Sandbag
When an unskilled or uncooperative wrestler is unable, or unwilling to work with their opponent to complete a move. When it’s done on purpose, it’s supposed to embarrass their opponent by making them look weak. Sandbagging is considered unprofessional and dangerous, as it takes two to complete a suplex, throw, or powerbomb without botching and causing injury.
Save
When a wrestler is outnumbered in the ring and their stablemates/allies enter the ring to save them from the onslaught.
School
A school teaches students in the art of professional wrestling. This may include starter schools, or development territories (invite-only) who train talent to adapt to their style of wrestling; like the WWE Performance Center and NXT.
Taking “someone to school” may refer to a wrestler with limited wrestling ability being coaxed into working a competitive match by their skilled veteran opponent; the byproduct giving them experience, and possibly a new-found respect from the fans.
Scientific Wrestling
A wrestling match which focuses on amateur and Greco-Roman wrestling holds. May include chain-wrestling, submissions, strategy focused on targeting body parts, and extended time working on the mat. Despite the initial focus, the wrestler’s may be good brawlers who can change the pace of the match and leave the scientific wrestling behind after the feeling out stage; to escalate a respectful rivalry into a personal feud.
Screwjob
A screwjob is when a wrestler loses a match unfairly due to outside interference or dodgy refereeing. Usually with the face playing the victim, their heel rival (or future rival) may cost them a championship title shot, or a championship title belt. The act gives the face plenty of motive to seek revenge on their rival, so it’s used often to start, or escalate a feud to the next level; and give the heel sufficient heat with the crowd. Also used to show how “kayfabe” management is abusing their power by preferring “their guy” as champion over another, which gives fans more reason to boo the authority figures.
Scripted
Another term for worked. It’s used by wrestling fans to explain to non-wrestling fans that while outcomes are scripted, it doesn’t mean the moves performed are fake and have no element of risk to the wrestler’s health.
May also refer to wrestler’s promos in WWE. In the past, wrestler’s were given freedom with the mic, and at most would get bullet points of important things to say; but would say it in their own way. WWE (and other companies may do this too) tend to script their wrestler’s promos and only give freedom to a selected few. Sometimes, a wrestler like The Rock will blatantly tell the audience he’s going off-script to address fans or talk about a personal matter, which doesn’t happen often.
Sell
The art of selling is a wrestler on the receiving end of a move reacting to it like it seriously hurt. There’s such thing as good selling, and bad selling, which I’ll explain below:
An example of good selling would make you believe the wrestler is injured after a barrage of shots to their shoulder. The wrestler continues the match showing their shoulder pain, which may effect their ability to perform suplex and throws. The match may end with fans questioning whether it was a real injury or not. Good selling can be as simple as staying down after a powerbomb, or appearing “dead” following a vicious spot.
Bad selling is rampant in wrestling today. I could do an article on what I consider the worst era of selling in wrestling history. Too many wrestlers get up early from moves which if they’d been performed 10, 20, 30 years ago, wouldn’t have been the case unless they was being a serious dick to their opponent.
Bad selling isn’t all about getting up early, or no-selling moves. Over-selling is when a wrestler acts like they were hit by a tank from a simple strike. Blatant and continuous over-selling is rare, but the best example is when HBK over-sold Hogan’s moves at Summerslam; to embarrass and poke fun at his character for being “superhuman”.
While promotions like ROH and NJPW feature some of the best talent in the world, there’s been instances of matches with little selling. and sometimes no-selling of finishing moves. While the wrestling is exciting, often I find myself wondering whether these moves hurt at all, because they happen to do many sequences per match without slowing down. The pace is too quick considering the frequency of moves; with more moves per match, there should be more time to sell.
Send It
Not used as much these days. “Send it”, is when a wrestler asks their opponent to hit them with the wrong side of the chair.
Sheep
When desperate wrestling fans will do anything and go anywhere in the hopes of meeting their heroes online or in-person. Nothing their favourite wrestlers do will deter them from being their biggest fan, and the same thing goes for wrestling companies. “WWE sheep” will defend the company no matter what they do, and will go to extreme lengths to blast other companies and their fans. They will hate anyone who has a bad word to say, and will usually respond with anger.
They will talk about wrestling to non-wrestling fans whether they want to hear it or not. They will spend all their money on merchandise, and forget saving money for important things. Not to be confused with normal wrestling fans, or “marks” as others would say.
Shine
When a face gets the upper hand early in the match. Often done in matches where the face is clearly going to lose to the monster heel, but the company wants to give them some “shine” by letting them show what they can do before the heel takes the advantage.
Shoot
When a wrestler blatantly goes off-script to address real-life issues and incidents. This may be done when a wrestler is upset with another wrestler in real-life, or they’re frustrated with decisions made by management. It’s considered unprofessional, as the higher-ups don’t want an out of control talent berating other talents or the company in front of the fans. Such drama is discouraged as it gives the company a bad reputation, it shows the company has problems and fans may go elsewhere if they believe the promotion is incapable of delivering quality events and business decisions in the future.
Not to be confused with worked shoot promos like (examples) CM Punk’s pipe bomb, AJ Lee’s promo on the Divas, and Paige’s worked promo on Charlotte. While these promos dip into reality, they were approved by management beforehand so it’s a scripted promo disguised as a shoot. Worked shoot promos give short-term excitement, til the fans get smart and realize it’s a work.
The other type of shoot interview is when a wrestler sits down for a long interview with a host who asks them questions about their life in the business, and what they did/do outside the business. Shoot interviews include the real people behind the characters and cannot be linked to any wrestling promotion. A company who has talk shows like the “Stone Cold Podcast” may encourage the host and guest to talk about specific subjects, while steering away (or limiting time spent) from discussing controversial subjects. The guest may show elements of their wrestling character, meaning it’s not classed as a shoot interview.
Shooter
A wrestler with a background in legitimate fighting (catch wrestling in the old days, MMA these days), or otherwise is known as a tough guy who won’t take anything untoward in the ring.
In the old days, veteran wrestlers would “stretch” rookies to put them in their place if they were taking liberties. A shooter is one notch lower than a “hooker” (not to be confused with ho’s), the term used decades ago to describe wrestlers who could end a match with real holds if their opponent was going into business for themselves.
Showman
A wrestler who doesn’t need a wrestling match to entertain the crowd. Just give them an entrance and a microphone, sit back, and watch the magic unfold.
Signature Move
A move synonymous with a wrestler. They use it as part of their moveset, and it may have a unique name attached to it. A signature move might be used to finish a match instead of a finishing move, but it’s a rare occurrence. Most signature moves give the wrestler a late 2-count to build to the finish.
Skin The Cat
When a wrestler goes over the top or through the ropes and is able to pull themselves back in without touching the floor. Sometimes may use their legs to force their opponent over the top rope to the floor. A signature move of Shawn Michaels.
Skit
A segment of a wrestling show which is not a wrestling match or fight. Like an interview, promo, or comedy sketch.
Smark / Smarten Up
Smark is a combination of the words ‘Smart Mark’. Sometimes used in a negative tone, a smark is someone who has inside knowledge of the business without personal experience. Smarks are more likely to criticize a show than enjoy it like other wrestling fans. Smarks tend to cheer for wrestlers with great wrestling ability (whether they face or heel) over wrestler’s they consider inexperienced and “pushed too soon” by the company. Sometimes used by casual fans and wrestler’s to refer to “know-it-alls” who really don’t know anything.
There’s a fine line between being a smark, and a smart wrestling fan. Smart wrestling fans don’t spoil things for others and look down on fans who are not smart to how the business works. To “smarten up” is when a wrestling fan is educated on the business, and realizes matches are scripted, and matches are planned out beforehand.
Space Mountain
“You want to take a ride on Space Mountain!?” – The humourous euphemism used by Ric Flair to refer to sex, or his penis. WOOOOOO!
Splash
A move usually performed by a large wrestler when they drop their full weight on a smaller opponent. Named after Big Daddy’s signature move, the Daddy Splash.
Sports Entertainment
A term coined by WWE and Vince McMahon to refer to WWE’s programming; to appeal to a broader audience. Sports Entertainment differs to professional wrestling by referring to talent as “superstars”, encouraging scripted storylines, and taking elements from other forms of entertainment like reality TV shows and live bands.
Spot / Spotfest / Spot Monkey / Spot Shuffle
A spot is a planned move or series of moves in a match. A high spot is an exciting, and potentially dangerous move. A spotfest is a match with spots back-to-back getting a mixed reaction from critics and fans.
Spot monkey is a term to describe a wrestler who heavily relies on high spots over ring psychology, and working the crowd. Found more in cruiserweights and those who adopt a full-time hardcore style.
Spot shuffle is when a group of wrestlers outside the ring shuffle into position to cushion the fall of the incoming flyer. The time spent getting into position is important; the longer they shuffle, the worse it looks.
Squared Circle
Another term for a wrestling ring. Commonly used to hype events and wrestler’s talent.
Squash
A one-sided, and often short match between two wrestlers. Used in WWE to establish new ‘big guys’ to the main roster, giving them squash victories for several weeks against unknown jobbers and mid-card talent. A squash can revive a wrestler’s career after a losing streak or return from injury.
Squash matches have a mixed reaction. On one hand, it’s good to set up a talent as a credible force, but if it’s done too long it displays a lack of competition. The real question is, do the fans like squash matches? I can’t imagine many saying they would prefer a squash over a back-and-forth contest.
Stable
The Four Horseman. D-Generation X. New World Order. Do I need to list more? A stable is a group of wrestlers with the same goals, adopting their own style and gimmicks. They may recruit new members, or kick out the weak links. They will interfere on behalf of their stablemates.
On occasion, they will try to “take over” the promotion and own every championship. Stables will form to fight the dominant villanous stable, causing Stable Warfare. In the end, the war will end in an Barbed Wire Inferno Wargames match with four stables in three rings. Ok, an extreme example, but the war will end in a gimmick match in an elimination-style match, likely in a steel structure.
Stalling
When a heel wrestler purposely stalls to wrestle his opponent. The face tries to engage, but the heel avoids and powders out to circle the ring and “stretch”. The face eventually gets agitated and runs after the heel, who runs away, gets in the ring, and gets the upper hand on the face as they re-enter the ring.
Stiff
Using excessive force while executing a move, on purpose or by accident. Stiff punches may cause injury to an opponent. Or in John Cena’s case, a knee strike.
Stooge
A stooge is hired help for heel wrestlers. They will do the ‘dirty work’ for them, such as putting their bodies on the line during run-ins, or accepting matches on their boss’ behalf.
Strap
Strap is another word for a title belt. There’s also the Strap Match, which includes a long belt for whipping each other’s backs, or a strap tieing opponents arms together so there’s no escape.
Stretching
Stretching is the lost practice of wrestler’s from the kayfabe era who applied legitimate holds on their opponents to protect the business. It was also done to toughen up the younger wrestlers, and assert their authority on an opponent they considered to be going into business for themselves (stealing the win). Stu Hart was known to stretch his students to toughen them up in the Hart Dungeon.
Strike
A punch, chop, kick, or any other physical hit to the body without grabbing an opponent. Weapon strikes to the head is a practice highly discouraged in WWE and other promotions.
Stroke
To have stroke means you have continuing backstage influence. For example, you could persuade management to give a deserving talent a match on TV, or appear in a skit. Or to take the month off without much notice.
Strong Style
A form of Japanese wrestling which is worked, yet appears realistic, competitive, and may include stiff mixed martial arts strikes. Wrestlers need toughness and spirit to work strong style. One wrestler who has perfected the style is the “King Of Strong Style” Shinsuke Nakamura.
Superhuman Comeback
Hulk Hogan, John Cena, Roman Reigns. Three wrestlers who have been negatively compared to Superman. The reason behind this is due to the nature of the “Superhuman Comeback”.
What happens is, the heel will do all the damage through the match, then outta’ nowhere … the face will recover, do their finishing sequence of moves, and win the match in predictable fashion. They will celebrate the win like the match didn’t exist, no-selling the 15+ minute beatdown they just took, and the heel will leave the ringside area in disgrace as the Superhuman soaks in the electric atmosphere.
The only guy who ever made it work on a huge scale was Hulk Hogan during the 80’s, but it soon got tiresome in the 90’s before he turned heel and joined the New World Order. Then the Superhuman Comeback worked for him, as it only gave him more heat with the WCW fans.
Superstar
The term used by WWE to refer to their wrestlers. Was used by TNA for a few years before reverting back to calling them professional wrestlers.
Spike
A move which targets the head, neck, and shoulders. Piledrivers, and other moves which drop wrestlers on their heads are risky and have caused neck injuries in the past. Sometimes a commentator may describe the recipient as getting “spiked on their head”. All I’m going to say is, piledrivers and other dangerous moves should only be performed by the best, and even then, it doesn’t need to be every match.
Wow, well that was a long. Thanks for staying with me, and you see why I had to split R and S in two, as it would have taken a long time. It may get a little easier as we head towards the alphabet. Thanks for reading everyone.
