"When you hit your man with the forearm," Z-Man said, "you want to bend your arm like this. Swing it around, using the shoulder as a pivot point. Remember, force equals mass times acceleration, and the more speed you put on swinging the arm around, the greater the impact of the blow."

Bagwell was clearly taking an abundance of mental notes of the Z-Man's teachings.

"But you also want to remember to try and target the impact below the elbow, not above," Z-Man continued. "The point of impact should be as far away from the shoulder as possible without sacrificing significant muscle mass at the point of impact."
 
Bagwell asked why.

"Force times acceleration," Z-Man explained. "The further the impact point is from the pivot point, the greater the effectiveness of the blow. Here's a mental tip: Think of a marching band turning a corner; the guys on the inside of the turn barely move, while the guys on the outside are taking hugh steps to keep up. Or a record on a turntable; the center label moves in a circle at a slower speed than the outside edge."

Bagwell shook his head in understanding, and said he would apply what he learned in his next match.

"The Z-Man is always there to help me fine-tune my moves and maneuvers," Bagwell told WCW Magazine. "I'm really lucky to have a friend - and a teacher - that I can trust, and who can keep my mind working on really thinking, in deep detail, about the moves I do in the ring."
 
 

"Marcus has quite a future ahead of him," Z-Man said. "He's a great wrestler and a great tag team partner. I'm honored to be able to give him any kind of help that I can."

With that, the Z-Man resumed his lesson, moving on to the arm bar.

"I noticed one thing about your arm bar when we teamed up at the Clash against [Rick] Rude and [Steve] Austin, Z-Man said. "It's good, and it's effective, but you could put even more pressure to bear on your opponent's shoulder if you move your hands and raise yourself up a bit. Here, let me show you."

Z-Man placed Bagwell in an arm bar.

"See, like this the hands are too low, not close enough to the shoulder to give you maximum control. Up here, with your hands like this..."

Z-Man adjusted his hold on Bagwell. 

"...it's a lot more effective. Try it on me."

Bagwell and Z-Man changed positions.

"Good," Z-Man said. "Now you a want to get a better angle by extending your upper body. Go to your toes if you have to, and lean in."

Bagwell did as he was told, and Z-Man barked a cry of pain. Bagwell immediately released the hold.

"I think I see what you mean!" Bagwell said with a laugh.

"You sure do," Z-Man agreed, rubbing his shoulder a bit. "Try that on Austin next time, and really cinch it in. See how loud he yelps!"

Z-Man and Bagwell laughed, then quickly moved on to a discussion of the sleeper hold.

"Quite a mentor," Bagwell said pointing to Z-Man. "I'm lucky to have him on my side."

The wrestlers who will be facing Bagwell in the future, however, can't consider themselves nearly as fortunate.
 
 

In the latest of many one-on-one training sessions, Z-Man demonstrates two subtle variations on the armbar (top left, above left) and has Bagwell demonstrate his own version (left) to see if the youngster has improved his technique. When the two men tag together (top right), Z-Man frequently shouts tips and encouragement to his partner.

"I think it's important that the fans understand a little bit about the technical side of the sport," the Z-Man explained. "It's easy to see a forearm smash done in the ring and think that all the wrestler did was hit the guy with his arm."

"But when you analyze it in detail," Z-Man continued, "there's a lot of technical knowledge that goes into a properly thrown forearm - or drop-kick, or whatever it may be. Anybody can throw a forearm smash; only a few can really do it well enough to make it count in the heat of a match. And that's true of every hold in the sport, no matter how simple it seems: Take the time to analyze it, and you can always improve on your skills.

"I also want the fans to know that Marcus is a superb young talent, and that the future holds a lot of promise for him," Z-Man said. "Whether it's as a single or in a tag team with me, believe me: Marcus has a lot of belts in his future."

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