Wrestling Glossary
Byron C. Howes
edition. These definitions have been inferred from usage and any or
all may be incorrect. Additions and corrections are more than
welcome. --Byron
---
angle n. a wrestling "plot" which continues over several matches for
some time; the reason behind a feud.
blade v.i & v.t. the largely discontinued practice of cutting oneself
or being cut with a part of a razor blade hidden in tights or hair in
order to produce juice.
blow up v.i. to become fatigued or exhausted. The Ultimate Warrior is
said to be one of the few wrestlers who blows up on the entry ramp.
bump n. a fall or hit done as a spot (see spot) usually, but not
necessarily, by a referee, manager or other non-wrestler.
card n. the series of matches in one location at one time.
draw v.t. To attract marks. n. the popularity of a wrestler, the
ability to bring in marks.
face n. & adj. [babyface] a good guy.
fall n. [pinfall] a referee's count of three with the loser's shoulders
on the mat.
feud n. a series of matches between two wrestlers or two tag teams,
usually face vs. heel though face feuds and heel feuds are not unknown.
hardway juice n. real blood produced by means other than blading, i.e.
the hard way.
heat n. enthusiasm, a positive response. The WWF uses a heat machine
for its televised shows which make them somewhat of a work.
heel n. & adj. a bad guy.
house n. The wrestling audience in the building said to be composed of
marks.
job n. a staged loss. A clean job is a staged loss by legal pinfall or
submission without resort to illegalities. v.i. To do a job.
jobber n. an unpushed wrestler who does jobs for pushed wrestlers.
Barry Horowitz is probably the best known of these. Sometimes known as
fish, redshirts or PLs (professional losers.)
juice n. blood. v.i to bleed, usually as a result of blading.
kayfabe n. adj. of or related to inside information about the business,
especially by fans.
kill v.t. diminish or eliminate heat or drawing power. The WWF has
effectively killed Terry Taylor. There are a variety of ways to do
this, but mostly it is done by having a wrestler do too many jobs. A
house can be killed by too many screw-job endings.
mark n. A member of the audience.
paper n. complimentary tickets v.t. to give lots of complimentary
tickets to make a house look good, particularly for a television taping.
pop v.i. to respond suddenly with heat to a wrestler's entry or hot
move.
potato v.t. To injure or knock another wrestler unconscious by hitting
him on the head.
run-in n. interference by a non-participant in a match.
save n. a run-in to protect a wrestler from being beat up after a
match is over.
screw-job n. adj. a match or ending which is not definite due to
factors outside the "rules" of wrestling.
shoot n. the real thing, i.e. a match where one participant is
really attempting to hurt another.
squash n. a totally passive job where one wrestler completely dominates
another. v.t. to win a squash match.
stiff adj. chops, hits or moves which cause real injury (though
perhaps not more than a welting up of the opponent.) Ric Flair has a
reputation as a stiff worker.
stretch n. a form of shoot where one wrestler dominates rather than
injures the other as a proof of personal superiority.
work n. a deception or sham.
workrate n. the approximate ratio of good wrestling to rest holds in a
match or in a wrestler's performance.
--
Byron Howes UNC Educational Computing Service
b...@uncecs.edu W: 919/549-0671 H: 919/933-2859
P.O. Box 663, Carrboro, NC 27510
"Ya talk the talk, but do ya walk the walk?" -- Animal Mother
Randy Orrison
|Here again is a posting of the glossary slightly updated from the last
|edition. These definitions have been inferred from usage and any or
|all may be incorrect. Additions and corrections are more than
|welcome. --Byron
|
|necessarily, by a referee, manager or other non-wrestler.
|
Nice list Byron, but.....what's a spot?
-Charlie....posting from a friends account that gets r.s.p-w
--
Charles Anderson c...@garnet.ahse.cdc.com
Even smiling makes my face ache - Frank
Robert E. Hodge
criticism... Shouldn't the definition of "mark" be clarified
a bit? As used here, if you're a mark, you believe in this
stuff. (A scary thought, isn't it?)
++++ Bob Hodge ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ "The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing." +
+ - Marcus Aurelius (121 - 180 a.d.) +
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Byron C. Howes
>Thanks for the re-post of the glossary, but I have one small
>criticism... Shouldn't the definition of "mark" be clarified
>a bit? As used here, if you're a mark, you believe in this
>stuff. (A scary thought, isn't it?)
I'll plead guilty to having omitted the definition of "spot," but stand
by the definition of "mark." From the the standpoing of the business,
everyone outside the business is a mark.
--Byron Ultimate Warrior
Robert E. Hodge
>I'll plead guilty to having omitted the definition of "spot," but stand
>by the definition of "mark." From the the standpoing of the business,
>everyone outside the business is a mark.
OK, with that explanation, I agree. I was only thinking of how it's
used here, and how to best explain the term to newcomers to these
discussions. Speaking of that, is someone still working on a
Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) post? Between the glossary and
the real name list, it's probably about covered, but I can think
of other things to put there.
Byron C. Howes
>Speaking of that, is someone still working on a
>Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) post? Between the glossary and
>the real name list, it's probably about covered, but I can think
>of other things to put there.
I tried to collect a series of FAQs, but the only things I had which weren't
entirely time-dependent were kayfabe sheet addresses and rates, which I'll
post. I also have my own database of wrestler info, mostly complete,
which pretty much agrees with Herb's but isn't in as useable a format.
I tend to think that separate postings of wrestler info, glossary, kayfabe
info and possible a who's related to who (professional wrestling being the
family business that it is) should complete the task. Can anyone think of
anything else?
Evan Marcus [Sun NJ Systems Consultant]
>In <15...@abvax.UUCP> r...@manga.icd.ab.com (Robert E. Hodge) writes:
>I tend to think that separate postings of wrestler info, glossary, kayfabe
>info and possible a who's related to who (professional wrestling being the
>family business that it is) should complete the task. Can anyone think of
>anything else?
I would like to see the wrestler info list also include other jobs,
if any. Like Kamala's being a NJ schoolteacher (anyone have other
details, like where in NJ, or what he teaches), or George "The Animal"
Steele being a high school history teacher in Michigan (I'm told).
Perhaps also why a ex-wrestler is no longer in the game, or what
federation they are currently in.
Evan Ultimate Warrior
--
WHO: Evan L. Marcus "Hi, my name is Buddy, and this
WHAT: Sun Microsystems is my outfielder Daryl, and
WHERE: Saddle Brook, New Jersey, USA this is my other outfielder Darryl."
HOW: mar...@neiman.East.Sun.COM -- for Mets fans only