| TERM |
DEFINITION |
| 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. |
| Baby
face |
A
good guy. |
| Blade |
The
practice of cutting oneself or being cut with a part of
a razor blade hidden in tights, hair, under the ring or
wrist tape in order to produce blood. Usually cut on the
hairline or in the upper forehead. |
| Blind |
When
a referee has his back turned while the other side is
cheating. Usually done by heels in order to gain the advantage
in a match. |
| Blow
off |
The
big money match to settle a feud between two rivals. The
tension builds until it needs to be blown off. |
| Blow
up |
To
become very fatigued or exhausted, during the match. |
| Booker |
The
individual responsible for writing the angles, storylines,
finishes of match. Also helps in the hiring and firing
in a promotion. |
| Boy(s) |
A
wrestler. Being on of the boys, just means you're a wrestler. |
| Bump |
A
fall or hit to the mat which knocks the person down. |
| Card |
The
series of matches in one location at one time.
|
| Cleans
house |
When
a wrestler(s) eliminates every other man in the ring. |
| Comp |
To
be comped means you got a free ticket to a wrestling event. |
| Curtain
jerker |
Wrestlers
who usually opens the shows up. Bascially the first match
on the card. |
| Dark
match |
A
match performed before the live TV/PPV show. Seen by the
live crowd but not by the TV audience. |
| Draw |
To
attract fans. The popularity of a wrestler, the ability
to bring in fans. |
| Dud |
A
particularly bad and totally uninteresting match. |
| Fall |
A
referee's count of three with the loser's shoulders on
the mat. |
| Feud |
A
series of matches between two wrestlers or multiple groups.
Many times they will interview and bad mouth the other
wrestler(s). |
| Finish |
The
event or sequence of events which leads to the ultimate
outcome of a match. |
| Garbage |
Matches
or promotions that have no wrestling but pure violence.
Use of nothing but weapons and violent gimmick matches. |
| Getting
light |
To
get light on your oponnent means that you try work with
your opponent and get as light as you can so he can get
you into in a move. i.e. posting your hand on shoulders
for a gorilla press, or jumping up into a body slam. |
| Gorilla
position |
The
area wrestlers wait their turn to come out for their match/run-in/interview.
Most all the time it's the area right behind the curtains. |
| Green |
Not
good due to inexperience in the ring. |
| Hardway
juice |
Real
blood produced by means other than blading. Done the hard
way. |
| Heat |
Enthusiasm,
a positive/negative response from fans. |
| Heavy |
The
opposite of getting light. Basically being dead weight
and not helping your opponent get you in any type of move. |
| Heel |
A
bad guy; rule-breaker. |
| House |
The
wrestling audience in the building |
| House
show |
A
wrestling event that is not televised. |
| International
object |
Foreign
object, something not allowed in the ring. |
| Job |
A
staged loss. A clean job is a staged loss by legal pin
fall or submission without resort to illegalities. |
| Jobber |
An
un-pushed wrestler who does jobs for pushed wrestlers.
Usually a wrestler who is on a long losing streak. |
| Juice |
Blood.
Also means steroids |
| Juicing |
Means
two things; A wrestler who is be bleeding. It also means
a wrestler who is taking steroids. |
| Kayfabe |
Of
or related to inside information about the business. To
break kayfabe is to break out of your character. It is
also used by wrestlers to kayfabe each other, which means
to keep quiet on certain things with other people and
to not let them know. |
| Kill |
To
stop a gimmick or match that is not getting a good response
from the crowd. |
| Mark |
A
member of the audience, presumed gullible. Basically a
wrestling fan who attends all the shows, buys all the
merchandise etc. |
| Mid-carder |
A
wrestler who wrestles on the under-card but is usually
well known. |
| Over |
When
a wrestler's gimmick is well liked by the fans or he receives
a great amount of heat whether it be cheers or boos. To
be over is to get a big response from fans whenever a
wrestler comes out. |
| Paper |
Free
complimentary tickets, given to fans and friends/family
of wrestlers to make the arena look as if it sold out. |
| Pop |
A
loud sudden heat from a house as a response to a wrestler's
entry or hot move. |
| Post |
To
run or be run into the ring post. |
| Potato |
to
To injure a wrestler by hitting him on the head or causing
him to hit his head on something. He is legitimately hurt
from the move. |
| Powder
out |
to
To powder out means either you get knocked out of the
ring and leave, or you run out of the ring. |
| Push |
When
a wrestler starts to go on a winning streak and gets title
shots. Also gets more interview time and TV time. |
| Psychology |
To
tell a story by working over a certain body part, making
a series of moves make sense in the ring. Working the
crowd at the right momen, and to sell a lot. |
| Referee
position |
Most
wrestlers use this to start their match. It is the collar
and elbow tie up. |
| Rest
hold |
When
wrestlers need to take a rest during a match, or figure
out the next series of moves, or they can't decide what
to do next. They will apply some type of boring non-damaging
hold. It only serves to stretch out the match and give
the wrestlers time to breathe. |
| Rib |
A
rib is playing a practical joke on someone else. Many
wrestlers do this to each other on the road. |
| 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 due to factors outside
the rules of wrestling. |
| Sell |
Means
to act hurt and use facial expressions when a move has
been applied. |
| Shoot |
The
real thing. A match where the participants are really
attempting to hurt another. |
| Smark |
A
smart mark. A guy who thinks he knows everything there
is to know about wrestling. Doesn't care much for gimmicks
or angles. Like good matches with psychology. |
| Spot |
An
sequence/series of moves which makes a particular match
distinctive, the climax of a match. |
| Spot
fest |
A
match with no psychology. Just high impact moves after
high impact moves. There is no storytelling during these
types of matches. |
| Squash |
A
totally passive job where one wrestler completely dominates
another. |
| Stable |
Multiple
wrestler's united to form a group. |
| Stiff |
A
wrestler who cannot maneuver around the ring very swiftly.
He doesn't have much flexibility or stamina. To get stiff
also means that all your blows and moves are more physical
and hurts more. |
| Stretch |
A
form of shoot where one wrestler dominates rather than
injures the other as a proof of personal superiority.
To stretch someone is to get a wrestler in a submission
and stiff him by pulling back. |
| Tap
out |
To
give into a submission maneuver |
| Turn |
Change
in orientation from heel to face or vice-versa. |
| Tweener |
A
wrestler who is part heel and part face. He isn't classified
as a heel or face, he is more in the middle. |
| Work |
A
deception or fraud, the opposite of a shoot. Also to work
the crowd means to get the crowd into. |
| Worker |
Another
term for wrestler. |
| Workrate |
The
approximate ratio of good wrestling to stamina in a match
or in a wrestler's performance. |