‘Tis the season to learn terminology

The holidays are (almost) here, which means that the end of the semester is even closer. As final projects, papers, and presentations are constructed, written, and presented, and now that classes have officially concluded, a lot of time is opening up for many students and faculty alike; and rightfully so — it’s been a long semester. Just as you may have had your last engineering, humanities, or computer science class, so too will you be having your last lesson on professional wrestling. (Just for this semester!) This week’s edition of “The Stute Smackdown” will delve into some of the terminology associated with professional wrestling, rounding out the last three weeks of information that has been presented thus far. Also, at the end of the discussion, there will be a schedule highlighting what professional wrestling events are happening for the duration of winter break. After all, what better thing to do than make a mug of hot chocolate, don your “Snuggie,” and watching professional wrestling? The answer to that rhetorical question is, “absolutely nothing.”
Professional wrestling has several terms associated with it. This vast lexicon of words and phrases describes several aspects of professional wrestling. The purpose of understanding the vocabulary is to simply understand professional wrestling better and how it operates. In fact, these terms are never used on-screen, as they are primarily used by insiders of the industry. Wikipedia’s entry, “Glossary of professional wrestling terms,” is expansive, citing over one hundred words and phrases. However, the terms I will be presenting today are, from my near 13-year tenure of being immersed in professional wrestling, the most critical in providing an apt understanding of it. In fact, the past weeks have highlight some major terms, such as gimmicks, dispositions (babyface or heel), signature moves, and finishers. While these particular terms are arguably the core tenets of professional wrestling, there are some more that are needed to possess a solid foundation of knowledge.
First (coincidentally) alphabetically is “angle,” which is merely professional wrestling jargon for another concept that has been discussed already: storylines, or plot. Perhaps the most important term, and concept, to understand in professional wrestling is “kayfabe.” What kayfabe entails is anything in professional wrestling that is presented to be “real.” Essentially, this is the epitome of the suspension of disbelief. For example, the World Heavyweight Champion, John Cena, is feud – an angle – with the WWE Champion, Randy Orton. In kayfabe, they dislike each other. Outside of professional wrestling, in reality, they are respectful to one another as (some) colleagues are. With respect to a wrestler’s gimmick, a “promo” is, best put by PWTorch.com’s “Glossary of Insider Terms,” an “in-character interview or monologue,” with the act of delivering a promo referred to as “cutting a promo.” Promos are essential in professional wrestling, as they allow for storyline advancement and character development.
In continuing with character-related terms, a “pop” or “heat” are positive or negative responses that babyfaces (heroes) and heels (villains) evoke from a crowd respectively. For a babyface, having the crowd cheer for you, or pop, is important as it means your character is “over,” another term that describes whether the fans are into, or care about, a wrestler’s gimmick or not. Likewise, a heel would want the crowd to boo, receive heat, because he/she is a villain and that is the desired crowd reaction. On the topic of dispositions, a “turn” is the process by which a babyface becomes a heel or vice versa. A turn may happen when a babyface attacks another babyface, thus becoming a heel, or when a heel attacks another heel, becoming a babyface. Of course, there a myriad of other ways this could occur.
During a professional wrestling match, in-ring, there are also a few terms that help contextualize the inner workings of match. On a basic level a “bump” is when a wrestler falls to the ground to “sell” a move; to sell a move is to make it look realistic, as if physical harm were actually inflicted, when in actuality it was safely performed. An example of this might be if I were delivering a punch to you, my open fist may barely graze your head, but you would react in such a manner that would suggest that I actually punched you. Conversely, “no-selling” is the act appearing invincible – not reacting to, or selling, a move at all. This is a controversial subject as many professional who “no-sell” undermine the in-ring ability of their opponent’s, and colleague’s, character. Similar to a bump, a “spot” is a planned moment in a match, usually pivotal to the narrative of that match. This might include a high-risk maneuver off the ‘top ropes,” which is the intersection of the highest ring rope at a “turnbuckle,” or corner post of the ring. To conclude this section, there are two terms related to a “finish,” which is how a match ends. The first is a “kick-out,” which is when a wrestler pushes out of an attempted pin. This would continue the match, not actually allowing a finish. The other is “tapping out,” which is when a wrestler submits to his/her opponent’s submission maneuver (e.g. headlock, armbar, etc.).
Finally, there are some terms related to the hierarchical structure of professional wrestler. Just as in any professional sport, where one’s skills earn him/her a higher position on a team or more notoriety in a league, professional wrestlers must be skilled in at speaking (cutting a promo), performing moves (spots), taking moves (bumps and selling), and leaving an impact on the crowd and fans worldwide (“getting over”). Additionally, the writers who construct the angles that air on television each week also have a say in how a certain wrestler is used. Just as a movie or television series writing team has background characters (used to advance a story or help “put over” supporting or main characters), supporting characters (exist in a lesser role than main characters but can always become a main character), and main characters, professional wrestling has “low-carders,” “mid-carders,” and “main eventers.” Each understood title accounts for many factors, including a wrestler’s screen time on television, prominence in the company, and whether he/she will be involved in important angles or hold a championship. One final term linked to the overall structure of the industry is a “push,” which means that a professional wrestler is moved from, for example, being a low-carder to a mid-carder, or a mid-carder to a main eventer.
I realize that the above information is a lot to take in. To be honest, I learned most of these terms throughout my years of watching by participating in discussions on online forums and other like outlets. It just takes time… or this issue of “The Stute.” Amid winter break, professional wrestling won’t be taking any days off, as WWE’s Raw will air on Mondays at 8:00 p.m. on the USA Netowrk and SmackDown will air on Fridays at 8:00 p.m., too, on Syfy. For a different brand of wrestling, one I personally don’t watch, Impact Wrestling airs on Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. on Spike. All of these times are for the Eastern Time Zone.
In WWE, the Slammy Awards, a Grammy or Emmy-like award show that has been in existence since 1986, will be airing. These shows are rather tongue-in-cheek usually, but are undoubtedly entertaining. Some examples of the awards include “Breakout Star/Rookie of the Year,” “Superstar of the Year,” “Match of the Year,” and more. These awards, to use a term above, are kayfabe. The “Slammys” will be airing December 9:00 at 8:00 p.m. on the USA Network, just as Raw does every Monday. The other notable event is WWE’s “TLC” (Tables, Ladders, and Chairs) pay-per-view which airs December 15 at 8 p.m. on your local cable provider’s pay-per-view service, or on WWE.com. Pay-per-views do cost $50 to $60, but, with all things paid in the world, there are many people who make them, let’s say, “available” to you online if you are absolutely interested and are just getting into professional wrestling. This particular pay-per-view is always quite good, but most importantly, it will feature a titular TLC match between the World Heavyweight Champion, John Cena and the WWE Champion, Randy Orton, where the winner will unify both major titles, an occurrence that has not happened in the industry since 2001 at the “Vengeance” pay-per-view when Chris Jericho defeated both “Stone Cold” Steve Austin (WWE Champion) and The Rock (WCW World Heavyweight Champion). The “TL;DR” is that this is a historic occasion, one 12 years in the making, and I will certainly be ordering the TLC pay-per-view.
Happy Holidays to all. Enjoy the break. Remember: watch wrestling! See you in 2014.