(We’re migrating this entry from the “Pages” section, located in the tabs at the top of the blog homepage, into its own post.)
Check out these links for a window into the world of slang & jargon in professional wrestling.
• A compact list of essential slang.
• A more comprehensive Glossary Wiki.
To get you started:
Face: A babyface is a good guy hero.
Heel: A bad guy.
Jobber: A wrestler whose job is to lose.
Job: The act of scheduled losing.
Work: Acting in a realistic way to trick fans into buying into a predetermined outcome.
Angle: An element of a wrestling storyline.
Turn: As in turning good or turning bad (face to heel or heel to face).
Squash: Mismatch to show how dominant a wrestler is.
Sell: The basic skill of acting like a wrestling move hurt you.
Push: When a wrestler gets promoted and martketed.
Promo: An interview, video, or skit which promotes a wrestler.
Booker: The person who creates storylines, angles, gimmicks, and matches.
Heat: 1) Fan reaction (heels get booed, faces get cheered, good moves get reactions). 2) When two people really don’t like each other in real life.
Over: Popularity with fans.
Gimmick: Personae and character of a wrestler.
Kayfabe: The illusion that pro wrestling is not staged.
Spot: A preplanned sequence of moves in a wrestling match.
Shoot: “Real”- can refer to a move, interview, or angle.
Mark: Like a “rube” – someone who is not wise to the inner workings of wrestling.
Dramaturgy: Chad Deity 