THE ULTIMATE WRESTLING DICTIONARY |
| 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 | The "fan favorite" or "good guy". The person who the fans cheer. |
| blade | when a
wrestler takes a razor blade and runs it along his skin
to produce a cut that bleeds. |
| blind ref. | when a referee misses heel tactics or is distracted by a valet or manager at ringside and missing the action inside. |
| blow up | to become fatigued or exhausted from a match. |
| book | To schedule a wrestler for a show. |
| booker | the individual responsible for angles, storylines, who wins/loses, finishes, and helps in the 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. |
| Call a Match | To inform your opponent of upcoming moves or spots throughout the match. |
| calling | to tell your opponent what the next move will be. |
| card | The line up of the matches. |
| carry | to make a green opponent look good in the fans eyes. help bring the workrate up against a lesser opponent. |
| cheap heat | to generate heat by using the microphone to praise or bash fans and/or their town. |
| clean job | a loss by legal pinfall or submission without resorting to illegalities. |
| cleans house | when a wrestler eliminates every other man in the ring. |
| Dark Match | A match held after a TV event or PPV that is never aired. |
| Double Juice | When both wrestlers blade in the match. |
| draw | to attract fans; the popularity of a wrestler, the ability to bring in fans. |
| dud | aparticularly bad and totally uninteresting match. |
| fall | a referee's count of three with the loser's shoulders on the mat. |
| Face | A good guy |
| feud | a series of matches between two wrestlers or two tag teams; many times they will interview and bad mouth the other wrestler. |
| finish | the event or sequence of events which leads to the ultimate outcome of a match. |
| Finisher | Move that leads to the win. |
| foriegn object | an object which is not allowed in a match, used as a weapon. |
| garbage | matches or promotions that have no wrestling but pure violence. |
| gate | Amount of money that is gained from ticket sales. |
| gimmick | the way a wrestlers supposed to be like, a persona that a wrestler is given. |
| green | not good due to inexperience in the ring. |
| hardcore | a fan who is really into the sport. |
| hardway | real blood produced by means other than blading, i.e; the hard way. |
| heat | enthusiasm, a positive/negative response from fans. |
| heel | a bad guy. |
| highspot | a particularly acrobatic or high flying move. |
| house | the wrestling audience in the building. |
| house show | a wrestling event un-televised. |
| international object | foreign object, something not allowed in the ring. |
| IYH | In your House. |
| job | a staged loss; When a wrestler loses a match to another wrestler. |
| jobber | an unpushed wrestler who looses match to pushed wrestlers; usually on a losing streak. |
| jobber to the stars (JTTS) | mid-card wrestler who jobs to all the big name superstars. |
| juice | blood. |
| kayfabe | of or related to inside information about the business, especially by fans; it can also be called "to act the part". |
| kill | diminish or eliminate heat or drawing power, generally by doing too many jobs to opponents who are not credible. |
| light | not connecting with punches/kicks. |
| Marking Out | When someone begins to get emotionally involved in a match by chanting, or screaming. |
| mark | A person who believes that that wrestling action is real. |
| Mark Out | When a smart fan gets into an angle or a match and enjoy it as if you were a mark. |
| Mid Carder | A wrestler who is well known, but primarily wrestles on the undercard. |
| No Show | When a wrestler does not show up for a scheduled appearance. |
| NWA | National Wrestling Alliance. The first known federation that had a belt recognized as a world title. It is a loose base of many independent federations that are financially linked and by name to the NWA. |
| Office | The headquarters of a wrestling organization. |
| over | To be popular with the audience, accepted by the fans; generates a lot of heat. |
| paper | complimentary tickets, given to fans to make the arena look as if it sold out. |
| Paying Dues | Term for gaining experience by showing respect to other wrestlers, like doing jobs to veterans. |
| Plant | A wrestler, or someone who works for the organization, who is placed in the audience who pretends to be a fan, yet participates in an angle. |
| 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. |
| program | a feud that will be touring the country. |
| Promoter | The head of the wrestling organization. |
| Promotion | The wrestling company. |
| push | when a wrestler starts to go on a winning streak and gets title shots; also gets more interview time. |
| put over | to do the job to help your opponent get a push. |
| Ref Bump | When the ref gets knocked out at a specific point in the match so that a wrestler, usually the heel, can commit an illegal act or move, such as interference. |
| Rest Hold | A move in the match which is lightly applied, to give the wrestlers time to breath between highspots. |
| 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 finish with a controversial ending, often upsetting the fans. |
| sell | "to sell a move", meaning to act hurt when a move has been applied. |
| script | the planned flow of the match; also the deciding outcome of a match. |
| Sheets | Slang for newsletters and journals that break kayfabe |
| shoot | A work that becomes a legitimate fight, to hit or hurt your opponent on purpose during the course of the match. |
| Shooter | One who shoots using skills such as amateur wrestling, karate, or martial arts. |
| 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. |
| Smart | A person who has the knowledge of the inner workings of the wrestling industry. |
| spot | an event or sequence of events which makes a particular match distinctive, a high-point of a match. |
| squash | A match where one wrestler totally dominates his opponent. |
| stable | a group of wrestler's united to watch each other's backs. |
| stiff | a wrestler who cannot manuever around the ring very swiftly; he doesn't have much flexibility or stamina. |
| Strap | Championship belt. |
| stretch | a form of shoot where one wrestler dominates rather than injures the other as a proof of personal superiority. |
| Swerve | When a finish of a match is changed so that all of the industry insiders are left shocked. |
| tap out | to give into a submission manuever. |
| Territory | The area that a promotion runs it's shows and airs it's TV shows. |
| tight | good close punches and kicks that connect, may hurt a little, but do not incapacitate; working stiff. |
| turn | When a wrestler changes from a heel to a face, or from a face to a heel. |
| tweener | A wrestler who acts as a face to the crowd, but wrestles and gets wins by acting as a heel. |
| work | Predetermined outcome, a deception or fraud, the opposite of a shoot. |
| workrate | the approximate ratio of good wrestling to rest holds in a match or in a wrestler's performance. |