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In any industry, there is always 'insider' terminology, often referred to as jargon. For example, in the hotel and lodging industry, the standard room rate is often referred to as BAR, which is an acronym which stands for Best Available Rate.
In the fast food and retail industry, when stock items disappear for whatever reason from inventory, it's referred to as 'shrink' or 'shrinkage.' Basically, the term derives from the fact that the amount of merchandise has 'shrunk' for some reason, often theft or human error.
Like any other industry, professional wrestling and/or sports entertainment has its own share of jargon. Some of these terms are well known to wrestling fans, such as the term 'jobber,' but others are somewhat more obscure.
Here are ten examples of pro wrestling jargon, what they mean, and where their origins likely are.
#1 Enhancement Talent
What it means: A wrestler whose job is to make other wrestlers look good by losing, ie 'enhancing' their image.
Also referred to as: Jobber, though that term is mainly used by fans or rude pro wrestlers.
Likely Origin: Like any sport, pro wrestling has a lot of egos. Certain stars may refuse to lose to other wrestlers for personal reasons. Enhancement talent was created to solve this problem by having a class of wrestlers who didn't expect to win.
Enhancement Talent has been a part of pro wrestling for over fifty years, at least. During the wrestling boom of the 1980s, WWE and NWA rarely put on matches between two stars of equal rank.
Rather, a mid- or upper-card wrestler like say Ravishing Rick Rude would wrestle a ten-minute or less match against an enhancement star, such as Barry Horowitz.
Contrary to popular belief, the 'big' stars don't look down on the enhancement talent; quite the opposite, in fact, because they are grateful to the Enhancement wrestlers for making them look good.
Ric Flair once allowed perennial enhancement talent George South to nearly beat him on an NWA broadcast because South was retiring soon and Flair wanted to reward him for his long years of service.
The most recent example of the same is former WWE superstar Heath Slater. The former 3MB member was used as an enhancement talent for various stars and returning WWE legends.
#2 Marriage
What it means: When two wrestlers (or two tag teams) are put into a long-term storyline with each other, as opposed to just having a one-off match.
Also referred to as: A feud, which is what announce teams and fans tend to call it. Marriage is more of a backstage term.
Likely origins: No doubt some backstage wit coined the phrase because when wrestlers are in a program together they spend an enormous amount of time with each other, working on promos, match spots, etc. With all that time spent as a unit, it might start to feel like a marriage after a while.
When it comes to pro wrestling, there's no doubt that the drama is one of the biggest draws. After all, while a match between two combatants might pique the interest, if the two people involved seem to have developed a true hatred for one another it becomes that much more interesting.
Thus marriages were born. Famous pro wrestling marriages include such examples as Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes, John Cena and Randy Orton, and Shinsuke Nakamura vs AJ Styles.
The secret to a good marriage is to drive storylines ahead without wearing out the WWE universe.
#3 Squash
What it means: A squash refers to an extraordinarily one-sided match, where one of the combatants gets little to no offense.
Also known as: A jobber squash.
Likely origin of the term: Rather than fighting a capable opponent, it's like stepping on a piece of ripe fruit, i.e a squash.
Squash matches have their place in professional wrestling and have been around for a long time. Surprisingly, some very big names have participated in squash matches as the squashee. "Greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time" Honky Tonk man, for example, lost his vaunted title to Ultimate Warrior in less than a minute at the first Summer Slam.
Other famous squashes include John Cena being destroyed by Brock Lesnar (also at Summerslam, albeit in 2014) and Bill Golberg's win streak, where he often decimated opponents with only a few moves.
A typical Squash match can exist on both sides of the coin. The main events of some of WWE's most esteemed pay per views have all played witness to squash matches.
#4 Carry or Carrying
What it means: When a wrestler is far more skilled and/or experienced than their opponent but takes pains to make the match good regardless.
Also known as: building, ie building up the other guy.
Likely origin of the term: Carrying might refer to shouldering some of the other athlete's burden, ie carrying the weight for them.
Carrying isn't necessarily a bad thing. Ric Flair essentially made a career of carrying his opponents; Flair often got in little offense but spent most of the match running away from or taking punishment from his foes only to finish them off in the last minute.
Another example of a wrestler able to carry others is Dolph Ziggler, who is sometimes put against less experienced athletes to allow them for a smoother match. Sometimes the term is used in kayfabe, such as when a tag team splits up.
Carrying is an extremely important part of wrestling. It makes or breaks the initial impressions that a young superstar or rookie gets from the crowd.
#5 Juice or Juicing
What it means: Opening up one's forehead with a sharp object to make it seem as if one's opponent has beaten you bloody. Can also refer to legitimately being busted open (often called juicing the hard way.)
Also known as: Blading (as in cutting yourself with a blade), donning a crimson mask.
Likely origin of the term: Juicing comes from pro wrestling promoters who realized that real blood made the scripted matches look more entertaining. The juice refers to blood flowing like a juice.
Juicing is rarely seen in pro wrestling these days. The WWE has gone PG in most of its programming, and only on Pay Per Views are you likely to see anyone bleed at all. Likewise, Ring of Honor strictly forbids juicing in all but the rarest of matches.
During the 1970s, with grindhouse horror movies taking attention away from pro wrestling, juicing hit its peak, and it's hard to find a match from that era that doesn't involve one or both men bleeding.
Superstars like Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Triple H & Mick Foley are all known for donning the crimson mask one too many times.
#6 Potato
What it means: To use entirely too much force when applying a wrestling move or strike, causing legit pain and even injury.
Also known as: Dumping, when the move involves a suplex or slam.
Likely origin of the term: Wrestlers sometimes by accident will hit or slam too hard. It's uncertain if potato refers to the feeling of being hit by a thrown potato or being treated like a sack of potatoes, ie without care.
When a wrestler potatoes another talent, it refers to a strike or move that hit much too hard. Usually, this is done by accident, when a wrestler who is thriving off the crowd's energy gets too excited or impatient.
Examples of potatoes include Brie Bella kicking Liv Morgan in the face, Macho Man Randy Savage dropping his full weight on Dennis Rodman during his big elbow drop or most recently, Braun Storwman giving Brock Lesnar a stiff knee to the face.
It is debatable if some of the shots are ligitimate or caused by accident. There is always a thin line between kayfabe and reality.
#7 Receipt
What it means: Receipt refers to the 'vengeance' gained by a wrestler after another wrestler has done them a wrong. For example, Johnny Gargano defeating Tomasso Ciampa after the latter attacked him post-match could be considered a receipt, as could Steve Austin beating down Brock Lesnar after the Beast stole the Bionic redneck's ATV.
Also known as: Getting your heat back.
Likely origin of the term: In the ego-driven world of sports entertainment, many wrestlers feel as if they need to build their character back up after a sneak attack, insult, or practical joke. For whatever reason, this became known as 'getting your receipt.'
Receipt is a strange term in pro wrestling jargon. It was originally never spoken of outside the backstage area, until the mid-2000s when both announcers and wrestlers began to use it to describe acts of revenge or 'settling the score.'
Former WWE champion Randy Orton has been on the receiving end of many such retributions in the recent past.
#8 Pop
What it means: When the crowd suddenly erupts into vigorous cheering, usually with great excitement.
Also known as: Reaction, as in the crowd's reaction, and 'cheap' pop if the crowd's response is triggered by something easy for them to engage with, like a mention of their local sports team.
Likely origin of the term: No one can say for sure who first uttered the term, but it seems to have originated during the 1950s when pro wrestling began playing to an increasingly televised audience.
In pro wrestling, a pop refers to a sudden eruption of cheers from the audience. For example, Undertaker always gets a tremendous pop when he makes his appearance, and live crowds will often pop if their town is mentioned in a favorable light.
Pops are important in wrestling because the backstage officials often take note of who gets pops, who doesn't, and whose pops were the loudest.
'Pops' are generally reserved for when WWE legends make an appearance. The Royal Rumble and WWE Hall of Fame eventwitnessedss a lot of such fan reactions.
#9: Hot Tag
What it means: Specifically in tag matches when one opponent has taken a great deal of punishment and finally makes the tag to his 'fresh' partner, who comes into the ring with a lot of heat and devastates the opposition even in two on one situations.
Also known as: Desperation tag, a term used by announcers until Hot Tag became more the norm.
Likely origin of the term: No one can say for sure when it first saw use backstage, but announcers started using it kayfabe during the 2000s.
The hot tag is one of the most unique aspects of pro wrestling and is famous for unleashing tension and creating high pops from the audience.
Without question, the unmitigated masters of the hot tag were the Rock N Roll Express. Ricky Morton would get pummeled for up to half an hour before finally tagging in Robert Gibson, who would proceed to clean house to a tremendous babyface pop.
You're likely to see at least one during any tag team match in any promotion, but some say the WWE overuses the concept.
#10 The Rub
What it means: The rub refers to an established star lending a bit of credibility to an up and coming talent, often by either losing to them in a match or allowing a great deal of offense, but it could be as simple as just associating with them.
Also known as: Giving the rub, 'making' a wrestler.
Likely origin of the term: Probably comes from a little bit of star power 'rubbing' off on the other wrestler.
Giving the rub is one of the most controversial things a pro wrestler can possibly do in backstage terms.
This is because if a megastar gives the rub to the wrong person, it could hurt their own career. Likewise, it's considered to be a big honor to receive the rub, and if a wrestler doesn't show the proper gratitude they may find themselves being booked less generously in the future.
Famous rubs involve Andre the Giant allowing Hogan to cleanly pin him at Wrestlemania III, Sting going the distance with Ric Flair at Clash of the Champions I, and Arn Anderson letting the Renegade pin him for the WCW TV title--an example of a rub gone wrong since it didn't get Renegade over with the crowd.
There you have it: Ten examples of pro wrestling jargon. Questions or comments? Please leave them below the article and as always thanks for reading!
