Dictionary of Pro Wrestling Terminology

 AEWsomeWrestling.com's Pro Wrestling Terminology Guide:

You may see a lot of terms you may not recognize or know the meaning to on our website. Here we have compiled a list of them so that people know the meaning behind certain "insider terms" in the pro wrestling world. 

A

• A-Show: A wrestling event where generally a company's biggest "draws" perform. Examples would be: AEW Dynamite and AEW Collision. WWE Monday Night RAW, WWE Friday Night SmackDown. These are the major programs for their respective brands and are the shows you expect to see bigger names, while shows such as AEW Rampage, AEW DARK, AEW DARK: Elevation and WWE Superstars or WWE Main Event, may be a B-Show or even a C-Show. (Compare with B-Show)

• A-Team: A group of a wrestling promotion's top stars who compete at a given event. (Compare with B-Team)
• Abortion (or Abort): To discontinue a feud, angle or "gimmick" suddenly, usually without any sort of explanation and/or due to a lack of fan support/interest. This is an older term, not generally used much today because of it's objectionable basis. A good example would be the stable in early-AEW called "The Nightmare Collective", which was generally looked at negatively from fans and critics alike and AEW decided due to it's overall bad reception was dropped without much of an explanation (even though fans knew WHY they got rid of it!)
• Agent (Road Agent): A management employee, usually a former professional wrestler who drew money back in the day, someone who knows how to put together a match and helps wrestlers to set up matches, plan storylines and relay instructions to production and to the booker. They often act as a sort of liaison between the professional wrestlers themselves and the higher up management. Also referred to as "producers" and "coaches". Sometimes they help to train and teach younger talent and give them criticism to help them develop to become better professional wrestlers. 
• Angle (Storyline): A fictional storyline. An angle begins when one wrestler attacks another (physically or verbally) which results in that wrestler getting revenge on the person who set up or attacked them. An angle may be as small as one match or could be a vendetta that lasts several years. It is not uncommon to see an angle get "aborted" due to it not getting "over" with fans, or if one of the wrestlers involved is released from his contract and leaves the promotion.
• Apter Mag: An old-school professional wrestling magazine that sticks to the "kayfabe" and usually consists of made-up articles and interviews which go along with whatever storyline they are trying to tell. The term refers to magazines that were one time connected to wrestling journalist Bill Apter, such as Pro Wrestling Illustrated.
• Attitude Era: Refers to a time period in professional wrestling between roughly WrestleMania XIV (1998) and WrestleMania X-Seven (2001). When the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE)'s product shifted from being a family-oriented entertainment program to becoming "edgier", more crude and dealing with more "adult" situations (frequently sexual in nature). The exact time frame of the Attitude Era is a point of discussion among fans with some fans believing it began in 1997, others believing it began at 'Mania 14 when "Stone Cold" Steve Austin defeated Shawn Michaels to win his first WWF Championship. Roughly the era lasted from '98 - '01 when the WWF purchased it's greatest rival World Championship Wrestling and the #3 promotion in the United States called Extreme Championship Wrestling closed it's doors (to be bought by the WWF a couple years later). 

B:

• B-Show: A professional wrestling event featuring the middle and lower-level talent of a wrestling promotion. Shows such as AEW Rampage, WWE Superstars, WWE Main Event, TNA Xplosion. These are all good examples of "B-Shows". (Compare with A-Show)
• B-Team: A group of lower and middle level talent. (Compare with A-Team)
• Babyface: A "good guy" character. A good example would be Best Friends (Trent Baretta and Chuck Taylor) along with Orange Cassidy. (Compare with the terms "Tweener" and :"Heel")
• Backyard Wrestling: The act of staging a pro-style wrestling match or event (not to be confused with sport wrestling or amateur wrestling) as a hobby rather than as a job, usually (but not always) by untrained performers, predominantly teenagers. The term can also be used for an independent promotion that has very little, if any, notability. Also referred to as a "mud show".
• Beat Down: When a wrestler or other performer is the recipient of a beating, usually by a group of wrestlers. Example is when The Devil and his Goons would target MJF or other talent on the roster, beating them down in the process.
• Blade: A sharpened object used for "blading" The blade is usually concealed in the tape on a wrestlers hands or somewhere it can be utilized without it being too obvious to the fans in attendance or watching on video recording. 
• Blading: The act of cutting ones self or another person open in order to bleed, usually done on the forehead (also called "juicing"). The opposite of bleeding "the hard way". 
• Blind: When a referee has his back turned while the other side (usually the "heel") is cheating. Usually done by heels as a way to gain an advantage over an opponent in a match. Generally gets the heel "heat" and gains the "babyface" sympathy from the crowd, who want to see the babyface get the heel and beat him.
• Blind Tag: A tag made in a tag team match when the wrestler on the apron, tags his partner unbeknownst to him or without his consent. It can also refer to such a tag where the tagger's opponent is unaware a tag has been made, leaving him open to a blind-side attack. Most often occurs when the performer in the ring is thrown against the ropes or backed into their own corner.
• Blow Off: The final match in a feud. While the involved wrestlers often move onto new feuds, sometimes it is the final match in the promotion for one or several wrestlers. 
• Blow Up: A term to refer to a wrestler becoming cardiovascularly exhausted during a match.  
• Blown Up: Out of breath, lacking the cardiovascular endurance to keep up in a match at the pace it has been going.
• Booked: A term that refers to the predetermined nature of professional wrestling. For example, a booker will book a wrestler to win or lose a match, or a booker will book a wrestler to engage in a particular storyline.
• Booker: The person in charge of crafting matches and storylines. Also referred to as the "Creative Team". It is the wrestling equivalence of a Hollywood screen writer. 
• Booking: What a "booker" does. Booking also is a term used by a wrestler to describe a scheduled match or appearance on a wrestling event. 
• Botch: A scripted move that failed. Usually is followed by a chant such as "You F***ed Up! You F***ked Up!" by some of the smarter fans)
• Bump: When a wrestler hits the mat or ground. The act of hitting the mat or ground is considered "taking a bump".
• Bury: Refers to the worked lowering relegation of a popular wrestling star's status in the eyes of fans. It is also an act of the 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 and segments. It can be a result of real-life backstage issues and 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 (Compare to "push")
• Busted Open: Term used to describe a wrestler that is bleeding (Compare with "Juicing")

C:

• Call: When one wrestler instructs the other of what is going to happen in the match. Discussing what moves will come next with your opponent would be called "calling a match". 
• Canned Heat: When cheers or boos are pumped into an arena via the sound syster or added  to a television show in post-production. 
• Card: The lineup of matches that will be staged at a given venue for a given performance. The card is generally performed in a roughly inverse order to the way in which it might be printed for posters or other promotional materials. The major matches between well-known opponents may be for "titles" and are said to be "top of the card" or "headliners" while the preliminary matches between lesser-known opponents are said to be the "undercard". In Lucha Libre, cards are generally five matches although big events might have more and smaller promotions might not run the full five match card. The first match is called the Primera Lucha, the second is called the Segunda Lucha, the third is usually the Combate Especial or the Lucha Especial, the fourth or second to last match is called the Lucha Semifinal, and then the main event is called the Lucha Estelar or Lucha Estrella. 
• Carny: A language used by wrestlers to talk to each other around people not associated with the business so they wouldn't understand what the wrestlers were saying to each other, often used to keep the secrets of the business. 
• Carry: The act of one wrestler doing most of the work in a match (selling moves, calling spots) to make the match watchable to the viewer at home or in attendance. 
• Championship: In kayfabe, a recognition of a wrestler being the best in his/her promotion or division in the form of a championship belt (also "title" or "strap"). Outside of kayfabe, championships are won/held by a wrestler whom the bookers believe will generate fan interest in terms of event attendance and television ratings and viewership.
• Cheap Heat: When a wrestler (often a heel) incites a negative crowd reaction by insulting the crowd (by insulting the city or a local sports team) or by using a real-life news event as part of a promo.
• Cheap Pop: When a wrestler (often a babyface) 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 would notoriously use cheap pops by using the city's name and giving a "thumbs up" to the camera.
• Cheap Shot: When a wrestler uses a low blow or a foreign object to get an advantage over his opponent. Usually a spot that happens when the referee is not paying attention or is knocked down.
• Chemistry: When two wrestlers work really well together by pulling off each other's moves well and telling a story well to the crowd.
• Clean Finish: When a match ends without cheating or outside interference, usually in the center of the ring (compare with "screwjob")
• Closet Champion: A current title holder (usually a heel worker) who ducks top-flight competition, cheats to win (often by managerial interference), and when forced to wrestle good opponents, deliberately causes himself to be disqualified (since a championship title does not change hands by disqualification in most instances) to retain the title.
• Color: A term used by wrestlers and promoters to discuss the amount of bloodshed in a match.
• Color Commentator: A member of the announcing team who assists the play-by-play announcer by filling in any time when the play-by-play is not in progress, providing humor or explaining a storyline. Color commentators are often retired or inactive former wrestlers, such as Matt Striker, Taz, John Bradshaw Layfield and Jerry "The King" Lawler in WWE.
• Cue:  A term used to let other wrestlers know when something should happen, usually after a move. 
• Curtain Call / The MSG Incident: The incident at Madison Square Garden in the spring of 1996, when WWE superstars Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Razor Ramon and Hunter Hearst Helmsley (Triple H) broke kayfabe in front of a sold out New York crowd, playing it out in a farewell to the crowd and a big group hug. This came after the 4 men wrestled each other, in two singles matches earlier in the evening. 
• Curtain Jerker: The first wrestler to walk out to the ring in the first match of the day.

D:

• Dark Match: A non-televised match at a televised show used to warm up the crowd (compare to "house show"). A dark match before the show is usually used to test out new talent (often local to the event). A dark match after the show typically features main-event level wrestlers to either sell more tickets or to send the crowd home happy. 
• Dead Weight: When a wrestler goes limp in the middle of a move. This could be done intentionally, either to make his opponent look weak or just "rib" him, or unintentionally because the "dead weight" wrestler is unfamiliar with the cooperation needed to pull off a particular wrestling holds (or just not paying attention) or as a result of an injury. Compare with "sandbag"
• Deathmatch Wrestling: The bloodiest and most violent form of hardcore wrestling, popular in Japan, Mexico and some parts of the United States. In deathmatch wrestling, many of the traditional rules of professional wrestling are not enforced and the usage of objects such as barbed wire, panes of glass, florescent light tubes, and weed whackers are commonly used weapons. Deathmatches are typically much bloodier and more violent that typical wrestling contests.
• Dirt Sheet: An insider newsletter (or website) in the professional wrestling business. Sometimes written in a negative tone or as a means to "get dirt". 
• Double Down: A point in the match in which both wrestlers are prone in the ring. 
• Double Shot: Where a wrestler competes twice in a single day, usually appearing at two separate events.
• Double Team: A tactic used in a tag team match when both members of a tag team gang up on one of the opponents, or a move that involves two wrestlers working in unison. 
• Double Turn: The occurrence when both the face and the heel switch roles during an angle or match. Arguably the most famous example of this is that of Stone Cold Steve Austin versus Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13, where Austin entered as a heel and Hart entered as a face, but due to Austin fighting on through blood and passing out to a move by Hart, and Hart's post-match beat down, the two switched roles to end the match.
• Draw: A wrestler or program that attracts the attention of the audience; sometimes fans are willing to pay to see. Derived from the term "drawing money", meaning the wrestler makes money for the promotion. 
• Drop: To lose a match or championship (the loser agreed to drop the match to the winner).
• Dusty Finish: A finish in which the face appears to win a big match, but the decision is later reversed due to some sort of technicality, such as interference by other heels to save the heel champion, as, in most federations, the title could not change hands on such a disqualification. It can also refer to an ambiguous finish to a match where neither wrestler can claim to be the winner. Named after Dusty Rhodes, who booked many such finished in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and later in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). 

E:

• Enforcer: Also lackey or heavy: A: (typically larger) wrestler who accompanies another wrestler as a second to matches and acts as a bodyguard. B: An individual who acts in a "special guest referee" capacity from outside of the ring, ostensibly to maintain order. 
• Enhancement talent: See: jobber
• Exotico: A wrestler (typically a Mexican luchador) who competes in drag. Examples of exoticos include Mexico's Pimpinela Escarlata, America's Goldust and Vito LoGrasso, Wales' Adrian Street and Japan's Yosuke Santa Maria.
• Extreme Wrestling: A style of professional wrestling that makes frequent use of highspots and weapons. Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) are both known for using this style of wrestling, although CZW used mostly deathmatch wrestling style. 

F:

• Face: Also babyface, blue-eye (UK) or tecnico (Mexico). A wrestler who is heroic, who is booked to be cheered by fans. Heels are the opposite of faces,  and faces commonly perform against heels.
• Face-in-Peril: In a tag team match, the member of a face team who is dominated by the heel team for an extended period of the match. The tactic used to help get the crowd behind the face tag team and is usually followed up with a hot tag. During the 1980s, Ricky Morton of the Rock 'n' Roll Express was typically in this position while teaming with Robert Gibson, so much so that "playing Ricky Morton" has become synonymous with the team.