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- a b c
d e f g h
i j k l m
n o p q
r s t u v w x
y z
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- The History of Wreslingese-
- Professional Wrestling traces its contemporary roots to travelling
carnivals, where strongmen would challenge members of the crowd.
Typically, local heros would be promised a cash sum if they could
either pin the strongman or go fifteen minutes without the strongman
throwing them out of the ring. Much of this was "shoot"
fighting (fighting with no predetermined outcome), but sometimes
the carnivals would resort to subterfuge such as having the strongman
resort to illegal "hooks" (painful submission holds
usually involving the legs, and as such illegal in Greco-Roman
wrestling), or backing the local hero up against the curtain
and having a confederate hit him in the head with a 2 by 4. Given
the dangerous nature of such fighting ,many carnivals resorted
to planting a confederate prentending to be a local hero in the
crowd, and then staging "worked" fights (those with
predetermined outcomes). This also had the benefits of making
the wrestling marginally safer and much more entertaining to
the crowds (early beer hall wrestling matches could go on for
seven to nine hours with no outcome!). Hiding the worked nature
of the fights (and many of the other carnival attractions) forced
carnies to come up with their own form of pig latin (the word
"kay-fabe" is perhaps the last surviving word of this
idiolect) and to use words in idiosyncratic ways. This has evolved
into current wrestlingese, the idiolect spoken by wrestlers,
promoters, bookers, and hardcore fans alike.
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- a b c
d e f g h
i j k l m
n o p q
r s t u v w x
y z
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- Dictionary of Wrestlingese-
- -A-
- angle-
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- -B-
- babyface (see face)-
- "Of course, I cheered for all the babyfaces,
although at that time they were just the good guys to me. In
my eyes they stood for what was right. Wrestling was very black
and white in those days. There were no shades of gray, it was
cut and dry. With all of that bieng said, I could not help but
like the Macho Man and Ventura; I just wouldn't admit it."
(Copeland, p. 30)
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- belt-
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- blade (see get
juice)-
- "Up until that point of my career I
had never "bladed." The time honored
tradition of cutting yourself to get that infamous crimson mask"
(Copeland, p. 96)
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- blown up-
- "When it was over we [Angle and Chris
Benoit] were both blown up, which is our way of
saying we were dead tired." (Angle,
294)
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- booker-
- "His [Ed "Wahoo" McDaniel's]
friend, George Scott, had just started in Charlotte as the booker-the
man who makes the decisions on storylines and talent. . ."
(Flair, p. 33)
-
- "Some bookers begin to
think they're more powerful than the promoter. The bring in wrestlers
who are their friends andstop being innovative. George [Scott]
was nothing like that. He was creative. He knew how to get the
most out of talent. And maybe more importantly, he was no longer
werestling. So instead of consuming all the talent in order to
build himself up as a star; he concentrated on the other wrestlers'
strengths." (David Crockett, in (Flair,
p. 36))
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- broadway-
- "Our [Ric Flair and Jack Veneno] finish
was an example of what wrestling people call a "Broadway."
Veneno had me in a sleeper hold. The referee picked up my arm,
and it wilted. He picked it up a second time, and it flopped
again. He picked it up a third time, and-just as my arm fell
to the side, indicating that I was truly unconscious and Veneno
had won-the bell rang." (Flair, p.
100)
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- bump dummy (see jobber)-
- "It's a very little known fact that
I actually wrestled for WCW at TV tapings at Universal Studios
Orlando. I made the twenty-four-hour trip with Rhyno and it's
where we cemented our firendship. Basically, I was down there
to be a bump dummy, or the more politically correct
term "enhancement talent."
. . .I wrestled as Damien Stryker (my worst moniker to date)
againsst Meng and kevin Sullivan. During the match I got choke
slammed on the rotating wooden platform the ring was on."
(Copeland, p. 75)
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- bump-
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- bump card-
- "We were really hoping we didn't have
to go through another one of those camps, not because we didn't
think we had more to learn, but when you know how to take bumps,
therte's no use in going out and taking a thousand bumps a day.
All that does is shorten your career. You only have so many bumbs
on your bump card, and we didn't want to take 5
percent of our bums off doing things that weren't on T.V."
(Hardy, p. 82)
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- buyrate-
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- -C-
- call the shots-
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- card- (upper card/mid card/lower card)
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- carny-
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- casual fan-
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- character- (in character/out of character)
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- comeback-
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- countout-
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- -D-
- DQ-
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- dark match (see house
show)-
- "Finally, after four months of dark
(nontelevised) matches, Sean and I were told it
was time to shape our characters and get started." (Copeland, p. 106)
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- draw- (draw money/outdraw)
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- Dusty finish-
- "On the road, fans were getting tired
of seeing the same thing, over and over. The referee would get
knocked down, and the challenger would toss me over the top rope.
A second referee would run in, just in time to see me submit
or get pinned. The fans would think that I had lost the championship-unitil
the first ref woke up and announced that throwing your foe over
the ropes was a violation of NWA rules. Therefore, the good guy
was disqualified. Among the boys, this ending-with a few variations
here and ther-was called the "Dusty finish."It
worked great in the days of the territiories, when the fans in
Charlotte know knothing about the match results in Miami or Oklahoma
City. But because of cable and Pay-Per-View, people became so
familiar with the Dusty finish they could prdict
it ahead of time. And that wasn't good for business." (Flair, p. 170)
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- -E-
- ECW-
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- enhancement-
- "Now it's Superstar vs. Superstar all
the time, but in those days they used to have squash matches
where the Superstars would beat up on unknowns. Those nobodies
were knonw as enhancement wresters, or the more
common term, jobbers. The Stallion
had a special booking arrangement where he would supply wrestlers
from his promotion to serve as enhancement guys
to do the job for the established wrestlers." (Hardy,
p. 39)
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- -F-
- face- (see babyface)
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- fake-
- "Another thing I would never admit was
the claim that wreslting was predetermined, or worse yet,
the dreaded word (drum roll please) fake! Little
did I know that I would later come to understand, firsthand,
that wrestling was indeed predetermined, but it was definitely
not fake (the metal plate in my neck attests to that)."
(Copeland, p. 30)
-
- "All wreslters hate when people describe
what we do as fake, because nothing we do is fake.
Compare it to football. I've taken tackles where you get knocked
down hard but it doesn't hurt. The there've also been times where
it knocks you sill. It's the same thing with wrestling. Sometimes
the physicality isn't so bad, and sometimes it's terrible. But
fake is a very unfair word to use to describe
wrestling. It's an art. It's entetainment. For anybody to say
that it's fake when we're being thrown down and
taking bumps, that's just ingorant." (Hardy,
p. 181)
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- fast count-
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- finish-
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- finishing maneuver-
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- folding chair-
- "In pro wrestling, the folding
chair is like the doorbell in a sitcome or the cape in
a bullfight. It's a costar, really, opens up all kinds of deliciously
vicious possibilities. And how you handle it reveals almost as
much about your skill and ability as being able to body-slam,
arm-smak, or take a fall. Most people don't walk through life
getting hit with a folding chair, so most people
don't know what it's really supposed to look or feel like. Hitting
somebody with it, you wind up,you grunt, you put your whole body
into it. It's kind of like throwing a change-up in baseball-you
sell it in the windup and then feel the momentum. The recipient
does get hit, and usually pretty good too!" (Laurie,
p. 181)
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- -G-
- gimmick-
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- gimmick match-
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- -H-
- hardcore-
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- heat- (good heat/bad heat)
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- heel-
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- high flyer-
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- hook/hooker-
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- hot tag-
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- house show (see dark
match)-
- "After [Ricky] Steamboat's title win,
I began chasing him for the title at "house shows,"
nontelevised wrestling events." (Flair,
p. 179)
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- -I-
- independents/independent wrestling leagues-
- "Independent wrestling leagues were the backbone of bigtime pro wrestling.
Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee-all these loose confederacies provided
enterteinment for middle America. Jerry Lawler, our ring commentator,
owned a fairly large league in Memphis for some time. It was
even televised on a local affiliate. . But most of these independent
leagues were cheesay folding-chair shows, usually held
in high school gyms or VFW halls. The promoter charges maybe
five bucks, pumps in a little Whitesnake or Poison, and pays
his neices and nephews minimum wage to sell the concessions."
(Laurer, p. 154)
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- -J-
- jabroni-
- "Jabroni is a word
that has been around this industry for a long time. It was an
insider word, typically referring to someone in an unflattering
manner, as in, "That guy is a real jabroni
. . . a nobody."" (Rock, p.
235)
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- jimmy- [adjective]
- "Sometimes when I'm taking bumps in
the ring, my legs stick out in weird positions. When we were
in the Dojo, Christian thought they were the funniest things
he'd ever seen. "your legs are crazy," he'd say. "look
at them! They're all sideways! They're Jimmy Legs!
It was a terminology we created, and now a bunch of guys in the
locker room use it all the time: "Did you and so-and-so
blow that spot? Oh man, it was jimmied!"
Or "That guy is jimmy!"" (Hardy,
p. 83)
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- jimmy- [verb]
- ". . . what the hell is a jimmy jump?
Let me explain. We [Edge and Christian] coined the term because
of Matt Hardy's very odd legs. His hip sockets are all messed
up, which causes what we call "the jimmy
legs." The poor guy can't even do a squat, his knees shot
out in every direction. After that, everything became jimmy
this, jimmy that, leading to the coup
de grace of you're jimmied. Well Jay got jimmied
on his jimmy jump. He'd never done
it with a mask on and as he did it shifted over his eyes."
(Copeland, p. 168)
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- job- [noun]
- "That's the difference between the World
Wrestling Federation and some organizations from the past. They
[organizations from the past] have guys who won't do jobs,
which means they won't get beaten in the ring to help raise another
guy's profile in the company. They've got guys walking around
saying, "I'm not getting pinned. No way, not me." The
only way they'l agree to lose is if ther is interference from
other wrestlers, so it looks like the guy had no chance."
(Angle, p. 296)
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- job- [verb]
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- jobber
(see bump dummy)-
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- juice, get (see blade)-
- "I was also getting an education on
the "Red Badge of Courage," or bleeding. When you walked
into the dressing room and looked at the rundown of matches,
a little check next to your name signaled that it was your turn
to "get juice." Sometimes I'd cut myself
anyway, just like Dusty [Rhodes] would, if I beliefed that it
was going to add something to the confrontation." (Flair,
p. 44)
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- -K-
- kayfabe
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- -L-
- lucha libre- (luchador)
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- -M-
- main event- (main eventer)
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- main event style-
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- make (see over, put)-
- "I knew it was critical to my future
that Rocky "made me," which is the term
we use when your opponent makes you look good, even in a loss-like
you should have won but you didn't." (Angle,
p. 284)
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- manipulator-
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- mark-
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- match (gimmick)-
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- match (squash)-
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- match (standard)-
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- mike-
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-
- -O-
- over, be-
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- over, put-
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- -P-
- PPV-
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- people's champion-
- "On interviews, I'd periodically tease
the fans and call myself the "People's Champion,"
acting oblivious to the fact that the crowd was shouting for
my dismemberment. The Rock uses the same term, but goes out ofhis
way whenever he sees me to say that I was the original "People's
Champion." (Flair, p. 63)
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- pinfall-
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- pop-
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- potato-
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- preshow-
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- promo-
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- push-
- -R-
- raid-
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- rat/ring rat-
- "Rats were groupies."
(Laurie, p. 221)
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- RAW-
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- resthold-
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- rib- [noun and verb]
- There's a tradition in the wrestling business
of pulling practical jokes-also known as "ribs"-on
new guys. Even though we had been around the locker room for
a few years, once we became full-fledged WWE Superstars, we knowe
it was just a matter of time before we got ribbed.
(Hardy, p. 89)
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- road agent-
- "A road agent is a guy
who helps run a show and helps the talent come up with interesting
ways to entertain the crowd. They're also there to help newer
talent learn the business. Road agents in the WWE
report to either J.R. or Vince. Some agents specialize in different
things, so being a road agent can mean many things, but they
all help do something baskstage with the talent. Since they are
all ex-wrestlers, they have knowledge and experience to pass
on. They've been in almost every situation. These are all guys
Vince can trust with his business." (Austin,
p. 135)
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- rub-
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- -S-
- screwjob-
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- sell-
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- shoot-
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- shooter-
- "Our [Ken Patera and Ric Flair's class
at Verne Gagne's Minnesota wrestling school] main trainer was
Billy Robinson, an Englishman who had a reputation as a shooter,
meaning that if a match got out of hand, he could "shoot"-or
fight for real-and "hook"
his opponent with a hold that could cripple him." (Ken Patera,
in (Flair, p.17))
-
- "He [Renegade] grabbed a tire iron and
was heading toward me when Shane jumped in front of him with
the ring bell in his hands. He was ready to go! Shane's such
a little shooter-he loves a good fight." (Hardy,
p. 78)
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- shoot fight-
- "What Walter did best was teach us how
to street-fight or "shoot" fight. Arm
bars, choke holds, and sleeper holds that, if you performed properly,
would cut your enemies' breathing off so they'd pass out. . .
Walter turned us into lethal weapons, showed us fulcrum moves
where you manipulate a person's joints to make him move with
you. Walter taught us the real stuff-stuff you NEVER use on the
mat and hope to God you never need to use off it." (Laurer p. 147)
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- shooting-
- "But Bebe and the guy with the bad gas
are shooting now-a shoot being a real fight-
and Walter couldn't break up a smoke ring, so the rest of us
have to pull them apart." (Laurer,
p. 133)
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- Smackdown-
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- spot-
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- squared circle, the-
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- Strap, the-
- "So I remember Rocky sitting me down,
saying, "Listen, on Sunday I'm going to be giving you the
Strap." That's what we call the champoinship belt.
The Strap." (Angle,
p. 245)
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- stiff-
- "Pulling your punches is something that
takes a lot of finesse. It's kind of an art to make your punches
and kicks look real without actually hurting your opponent. Most
guys are pretty good, but you're going to get people who lay
into you. They get caught up in what's going on. If you don't
have great finesse, yo're called "stiff"
by the other guys. . ." (Angle, p.
272)
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- stretch-
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- storyline-
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- swerve-
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- -T-
- talent-
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- tapping out-
- "". . ."tapping out"
means you're surrendering because the hold your opponent has
you in is too painful. . ." (Laurer,
p. 133)
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- tag team-
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- title-
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- turn-
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- -W-
- WCW-
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- WWE-
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- war-
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- work-
- ". . .Vader started clubbing my head
like Barry Bonds at a T-Ball park. After the fifth or sixth shot
(I lost count) I realized I had to fire back or get eaten alive-maybe
literally. For every one of Vader's punches, I threw five stiff
ones. Hey, at least I had quickness on my side. After that the
big mastadon calmed down, and we worked the rest
of the match. Very snug, but relatively safe." (Copeland,
p. 115)
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- work rate-
- "Where I think we've been influential
is in terms of work rate, of putting on fast-paced,
intensely athletic wrestling matches. The evolution of what we
do can be traced back to [Ric] Flair. (Hardy,
p. 195)
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- Wrestlemania-
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- Wrestler's Court-
- "We got to the next house show and Bradshaw
told us, "You guys have been sentences to Wrestler's Court.
Your trial is set for next week at Raw." Wrestler's
Court is exactly what it sounds like. All the wrestlers gather
in the locker room, and they hold a mock trial. Tker is the judge
and Bradshaw is the prosecuting attorney. It's pretty scary,
because once you get up there on the stand, everybody's against
you." (Hardy, p. 103)
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- References:
- Angle,
Kurt with Harper, John, 2001, It's True! It's True!
(Harper Collins: New York; Copyright by World Wrestling Entertainment).
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- Austin,
Stone Cold Steve with Ross, Jim "J.R.", as told to
Dennis Brent, 2003, The Stone Cold Truth
(Simon And Schuster: New York; Copyright by World Wrestling Entertainment).
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- Copeland,
Adam "Edge," Adam Copeland on Edge
(Simon and Schuster: Newy York; Copyright by World Wrestling
Entertainment).
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- Hardy, Jeff and Hardy, Matt, with Krugman, Michael,
2003, The Hardy Boyz: Exist 2 Inspire
(Harper Collins: New York; Copyright
by World Wrestling Entertainment).
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- Flair, Ric with Greenberg, Keith Elliot and
ed. Madden, Mark, 2004, To Be the Man (Simon
And Schuster: New York; Copyright by World Wrestling Entertainment).
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- Rock, The
with Layden, Joe, 2000, The Rock Says. . .
(Harper Collin: New York; Copyright by World Wrestling Entertainment).
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- Laurer, Joanie with
Angeli, Michael, 2001, Chyna: the 9th Wonder of the World (Harper Collin: New York; Copyright by World
Wrestling Entertainment).
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