I never realized wrestling had such a robust lexicon, how fun! Although I am a little disappointed that being a jobber has nothing to do with blowjobs or handjobs.
This glossary has a good assortment of terms, but here are the important ones:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrestling_Slang# Angle - A fictional storyline. An angle may be as small as a single match or a vendetta that lasts for years. It is not uncommon to see an angle become retconned due to it not getting "over" with the fans, or if one of the wrestlers currently involved in the angle is released from his contract.
# Attitude Era - Refers to a time period from Wrestlemania XIV to Wrestlemania XVII when the World Wrestling Federation product shifted from being "family-oriented" entertainment to being "edgier," more crude, and dealing with more adult situations (frequently sexual in nature) and ultimately was the most successful period for the company.
# Babyface - A good guy.
# Blading - The act of cutting ones self or another person open in order to bleed, usually done on the forehead.
# Botch - A scripted move that failed.
# Bump - When a wrestler hits the mat or ground.
# Bury - Refers to the worked lowering (relegation) of a popular wrestler's status in the eyes of the fans. It is also the act of a promoter or booker causing a wrestler to lose popularity by forcing him to lose matches badly (squash) and/or making him participate in unentertaining or degrading storylines. It can be a result of real-life backstage disagreements or feuds between the wrestler and the booker, the wrestler falling out of favor with the company, or the wrestler receiving an unpopular gimmick that causes him to lose credibility regardless of win-loss record. See Wrestler: Triple H.
# Busted Open - Term used to describe a wrestler that is bleeding.
# Call or Called Spot - When one wrestler instructs the other of what is going to happen in the match.
# Carry - The act of one wrestler doing most of the work (selling moves, calling spots) to make a match watchable
# Cheap pop - When a wrestler (often a face) incites a positive crowd reaction by "kissing up" to the crowd (for example, mentioning the name of the city or complimenting a local sports team). Mick Foley notoriously uses cheap pops by using the city's name and giving a foolhardy "thumbs-up" to the camera.
# Draw - To be able to attract the attention of the audience
# Face - Short for "Babyface"
# Faction or Stable - is a group of wrestlers within a promotion who have a common element -- friendships, either real or storyline, a common manager, or a common storyline -- which puts them together as a unit. Stables can be small alliances of three to six wrestlers (such as D-Generation X, Evolution, and The Four Horsemen), or supergroups that include up to half the promotion's talent roster (such as the New World Order, the WCW/ECW Alliance, Planet Jarrett, and Sports Entertainment Xtreme).
# Feud - A battle between two or more wrestlers or stables, often involving matches, promos, and angles. A feud usually lasts for several months.
# Finisher - A wrestler's trademark move that leads to a finish.
# Flair Flop - When after being pummeled (usually in the corner), Ric Flair will confidently stride out and look to have regained his composure, only to flop flat on his face.
# Gig - The blade a wrestler uses to cut himself.
# Gimmick - A wrestler's personality, behavior, attire, and/or other distinguishing traits while performing. It can also be an implement used to cheat. For example, Jeff Jarrett's gimmick is knocking out opponents with his guitar, and the guitar itself is also a "gimmick." In recent years, the emphasis has been on more realistic gimmicks which portray the wrestler as an actual person, albeit with exaggerated personality traits, as opposed to previous years during which gimmicks could be best described as cartoonish. A wrestler may be expected to portray many gimmicks during their career, most of which may be implausible or inconsistent. Sometimes a wrestler may undergo a complete change of on-screen personality from one week to the next.
# Green - Refers to a wrestler (often called a green boy) who is in the early stages of their career and, as a result, may be prone to make mistakes because of their inexperience.
# Hardcore wrestling - Matches that focus on the use of weapons such as chairs, chains, fireballs, ladders, and tire irons, often combined with brawling all over the arena, rather than traditional wrestling holds and techniques, also referred to by some as garbage wrestling.
# Hard way - When a move does much more damage than a worked move. It can also (and mostly) refers to bleeding caused legitimately, as opposed to using a blood capsule or blading.
# Heel - A bad guy.
# Highspot - A top-rope move, or a series of maneuvers perceived as dangerous.
# Hot Tag - In a tag team match, when a face wrestler tags in a fresh partner after several minutes of being dominated by his opponents. Often the hot tag happens after several teases (where the other face is enticed into the ring, only to be stopped by the referee and the heels getting away with illegal tactics).
# Hulking Up - When a wrestler begins to come back in a match by no-selling a wrestler's moves and fights back. Named for Hulk Hogan, who did this in many of his matches in America.
# Indy - Short for "independent promotion," refers to a wrestling group that is too small to compete on a national level.
# Job - A scheduled loss.
# Jobber - A wrestler whose primary function is losing to better-known wrestlers.
# Kayfabe - Term used to describe the illusion (and up-keep of the illusion) that professional wrestling is not staged (i.e. that the on-screen situations between performers represent reality). Also used by wrestlers as a signal to close ranks and stop discussing business due to an uninformed person arriving in earshot. The term is said to have been loosely derived from the Pig Latin pronunciation of the word "fake" ("akefay").
# Low Blow - Where a wrestler hits the other wrestler in the crotch.
# Lucha libre or Lucha - Mexican professional wrestling, which translates to "Free Fighting". It is used to describe the Mexican style of wrestling that consists of high-flying acrobatic moves.
# Luchador - A Mexican wrestler.
# Main eventer - A wrestler who is viewed by management to be one of the top draws on the roster and thus is promoted in Main Events.
# Manager - A performer assigned to accompany a wrestler to the ring and, usually, put them over in interviews. They are often used to help a heel cheat and incite the crowd.
# Mark - A fan who believes that the characters and events of some or all of professional wrestling are real. The term can also be applied to a fan who idolizes a particular wrestler, promotion, or style of wrestling to a point some might consider excessive.
# Marking out - A moment of enjoying professional wrestling "for what it is" rather than analyzing its staged nature.
# Mid-carder - A wrestler who wrestles in the middle of programs, is seen as being high in seniority but less than a money draw.
# Monster heel - A villain who is portrayed as unstoppable, usually to set up a feud with a promotion's lead face. Particularly applies to heels who are physically monstrous, grotesque, or just plain scary.
# Muta scale - A scale to measure the amount of blood lost by a wrestler in a match. The scale goes from 0.0 (no blood loss) to 1.0 (corresponds to the amount of blood lost by The Great Muta during a 1992 match against Hiroshi Hase, during which Muta performed what is widely hailed as the most gruesome bladejob of all time).
# No-sell - Giving no reaction to another wrestler's offense or moves.
# No-show - When a wrestler doesn't show up for a match. No-shows are usually staged, often for the purposes of a storyline. Legit no-shows are less frequent, since the wrestler (or other employee) is usually fired or suspended afterwards.
# Over - Refers to a performer whom the fans care about (either positively or negatively) or the act of making someone look good, often by losing to them. Wrestlers can be over as either faces or heels. The term suggests that the fans are buying into what the wrestler is selling, meaning his character. One of the most common ways a wrestler can be "put over" is by winning a match. It's also possible to put someone over by taking bumps or selling a move.
# Over-sell - Showing too much of a reaction to another wrestler's offense. For example, tumbling head over heels all the way across the ring from a simple punch would be an over-sell.
# Politician - A wrestler who establishes connections with management in hopes of garnering the backstage clout to influence creative and business decisions behind the scenes.
# Pop - A sudden crowd reaction, either positive or negative.
# Promo - A promotional interview (as in "cutting a promo"). Often includes either an "in-ring interview" or (on television) a skit by wrestlers and other performers to advance a storyline or feud.
# Promotion - A group that organizes professional wrestling events.
# Puroresu - Japanese Professional Wrestling
# Put Over- To allow oneself to be pinned or otherwise defeated by someone or to compliment them in an interview to get that person over.
# Psychology - The story of a match. It can be as simple as a wrestler going after someone's bad leg or trying to hit a move to which the wrestler knows they have a weakness.
# Push - When a wrestler gains popularity with wins and positive exposure. A push can be a sudden win over a major superstar, or becoming involved in a high profile angle.
# Ref bump - When the referee for a match is intentionally knocked out, generally to allow outside interference or other illegal act.
# Repackage - To completely change a wrestler's gimmick, going beyond a simple face or heel turn. Usually, wrestlers are taken off of TV for a period of time before being repackaged. Other times wrestlers are repackaged quickly, on TV, by simply acting differently.
# Rest hold - A hold applied more lightly at a designated point in a match in order to save energy.
# Rub - Situation where a wrestler that is new and/or not popular is paired with one that is, either as his ally or enemy, with the hope that some of the popularity enjoyed by the popular wrestler will "rub off" on the one that is not.
# Run-in - Occurs when one or more individuals who are not actively participating in a match run into the ring. Run-ins are almost always made by heels, typically to further a feud with a face. More often than not, a run-in will result in a "beatdown" in which the heel(s) pummel the face(s) until the script calls for the beating to stop, either from the heels' satisfaction with their handiwork, a retaliatory run-in by one or more faces, or (less often) the entrance of one or more authority figures (referees, road agents, security personnel). Sometimes a run-in results from a face wanting to stop a heel from physically punishing a weaker opponent, usually to set up a feud.
# Sandbag - To not cooperate with a throw and to act as dead weight, which makes the moves the wrestler is attempting much harder, if not impossible to pull off. It's usually done in protest to something that the wrestler performing the move has done incorrectly earlier in the match, such as not protecting his/her opponent or working stiff.
# Save - When one or more wrestlers enter the ring to aid an ally.
# Screwjob - A match with a controversial or unsatisfying finish, often involving cheating or outside interference.
# Sell - Reacting to an opponents attacks in a manner that suggests that the techniques are being applied at full-force.
# Shoot - Any "real" event in the world or wrestling (as in "shoot interview").
# Smark - A portmanteau of "smart mark," a phrase coined by Internet smart marks to describe a fan who enjoys pro wrestling despite or because they know that it is staged. AKA Stupid Dickheads.
# Sports Entertainment - A term coined by WWE to differentiate its product from traditional professional wrestling as an attempt to garner interest from a broader audience. It refers to the mix of wrestling, scripted storylines, and concepts which borrow from other forms of pop-culture entertainment.
# Spot - A preplanned move, which is designed to get a particular audience reaction or determine the pace of the match. Spots can be anything from an Irish Whip at a certain time, to a series of spots, for example a succession of reversals. Wrestlers who choreograph their matches before the show will usually decide on an opening spot and an ending, as well as several spots to use throughout the match. The remainder of the match will be divided between transition moves and general offensive and defensive moves. (See "high spot" and "blown spot")
# Spotfest - A match which consists mainly or entirely of spots, normally with little flow between moves and no logical transitions. Referring to a match as a spotfest may have positive and negative connotations. A spotfest is normally a fast-paced, exciting match with constant displays of athleticism. When the term is used in a pejorative context, the match appears choreographed (for example, it may contain Spot shuffles, where wrestlers will put themselves in obvious danger). In addition, spotfests often contain many high risk moves (i.e. aerial maneuvers), and therefore endanger the health of the participants. Spotfests tend to be more common in cruiserweight matches.
# Spot Monkey - A wrestler who is well known for focussing very heavily on cramming as many high spots into a single match without regard to in-ring psychology. More commonly found working in Cruiserweight or extreme style matches. It is mostly used as a pejorative term.
# Squash - An extremely one-sided match which is usually over quickly.
# Stiff - When a wrestler puts excessive force into his attacks or maneuvers on his opponent, deliberately or accidentally.
# Strong Style - A Japanese-inspired professional wrestling style that is worked, yet aims to deliver realistic performances. The style emphasizes stiff attacks and worked shoots.
# Superstar - A term used by the WWF/WWE when talking about a wrestler instead of "wrestler".
# Swerve - A sudden change in the direction of a storyline to surprise the fans. Usually, but not always, it involves one wrestler turning on an ally, often to join someone who had been a mutual enemy to that point. These swerves almost always lead to the start of a new feud between the former friends. Another kind of swerve is when a booker does everything in their power to convince the fans that something specific is going to happen at a show or someone they're expecting is going to debut (or come back), only to then do something completely different. It is sometimes the result of a false report by a wrestler to the press.
# Tag Team - A pair of superstars working together in a tag team match (a match which pits two or more teams of wrestlers against one another).
# Tap Out - Submitting to a submission maneuver by tapping on the mat. Unheard of in World Wrestling Entertainment until late 1997 when Bret Hart tapped out to an ankle lock applied by Ken Shamrock while the referee was bumped. Previously, wrestlers vocally told the referee if they wished to submit or not. Today, the tap-out method is almost always used.
# Turn - When a wrestler switches from face to heel or vice versa.
# Tweener - a morally ambiguous wrestler, neither a bad guy or good guy (an inbetweener), who will fight anyone regardless of alignment (i.e. Stone Cold Steve Austin). This term is also used to describe wrestlers who use tactics typically associated with heels (i.e., cheating), yet are still cheered by fans in spite of (or because of) these antics(i.e. Eddie Guerrero).
# Undercard - Matches prior to the main event. (See also Dark match).
# Unification - The act of combining two championships into one; the result of which is either an entirely new title or the consolidation of one title into another.
# Work noun. - An event booked to happen, from the carnival tradition of "working the crowd." The opposite of a work is a shoot.
# Work, verb. - To specifically and methodically attack, especially a single body part. To "work" on a body part (i.e. an arm) would be to repeatedly use force on that part, until it is damaged enough to be used in the finish of the match.
# Worked Shoot - A scripted segment that takes place in a show with elements of reality being exposed. It can also be a segment that fans are meant to believe is a shoot, but is not.
# Workrate - A wrestler's use of "work" to develop a match. One's workrate is determined by his or her ability to "work" in an intelligent and productive manner. When used by critics, it is an analysis of the action in a match and the skill level exhibited.
