The Geek Glossary – Pro-Wrestling

Professional Wrestling has been a staple of our television sets for a long time, love it or hate it. Old fans of professional wrestling will fondly remember when Hulk Hogan back in Wrestlemania 3, lifted André the Giant! It was a feat of strength that no one thought they would see. He lifted him clean off of his feet and then slammed him into the mat. Hulk then followed this up with the Big Legdrop for the one, two, three. Hulk Hogan defended his title successfully that day…

In the modern era of professional wrestling, a lot of the ins and outs of the industry have been heavily exposed. At the time of writing this, we’re moving quickly towards WWE Battleground on July 19th, the PPV (See below) before Summerslam 2015. I’m excited for it, but in preparation for Summerslam, there are terms you need to know as someone interested in wrestling. Even if you’ve never watched a show before, knowing the terms of the industry is a smart move. A lot of them have even moved to other sports. I won’t go any further on that one, but here’s The Geek Glossary: Professional Wrestling .

Blading – When a wrestler puts a blade to himself to make himself bleed. Some companies ban this, as it’s dangerous for a wrestlers health.

Buried – The term indicates a drop in the card… Sometimes into obscurity. When a wrestler loses to another wrestler: That’s a loss. When a wrestler loses to many wrestlers consecutively: That’s a losing streak. When a wrestler used to beat contenders at the top of the card, then a month or so later is losing to people at the bottom of the card? That’s more or less a burial.

Catchphrase – Wrestlers often have a catchphrase that really captures them as a character. Some examples are “And that’s the bottom line”, “Can you smell what The Rock is cooking?!” and “Can you dig it, sucka?!”

Championship – A championship is earned when a wrestler defeats the former champion in the middle of a ring. Sometimes new championships are made, depending on the state of the companies’ roster (See Roster) at the time.

Chants – The fans of wrestling get heavily involved in the matches by chanting various things. The most famous chant is simply “What?!” as made famous by Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Colour Commentator – The colour commentator is someone who is usually used on the announcers team to put over the bad guy. Also known as a Heel Sympathiser (See Heel).

Debut – When a new wrestler joins a promotion, their first match is known as their in-ring début. This lets the fans get to grips with who this new person is.

Diva – WWE’s female wrestlers are employed as Divas.

Face – A face isn’t just something that features your eyes, mouth, nose – etc. No, the face is the good guy in professional wrestling. A good face is someone you want to spur on. You want to cheer for them because they represent something great.

Face Turn – A bad guy has seen the error of his ways. He’s seen that his friends aren’t exactly good people. He’s realised he needs to make amends – So he does an act that people find favourable and ends up becoming a good guy in the process.

Falls Count Anywhere – Disqualifications still count in a Falls Count Anywhere match. It does eliminate the 10 second rule to return to the ring, however. This particular rule means that a wrestler can win the match backstage, in a parking lot, on top of the damn arena if they want to.

Finisher – A manoeuvre so good it’s used end matches. Doesn’t always end a match, but of course it’s basically a powerful move used to put opponents away.

Heat – Heel heat. Heels gain heat by doing something nasty, despicable, so bad that people just want to see that heel get his comeuppance.

Heel– The heel then isn’t just the thing that’s on the back of your foot. This is the bad guy in professional wrestling. You know the kinds, such as monstrous men like Kane, when they rip off a door and beat the competitors inside of a steel cage. Yeah, that happened.

Heel Turn – This is when someone who was a face character goes into their darker side – They turn into a bad guy. Often turning on their friends, tag partners, stable partners etc.

Indies – Indie Promotions have huge cult followings. Check out CZW as an example.

Luchador – A Luchador is a wrestler who is generally more about high-flying offence. They are often, but not always, seen wearing masks. This style of professional wrestling is synonymous with Mexico.

Lucha Libre – I’m sure you can guess this, but Lucha Libre is the style of wrestling that Luchadores do. Lucha Libre is a style that used to be closely associate to “Free style wrestling”. This is different to Greco Roman Wrestling, but similar to the competitive Amateur Wrestling.

Mark – Someone who’s really into Professional Wrestling, but is clueless about the way the business works.

No DQ – No Disqualification. This means that just about anything goes. It is interesting though, that wrestlers still have to end the match in the ring.

PPV – Pay Per View – This is how the big events earn money. These are hyped as big events and so on television, you would normally have to pay specifically for the event. Depending how the industry goes, this term may disappear if all wrestling promotions go under digital mediums (See WWE Network)

Promotion – In a normal job, a promotion is when you rise in ranks. In Professional Wrestling, a promotion is the company you wrestle under. Examples of this include the WWE, TNA, CZW, Chikara, NJPW, Lucha Underground and many more.

Ring Rust – When someone has been away from action for an extended period of time, it is said that they develop ring rust.

RKO OUTTA NOWHERE – Have you seen these gifs? They’re everywhere. Wrestler Randy Orton hits his finisher, the RKO, seemingly ‘from outta nowhere‘ quite often.

Signature Move – A Signature Move is something that a wrestler uses that defines their style. Something they’re actually quite well known for, but isn’t necessarily a finisher. A really good example of this is with the indie star El Generico, who uses a Suicide Dive Tornado DDT.

Smark – Someone who’s really into Professional Wrestling, but is clued up about the way the business works.

Splash – Where wrestlers jump from high heights and do a belly flop on top of their foes.

Squared Circle – The wrestling ring.

Steel Cage Match – Literally, a match taking place inside of a Steel Cage.

Superplex – The same as a Suplex, but off the top rope.

Suplex – The attacker lifts the opponent up and throwing them down on their back. Usually this is done by doing a basic wrestling bridge manoeuvre, or by rolling.

Tag Team – When two wrestlers form an alliance and fight together.

Turnbuckle – The corner metal clips of a wrestling ring. Wrestlers often expose these to do more damage in an attack in the corner.

Universe – In wrestling, the Universe isn’t literally the overall universe (Unless a character stipulates that), but rather the fans of whichever promotion you’re watching.

Veteran – Someone who has been around a wrestling ring for a long time.

WWE Network – FOR JUST $9.99. FOR JUST £9.99. IT’S JUST 9.99. In seriousness, the WWE Network is the way the WWE is moving to distribute its content. Whilst there are some criticisms of the network, such as the fact that it was seemingly losing the company money, the fact of the matter is it’s a step to a more digital community.

WrestleMania – A lot of wrestlers look up to WrestleMania as the grandest stage for wrestling. Others done.

Some of these terms are a little bit out there, more relating to memes and the likes, but hey – I thought they were worth noting as you may see them popping up around the place. Let me know what terms I’ve forgotten (as I’ve undoubtedly forgotten a lot of them!) Let me know what you thought in the comments below but for now: See ya!