it’s all while you’re absorbing getting punched in the face and trying to think that I need to be over in this corner when I get punched in the face next time,” Nemeth said. “And also while not making it look like a play, but making it look like it’s an MMA (mixed martial arts) fight that we’re trying to win.”

Sadé said expressing realistic emotions onstage is a big part of the job.

“You have to show the emotions, because people don’t know what it’s like, maybe, to be put in a chokehold or an arm bar,” she said.

Despite the extensive preparations, things in the ring often go awry.

“Even if you got something in your head planned, someone gets hurt, someone misses something, you forget something or your time gets cut,” Nemeth said. “It’s live theater.”

Sadé likened it to improvisational acting and said the ability to think on one’s feet is “what separates the great from the good.”

Although pro wrestlers today don’t hide the fact that the matches are scripted, Nemeth and Sadé said that allows fans to appreciate their artistry even more.

“We let everyone know we’re doing entertainment, but also, if you get lost in a great movie, you get lost in a great movie,” Nemeth said.

Sadé said she is always more impressed when she knows how much work went into a production — whether a wrestling match or a film.

“I remember when I was younger… and my favorite movie would come out on DVD, and they’d have that section where you can look behind the scenes and see how the special effects happened — I loved that stuff. It makes me appreciate it more,” Sadé said. 

Knowing how it's done doesn’t destroy the magic, because, as she puts it, "It's all magic."

Logan Royce Beitmen is an arts writer for the Albuquerque Journal. He covers visual art, music, fashion, theater and more. Reach him at lbeitmen@abqjournal.com or on Instagram at @loganroycebeitmen.