This is not intended
to be a list of technical wrestling terms; but instead
contains words that, a true wrestling fan should understand.
Angle
A wrestling "plot" which may involve only one match
or may continue over several matches for some time;
the reason behind a feud or a turn.
Blade
[razor blade] The practice of cutting oneself or being
cut with a part of a razor blade hidden in tights, hair
or wrappings in order to produce juice.
Blow up
To become fatigued or exhausted. The Ultimate Warrior
was said to be one of a number of wrestlers who blows
up on the entry ramp.
Booker
The individual responsible for angles, finishes,
hiring and firing in a promotion.
Bump
A fall or hit done as a spot (see spot) which takes
the wrestler (or other participant, i.e. referee, manager)
out of the ring or out of action.
Card
The series of matches in one location at one time.
Draw
To attract marks. n. the popularity of a wrestler, the
ability to bring in marks.
DUD
A particularly bad and totally uninteresting match.
Face
[babyface] A good guy.
Fall
[pinfall] A referee's count of three with the loser's
shoulders on the mat.
Feud
A series of matches between two wrestlers or two tag
teams, usually face vs. heel though face feuds and heel
feuds are not unknown.
Finish
The event or sequence of events which leads to the
ultimate outcome of a match.
Green
Not good due to inexperience.
Hardway juice
Real blood produced by means other than blading,
i.e. the hard way. One of the possible outcomes of a
shoot.
Heat
Enthusiasm, a positive response. The WWF uses a
heat machine for its televised shows which make them
somewhat of a work.
Heel
A bad guy, rule-breaker.
House
The wrestling audience in the building said to be
composed of marks.
International object
Foreign object, something now allowed in the ring.
Derived from an order not to use the world "foreign"
by the Turner Broadcasting Company.
Job
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. Sometimes combined with a descriptive
adjective (stretcher job, rope job, tights job.)
Jobber
An unpushed wrestler who does jobs for pushed wrestlers.
Barry Horowitz is probably the best known of these.
Sometimes known as fish, redshirts PLs (professional
losers,) or 'ham-and-eggers.' Steve Lombardi (Brooklyn
Brawler) is also a well known jobber.
Juice
To bleed, usually as a result of blading.
Kayfabe
Of or related to inside information about the business,
especially by fans. Origin is carny jargon talk for
"fake."
Kill
Diminish or eliminate heat or drawing power. 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
A member of the audience, presumed gullible.
Paper
Complimentary tickets v.t. to give lots of complimentary
tickets to make a house look good, particularly for
a television taping.
Pop
Sudden heat from a house as a response to a wrestler's
entry or hot move.
Post
To run or be run into the ringpost.
Potato
To injure a wrestler by hitting him on the head
or causing him to hit his head on something.
Run-in
Interference by a non-participant in a match.
Save
A run-in to protect a wrestler from being beat up
after a match is over.
Screw-job
A match or ending which is not clean (definite)
due to factors outside the "rules" of wrestling.
Shoot
The real thing, i.e. a match where one participant
is really attempting to hurt another. The opposite of
work or fake.
Spot
An event or sequence of events which makes a particular
match distinctive, a high-point of a match.
Squash
A totally passive job where one wrestler completely
dominates another. v.t. to win a squash match.
Stiff
Chops, hits or moves which cause real injury (though
perhaps not more than a welting up of the opponent.)
Big Van Vader has a reputation as a stiff worker. Not
a shoot, but almost.
Stretch
A form of shoot where one wrestler dominates rather
than injures the other as a proof of personal superiority.
Turn
Change in orientation from heel to face or vice-versa.
Work
A deception or sham, the opposite of a shoot.
Workrate
The approximate ratio of good wrestling to rest
holds in a match or in a wrestler's performance.