Wrestling
Vocabulary
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- 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.
- Apron
- The fabric that covers the
area of the ring between the mat and the floor; Also the
area of the ring on the mat on the outside of the ropes
that the inactive tag team members stands on.
- 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.
- Blind Tag
- When the outside member of a tag team tags
their partner without opponent noticing.
- Blow Up
- Weary, drained from strength.
- Booker
- The individual responsible
for angles, matches, and finishes in a promotion.
- Bump
- A fall or hit done as a 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.
- Chant
- The sound the whole crowd
makes when they are yelling the same words.
- Clean Finish
- A staged loss by legal pinfall or submission
without resort to illegalities.
- Curtain
- The doorway at the
entranceway. For many years it consisted of merely a
curtain that would not allow people to see behind the
doorway.
- Dance
- A match.
- Draw
- The attendance of a show; The popularity of wrestler; A
match that ends without a winner, usually due to time
limit.
- Dud
- A particularly bad and
totally uninteresting match.
- Face
- A wrestler that is a
"good guy."
- Fall
- A win in a match by either a
pin, count out, submission, or disqualification.
- Feud
- A series of matches between
two wrestlers or two tag teams, usually face vs. heel
though face feuds and heel feuds are not uncommon.
- Finish
- The event or sequence of
events which leads to the ultimate outcome of a match.
- Finishing Move
- The final move used by a
wrester to finish off the match before a pin or as a
submission move.
- Foreign Object
- An item used during a match
that came from outside the ring.
- Gimmick
- The way a wrestler acts,
looks, etc (including his name) A gimmick is usually made
up. ex: a wrestler's gimmick is a police man, so he
dresses like one, acts like one, and has a name like a
police officer.; Fixing an object so it will break easier
and/or hurt less when it is hit by a wresler;
Adjective--an item that has been gimmicked.
- Gimmick Match
- A match that has extra
stipulations.
- Green
- Not good due to inexperience.
- Heat
- A negative reaction from the
crowd towards a wrestler.
- Heel
- A "bad guy" whose
actions are mainly bad.
- House
- An arena.
- House Show
- A non-televised wrestling
event at an arena.
- Hulking-up
- When a wrestler makes a comeback while
no-selling an opponents offense, then goes on an offensive flurry of their
own
- Job
- A staged loss.
- 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
- Real blood produced by means
other than blading, when drawn unexpectantly--the hard
way.
- 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,
that goes along with the story lines, hating the bad guys
and liking the good guys.
- No Contest
- A match that ends without any
announced winner, usually on television. Usually when
another person interferes and brutally attacks both
competitors.
- Paper
- Complimentary tickets.
Usually given 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.
- Promo
- An Interview; or A photograph of the
wrestler with their name on it for autographing
- Push
- To be elevated to noticeable status in
organization; usually done with or just before a championship run.
- Ropes
- The ropes that define the
ring and keep the action on the inside of the ring. The
ropes are made of steel cables covered in rubber.
- 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
- Real action with real injuries (not Fake);
An interview done out of character with real feelings or emotion.
- Singlet
- A wrestling outfit that is
the same as an amateur wrestling outfit. It is a one
piece outfit that looks like shorts that end above the
navel and have straps over the shoulders.
- Spots
- An event or sequence of
events which makes a particular match distinctive, a
high-point of a match.
- Squash
- Match where one opponent
totally dominates.
- 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.
- Stable
- A group of wrestlers that
stay together like a group. They come out together,
wrestle together and are interviewed together.
- Stretch
- When one wrestler squashes
opponent without hurting them.
- Theme Song
- The music that a wrestler
comes out with.
- Titantron
- The big video screen that is
used at a WWF television show that is located above the
entranceway (or next to it). Also refers to the video
that is shown on the Titantron
- Turn
- Change in orientation from
heel to face or vice-versa.
- Turnbuckle
- The part of the ring that
connects the ropes to the ringpost.
- Turnbuckle Pad
- The protective covering that
covers the turnbuckle.
- Work
- A deception or sham, the
opposite of a shoot.
- Work Rate
- The approximate ratio of good
wrestling to rest holds in a match or in a wrestler's
performance.