Basic Wrestling Terms
If you're new to the world of professional wrestling, here is a very basic guide to terms you'll want to be familiar with about wrestling, the matches, and more. These are for newcomers but may also be helpful for current fans, who may have heard a term but never knew what it referred to.
"Card" refers to the lineup of matches scheduled for an event.
"Dark match" is a match you see at a live television event that is not part of the taping for the televised show. These matches can occur before or after the televised program is filmed.
"Face" refers to a good guy in wrestling, usually a fan favorite. Examples from the past would be Hulk Hogan, The Rock and John Cena. A wrestler is said to "turn face" when they go from bad to good.
"Finishing move" or "Finisher" refers to a wrestler's unique move he/she uses to "finish off" an opponent for the victory. Examples of this were Hulk Hogan's "Leg drop", Bret the Hitman Hart's "Sharpshooter" and Stone Cold Steve Austin's "Stone Cold Stunner".
"Foreign object" refers to any object not included in the match (steel chair, brass knuckles, chain). Usually a wrestler will try to cheat and use an object to knockout his/her opponent without the referee seeing in order to gain a victory.
"Heel" refers to a wrestler who is considered a bad guy or not liked by the crowd/fans. A character is said to "turn heel" when they make a turn from good (face) to bad (heel).
"Roster" refers to the list of active wrestlers on a pro wrestling show. For WWE you will hear reference to the Raw roster, Smackdown roster or ECW roster, as these are the 3 different TV shows and each have different sets of wrestlers on them.
"Titantron" - This refers to the large TV/video screen up at the top of the entrance ramp. Usually wrestler's entrance videos are displayed there, as well as advertisements and interviews.
"Turnbuckle" is the metal coupling device which fastens the ring's ropes together at the ring corners and keeps the proper tension for the ropes around the ring. There are four turnbuckles in most pro wrestling rings, and 3 ropes on each of the sides of the ring.
Wrestling ring is also referred to as "the squared circle". The normal ring has 4 sides, with 3 ropes on each side of the ring. The bottom part of a wrestling ring is the mat, and the side parts of the ring are referred to as the apron(s).
In a normal pro wrestling match, the ways to win are:
"Pinfall" - A wrestler pins his opponent's shoulders down (to the mat or other area) for a count of 3 by the referee. There have also been unusual matches where the outcome was both wrestlers pinned each others' shoulders to the mat at the same time, meaning both wrestlers win. Often you will hear the match announced as "scheduled for 1 fall", meaning 1 pinfall wins it.
"Submission" - A wrestler puts his opponent in a special hold which causes the opponent to tap out (hit his hand on the mat to stop the match), or the referee determines the opponent is unable to continue wrestling.
"Countout" - The referee counts 1 or both wrestlers involved in a match out of the ring for a count of 10. A double countout results in no winner and is basically a draw.
"Disqualification" - The referee determines foul play in the match in one wrestler's advantage. Examples are another wrestler interferes in the match, or 1 of the wrestlers in the match uses a foreign object to strike his opponent.
"Referee's Decision" - The referee can also choose to stop a match if one of the wrestlers can not continue to wrestle. Example would be a wrestler becomes knocked out and/or ref determines he needs medical assistance.
"Failure to answer a ref's 10 count" - Also, the referee can count either or both wrestler down on the mat for a count of 10 and award the match to 1 or as a draw accordingly.
For types of matches in WWE, please see: List of WWE Match Types
"Card" refers to the lineup of matches scheduled for an event.
"Dark match" is a match you see at a live television event that is not part of the taping for the televised show. These matches can occur before or after the televised program is filmed.
"Face" refers to a good guy in wrestling, usually a fan favorite. Examples from the past would be Hulk Hogan, The Rock and John Cena. A wrestler is said to "turn face" when they go from bad to good.
"Finishing move" or "Finisher" refers to a wrestler's unique move he/she uses to "finish off" an opponent for the victory. Examples of this were Hulk Hogan's "Leg drop", Bret the Hitman Hart's "Sharpshooter" and Stone Cold Steve Austin's "Stone Cold Stunner".
"Foreign object" refers to any object not included in the match (steel chair, brass knuckles, chain). Usually a wrestler will try to cheat and use an object to knockout his/her opponent without the referee seeing in order to gain a victory.
"Heel" refers to a wrestler who is considered a bad guy or not liked by the crowd/fans. A character is said to "turn heel" when they make a turn from good (face) to bad (heel).
"Roster" refers to the list of active wrestlers on a pro wrestling show. For WWE you will hear reference to the Raw roster, Smackdown roster or ECW roster, as these are the 3 different TV shows and each have different sets of wrestlers on them.
"Titantron" - This refers to the large TV/video screen up at the top of the entrance ramp. Usually wrestler's entrance videos are displayed there, as well as advertisements and interviews.
"Turnbuckle" is the metal coupling device which fastens the ring's ropes together at the ring corners and keeps the proper tension for the ropes around the ring. There are four turnbuckles in most pro wrestling rings, and 3 ropes on each of the sides of the ring.
Wrestling ring is also referred to as "the squared circle". The normal ring has 4 sides, with 3 ropes on each side of the ring. The bottom part of a wrestling ring is the mat, and the side parts of the ring are referred to as the apron(s).
In a normal pro wrestling match, the ways to win are:
"Pinfall" - A wrestler pins his opponent's shoulders down (to the mat or other area) for a count of 3 by the referee. There have also been unusual matches where the outcome was both wrestlers pinned each others' shoulders to the mat at the same time, meaning both wrestlers win. Often you will hear the match announced as "scheduled for 1 fall", meaning 1 pinfall wins it.
"Submission" - A wrestler puts his opponent in a special hold which causes the opponent to tap out (hit his hand on the mat to stop the match), or the referee determines the opponent is unable to continue wrestling.
"Countout" - The referee counts 1 or both wrestlers involved in a match out of the ring for a count of 10. A double countout results in no winner and is basically a draw.
"Disqualification" - The referee determines foul play in the match in one wrestler's advantage. Examples are another wrestler interferes in the match, or 1 of the wrestlers in the match uses a foreign object to strike his opponent.
"Referee's Decision" - The referee can also choose to stop a match if one of the wrestlers can not continue to wrestle. Example would be a wrestler becomes knocked out and/or ref determines he needs medical assistance.
"Failure to answer a ref's 10 count" - Also, the referee can count either or both wrestler down on the mat for a count of 10 and award the match to 1 or as a draw accordingly.
For types of matches in WWE, please see: List of WWE Match Types
Labels: Wrestling Terms
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