WrestlingTerms

Agent
Amanagementemployee,oftenaformerwrestler,whohelpswrestlerssetupmatches,plansstorylines,and
relaysinstructionsfromthebookers.Oftenactsasaliaisonbetweenwrestlersandhigherlevelmanagement.
Referredtoas"producers"byWWEandsometimesbyothercompanies.Sometimestheyhelptrainandteach
youngeractivewrestlersandgivecriticism.
Angle
Afictionalstoryline.Anangleusuallybeginswhenonewrestlerattacksanother(physicallyorverbally),which
resultsinrevenge.Ananglemaybeassmallasasinglematchoravendettathatlastsforyears.Itisnot
uncommontoseeananglebecomeretconnedduetoitnotgettingoverwiththefans,orifoneofthewrestlers
currentlyinvolvedintheangleisfired.
Blading
Awrestlerintentionallycuttinghimselftoprovokebleeding.
Blindtag
Atagmadeinatagteammatchwherethewrestlerontheaprontagshispartnerunbeknownsttothemor
withouttheirconsent.Itcanalsorefertosuchatagwherethetagger'sopponentisunawareataghasoccurred,
leavingthemopentoablindsideattack.Mostoftenoccurswhenthepartnerintheringisthrownagainstthe
ropesorbackedintotheirowncorner.
Botch
Toattemptascriptedmoveorspokenlinethatdoesnotcomeoutasitwasoriginallyplanned.
Bump
Tofallonthematorground.Aflatbackbumpisabumpinwhichawrestlerlandssolidlyontheirbackwithhigh
impact,spreadoverasmuchsurfaceaspossible.Aphantombumpoccurswhenawrestlerorrefereetakesa
bumpwithoutaplausiblereason(usuallyduetoabotchorothermistake).
Burial/bury
Theworkedlowering(relegation)ofapopularwrestler'sstatusintheeyesofthefans.Itistheactofapromoter
orbookercausingawrestlertolosepopularitybyforcingthemtoloseinsquashmatches,continuously,or
participateinunentertainingordegradingstorylines.Itcanbeaformofpunishmentforreallifebackstage
disagreementsorfeudsbetweenthewrestlerandthebooker,thewrestlerfallingoutoffavorwiththecompany,
orthewrestlerreceivinganunpopulargimmickthatcauseshimtolosecredibilityregardlessofwinlossrecord.

Draw
Awrestlerorprogramthatattractstheattentionoftheaudiencesomeonefansarewillingtopaytosee.Derived
fromtheterm"drawingmoney",meaningthewrestlermakesmoneyforthepromotion.
Face
Alsoreferredtoas"babyface".Awrestlerwhoisheroic,whoisbookedtobecheeredbyfans.[1]Heelsarethe
oppositeoffaces,andfacescommonlyperformagainstheels.
FaceinPeril(also"PlayingRickyMorton")
Inatagteammatch,thememberofafaceteamwhoisdominatedbytheheelteamforanextendedperiodof
thematch.Thetacticcanbeusedtohelpgetthecrowdbehindthefacetagteamandisusuallyfollowedupwith
ahottag.Duringthe1980s,RickyMortonoftheRock'N'RollExpresswastypicallyinthispositionwhile
teamingwithRobertGibsonsomuchsothat"PlayingRickyMorton"hasbecomesynonymouswiththeterm.
Falsefinish
Apinfallattemptwhichiskickedoutof,usuallyafterafinishingmoveorseriesofhighimpactmoves,and
usuallykickedoutofjustbeforetherefereecountstothree.Thisbuildscrowdanticipationtowardstheactual
finish.
Finisher
Awrestler'ssignaturemovethatusuallyleadstothepinfallorsubmission.
Gohomeshow
Thefinaltelevisedshowbeforeapayperviewevent.
Gorillaposition
Thestagingareajustbehindthecurtainwherewrestlerscomeouttothering,namedafterGorillaMonsoon.
Heat
Negativereactionsfromthelivefans.Whentheheatisdirectedataheelthisisseenasapositive,asitmeans
fansarereactinginthedesiredway.Alsousedtodescribereallifetensionorbadfeelingbetweentwowrestlers.
Heel
Awrestlerwhoisvillainous,whoisbookedtobebooedbyfans.Facesaretheoppositeofheels,andheels
commonlyperformagainstfaces.
Hottag

Inatagteammatch,theface'stagtoafreshpartnerafterseveralminutesofbeingdominatedbybothheels,
usuallyimmediatelyfollowedbythefreshlytaggedpartnergettinginaquickburstofoffense.Oftenthehottag
happensafterseveralteases(wheretheotherfaceisenticedintothering,onlytobestoppedbytherefereeand
theheelsgettingawaywithillegaltactics.)
Indie/independentpromotion
Asmallerwrestlingcompanythatoperatesatalocal(ratherthannational)levelandtypicallyemploysfreelance
wrestlers,asopposedtosigningwrestlerstoexclusivecontracts.
IWC
Internetwrestlingcommunitythecommunityofsocialmediausers(someofthemsmarks)whodiscusspro
wrestlingonlineonsocialmediaplatforms.TheWWEhasreferredtothiscommunityastheInternet
sportsentertainmentcommunity.
Job
Toloseinawrestlingmatch,usuallyoverwhelminglyinsquashmatches.
Kayfabe
Thepresentationofprofessionalwrestlingasbeingentirelylegitimateorreal.Priortothemid1980s,thiswas
universallymaintainedacrossallwrestlingterritoriesandpromotions.
Mark
Awrestlingfanwhoenthusiasticallybelievesthatprofessionalwrestlingisnotstaged,orlosessightofthe
stagednatureofthebusinesswhilesupportingtheirfavoritewrestlers.Alsosometimesusedbyindustryinsiders
todescribeaparticipantinthewrestlingindustrywhobelievesthatanyaspectoftheindustryismoreimportant
thanthemoneytheycanearnforexample,beingpreoccupiedwithholdingatitlebeltratherthanbeingpaid
more.Althoughthistermhaslostmostofitsoriginalmeaningovertimethetermhasbeenalsoknowntobe
relatedtopeoplehavelittleornoknowledgeinaboutthebackstage,theindustryasawholeoroverzealously
defendsamajorcompanyorproductwhileignoringallothertoeverexist.Thissubtermiscalleda"product
mark".(e.g.WWEMark,TNAMark,ROHMarketc,etc.)
Midcarder
Awrestlerwhoisseenashigherthanalowcarderbutbelowamaineventer,typicallyperforminginthemiddle
ofashow.Oftencompetingforthesecondarytitleofafederation.An"uppermidcarder"isawrestlerwhocan
transitionbetweenthemidcardandoccasionalmaineventprograms.
Nearfall

Anoccurrenceinwhichawrestler'sshouldersarepinnedtothematforacountoftwo,butthewrestlermanages
toescapebeforethereferee'shandhitsthematathirdtime,whichwouldsignifyapinfall."Twoandahalf
count"orotherfractionsusedtodenoteevencloser"counts",suchas"twoandthreequarters",areoftenused
manytimesinmatchestobuildexcitement.Occasionallyrelatedtoa"falsefinish"
Nosell
Toshownoreactiontoanopponent'soffensivemovesawaytodemonstrateendurance,appearinvulnerableto
pain,legitimatelyundermineanopponentortoillustratemasochistictendencies.Comparesell.
Pop
Acheerorpositivereactionfromthecrowd.
Potato
Astriketotheheadwhichmakesrealcontact.Awrestlerwhoenduresoneormorepotatoesislikelytopotato
theperpetratorback,whichisknownasa"receipt".
Promo
Anincharacterinterviewormonologue.Oftenincludeseitheran"inringinterview"or(ontelevision)askitby
wrestlersandotherperformerstoadvanceastorylineorfeud.Theactofperformingapromoisreferredtoas
"cutting",asin"cuttingapromo".Whenthepromoisaimedataspecificopponent(whichcanbeanindividual,
team,orstable),itissaidtobecut"on"thetarget.
Push
Theworkedrisingofawrestler'sstatusintheeyesofthefans.
Putover
Toenhanceormakepopularawrestlerorgimmickintheeyesofthefans.Alsousedasacatchalltermfora
victory,asin"Hegotputoverbyhisopponenttonight"
Refbump
Ascenariowheretherefereeofthematchtakesabumpandisknockedoutandtakenoutofthematch.
Ringpsychology
Theprocessofwrestlingamatchinsuchawaythatthecrowdbecomesemotionallyinvolvedintheshow.
Performinganengagingmatchrequiresactingskillsandagoodgraspofdramatictiming.
Rub

Helpingalesspopularwrestlergetoverbyassociatingthemwithamoreprominentwrestler.]
Runin
Theunexpectedentryofanewwrestler(s)orreturningwrestlerinamatchalreadyinprogress.Runinsare
usuallymadebyheels,typicallytofurtherafeudwithaface.[1]
Thisisusuallydonewitha"beatdown".
Sometimesababyfacewilldoarunintostopaheelfromoverlypunishingaweakeropponent,usuallysetting
upafeud.
Sell
Toreacttoanopponent'sattacksinamannerthatsuggeststotheaudiencethattheattackshurt.Variations
include"restoring","mediumsell","bigsell"and"deathsell".Comparenosellandoversell.
Shoot
Whenawrestlerorpersonalitydeliberatelygoesoffscript,eitherbymakingcandidcommentsorremarksduring
aninterview,breakingkayfabe,orlegitimatelyattackinganopponent.
Spot
Anyplannedactionorseriesofactionsinamatch.A"highspot"isaparticularlyexcitingmove.Othervariations
arethe"comebackspot","hopespot"and"takehomespot".(Seealso:"missedspot")
Squash
Anextremelyonesided,usuallyshortmatch.Theygenerallyfeaturestarwrestlersagainstrelativelyunknown
jobbers,usuallytohelpgetagimmickormovesetover.
Stable
Ateamofthreeormorewrestlers,usuallyheels,whogenerallysharecommonmotives,alliesandadversaries
withinastoryline(orthroughmultiplestorylines).
Swerve
Asuddenchangeinthedirectionofastorylinetosurprisethefans.Often,itinvolvesonewrestlerturningonan
allyinordertojoinasupposedmutualenemy.Swervesfrequentlystartfeudsbetweentheformerallies.This
alsoreferstowhenabookerleadsfanstobelievethatsomethingisgoingtohappen(orsomeonewillappear)at
ashow,beforedoingsomethingentirelydifferent.
Turn

Aswitchinalignmentofawrestler'scharacter.Turnsinvolveawrestlergoingfromfacetoheelorviceversa.
Therearetwotypesofturns,thehardturn(whichoccursquicklyandactsasasurprisedevice)andthesoftturn
(agradualshiftincharacter).
Xsignal
Asignalusedbyrefereesduringamatchtoindicatethatawrestlerisunabletocontinueandmayneedmedical
attention.TherefereewillmakeanXwithhisarmsand,ifnecessary,pointtothewrestlerwhoishurt.Sincethe
fanshavepickeduponthesignificanceofthesignal,itisnowsometimesusedinkayfabefashion,tosella
storylineinjury.