Posted in: The Classroom The Classroom - History Of: Wrestling Language Part 1
By Sean Taylor
Sep 23, 2009 - 3:14:02 AM
"Beth Phoenix and Trish Stratus will go one-on-one in this tag team match."
- "The Thumb" Michael Cole
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to The Classroom. I wanted to take the time to personally thank everyone who read and responded to my After School Detention of Monday Night Raw. I wanted to bounce back to writing and I was hoping the response would be positive. I was overwhelmed with positive feedback. I can’t take total credit though. Raw continuing every problem I outlined helped too. Regardless, a huge thank you to everyone. I haven’t been able to keep up with the responses and I feel bad for that. Going forward, anyone who takes the time to write, will have the courtesy of a response back. That’s a promise.
Before we get on to the main course, I wanted to share a few thoughts of mine. Rumours have been circulating that WrestleMania XXVIII (28 for those who don’t know Roman Numerals) maybe coming to Toronto and the Roger’s Centre. This would put the biggest show in professional wrestling just two hours from where I type this. My first thought was "Holy shit! I’m getting a third chance to see Mania! And I have tons of time to save up the needed money for it!" After a while, though, I started to think about what I would actually want to go and see. I came to the conclusion that first, I’d go to the Hall of Fame ceremony, then I’d go to Fan Axxess, then I’d go to Mania. Meaning, if I could only do two of the three, Mania is out. It’s not that I hate the product or anything like that; I just would prefer to see the Hall of Fame and Fan Axxess. The chance to see the legends get their biggest night and just mark out with all of the Axxess attractions would just be too much to pass up. Besides, I can always watch Mania on pay-per-view but I can’t see the others in their entirety that weekend. I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me. So here’s part one of your homework: What would you do and in what order?
Enough stalling. Time to get to the main event.
Have you ever wondered why a dog was called a "dog"? Who thought of using the letters A, E, R, K, R, and M to create the word "marker"? Or how about why “there”, “their”, and “they’re” are all pronounced the same but spelled differently and have different meanings? That’s because we take our language for granted. We’re taught at an early age what the words we use mean and how to spell and use them but after that, we forget all about them and never think about them again. Sometimes, the language becomes so used, we forget what the word means and that leads to misuse and misunderstandings about them.
The language of professional wrestling used to be guarded and kept secret under the guise of keeping the business protected. But with the advent of the Internet, tell-all autobiographies, and interview exposés have opened up the secret language of professional wrestling to the masses. Some words and phrases have been bastardized over the years to the point where the true meanings of those words are lost completely. The language of wrestling is specific to it and to truly understand the wrestling industry, one must understand the language it uses. That was these lessons are for. Put down your pencils and pay attention. It’s time to start the class.
Keeping It Secret
Kayfabe - noun (kay-fayb)
Definition: A professional wrestling term standing for the unsaid rule that wrestlers should remain in character both in the ring and in public to maintain the feeling of reality among the fans.
Kayfabe is a word purely exclusive to the professional wrestling industry. Even breaking down the word does not provide a logical root for either "kay" or "fabe". It is believed that wrestlers invented the word by simply combining non-sensical sounds into a new word.
Kayfabe is the most important tool in a wrestler’s toolbox. It is what separates the wrestlers from the fans. Kayfabe allows the wrestler to protect the trade secrets of the business, thereby making the end product seem real or legit to the audience. Think of it as the proverbial fourth wall. Other forms of entertainment have the same thing – usually referred to as the "magic of television" or "movie magic" – and it makes the seemingly impossible possible. The difference between professional wrestling and other forms of entertainment used to be how far the wrestlers would go to hide the true art of their trade.
While Hollywood studios proudly showed off their new and innovative technologies like a badge of honour, the wrestling industry slunk further back into their holes, shying away from prying eyes. When professional wrestling went from being real matches to pre-determined in the early 1900s, they wanted to keep the fact that the match endings were pre-determined a secret for as long as possible. That didn’t work. Fans figured out pretty much right away that what they were watched had to be fabricated. However, they didn’t care. Why? Because of kayfabe.
Kayfabe became the mutual, unspoken agreement between the wrestlers and the audience. The audience didn’t know what the wrestlers called it, but they understood it just the same. Essentially, as long as what they were watching looked real, they would believe it was real and react accordingly. It was much like going to see a movie. We all know that Superman doesn’t really exist. We know that there isn’t a single person on Earth who is faster than a speeding bullet or who can leap tall buildings in a single bound. But there exists a character and a storyline that goes with him that sounds just logical enough for us, the audience, to suspend our disbelief and immerse ourselves in the make-believe world of Metropolis and Superman. It is that suspension of disbelief (kayfabe) that makes professional wrestling work. The more the kayfabe is used, the more apt the audience is to suspend their disbelief.
Up until the late 1990s, kayfabe was very hard to break. The wrestlers and promoters went to great lengths to protect even their most basic secrets from the prying eyes of the public – even outside the ring. The good guys and bad guys never traveled together or stayed at the same hotel. In some of the territories, wrestlers were not only permitted but also encouraged to get into bar fights after the shows. This would accomplish two very desirable results. One, the people in the bar would know that the wrestlers were tougher than their local roughneck, thus be more apt to buy tickets to the next show. Two, the fight would be reported in the local newspapers the next day thus drawing more people to see the live shows.
The punishment for breaking kayfabe in any form (breaking character, losing a bar fight, be seen mingling with an opposite aligned wrestler, etc) ranged from a hefty fine (rare) to loss of employment (frequent). Breaking kayfabe was the single biggest offense a wrestler could make. It would be akin to a police officer shooting a random, innocent person in the face. It just wasn’t done. This was the reason wrestlers lived their characters almost every waking hour of the day. As an example, picture two wrestlers were at a restaurant talking quietly about their home lives and families. Suddenly, the waitress stops by their table to take their orders. The wrestlers have to immediately starting talking in character and mentioning the next live show in that town in the hopes that the waitress would pick up on that information and tell others. It was subliminal messaging before television was ever invented. To alert the unaware wrestler that the waitress was approaching, the other would say, "kayfabe". This would alert the unaware wrestler that an outsider was approaching and he would then immediately jump into character.
Nowadays, the wrestling industry has been exposed and opened to the public eye so much that kayfabe is nearly impossible to have among all fans. Outsiders like news stations like ABC and anti-wrestling organizations like the Parent’s Television Council tried to expose the wrestling business for the fraud that it was. It was ironic that in 1999, wrestler Mick Foley provided the biggest inside look into the wrestling industry. Foley’s first autobiography entitled "Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweat Socks" broke down the proverbial fourth wall and taught the average wrestling fan exactly what it took to become a professional wrestler. He told stories of training, sacrificing money and time with family, and how the pre-planning is actually done in professional wrestling. At the time, during the Monday Night War, this breaking of kayfabe added to the reality of the storylines and characters of that era. Recently, however, the wrestling industry has lost a large amount of their audience just due to the fact that they know that the characters aren’t real and the storylines are pre-determined. Only the true, hardcore fans remain. Those who can still suspend their disbelief for the duration of a wrestling show.
Those who remain are those who can still believe – or choose to believe – in kayfabe.
You Are Awesome *clap, clap, clapclapclap*
Babyface - noun (bey-be-feys)
Definition: A professional wrestling term (sometimes shortened to "face") that indicates a wrestler is aligned as a "good guy" or hero.
The term "babyface" is rooted in human psychology. When a person looks at a newborn or young child, he/she sees innocence and a natural good. A human brain will automatically register the appearance of someone and make a general assumption based on thousands of years of natural human evolution. It’s the quintessential first impression. Therefore, someone who has a similar facial appearance to that of a baby, is seen in the mind’s eye as a good or nice person upon first contact. That assumed appearance is a "babyface".
There are four main physical characteristics that cause correlation of babies to good and innocence in a person’s mind. The first is facial symmetry. Babies are not often born with distinct facial characteristics. They develop them later in life so a baby’s face tends to be symmetrical on the vertical axis. Along those lines comes the second, physical characteristic of distinct and usually round cheeks. The third characteristic of a babyface is high, smooth forehand. Babies tend not to have much, if any, hair and a natural smoothness in the skin creating the appearance of a high-rising forehead. Finally, the biggest distinction of a babyface is the large eyes with seemingly larger than normal pupils. Babies will open their eyes as wide as they can in order to take in as much new information as possible but because their eyes haven’t fully developed yet, their pupils will not dilate properly making them look rounder and bigger.
These characteristics have not gone unnoticed by any entertainment field. Cartoons and comic books are perfect examples of artists using these characteristics in the creation of their characters and those characters' alignments as far as good or evil. If you look at Japanese animation, or anime as it’s called, you’ll see these characteristics used blatantly. The hero (Sailor Moon or Ash from the Pokemon series) will always have large eyes, a perfectly symmetrical faces, defined cheeks, and pronounced forehead. In contrast, the villains will have the exact opposite features (misshaped face, small eyes with little-to-no pupils, no cheek definition, and small foreheads or hair/clothing covering it). To see a more familiar example, look at beloved childhood hero Bugs Bunny.
The world of professional wrestling is no different. All of the famous good guys – or babyfaces – in professional wrestling share these same features.
All four of the men featured above are arguably the four biggest babyfaces in their respective eras. Was it because of their babyface looks? No. It was and is because that they understand what it means to be a babyface. Having the look of a babyface can get you into the role but knowing how to continue the act is the only way to be successful. The number one lesson that a babyface can learn and live by is that you are fighting for justice.
Doing what is right is the tried, tested, and true nature of a hero. Regardless of what you think about anyone else around you, the only reason you do something is because it’s the right thing to do morally. Think of Hulk Hogan in the 1980s. His character was blatantly good. He plainly spoke out against the evil wrestlers who were out for personal gain. He showed the "little Hulksters" that walking down the right path would bring them success and happiness which he represented by holding the WWE Title for nearly six full years. Whenever a younger, up and coming star was overmatched, Hogan would run to the ring and save the day. Why? Because it was the right thing to do. If Hogan ever cheated, it was to even out the odds that were stacked against him. By doing only the actions of the right and just, Hogan cemented himself as the quintessential babyface in wrestling history.
In the case of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, being a babyface meant adapting to the changing times while still keeping the rules of being a babyface the same. He still had to stand up for what was right but he had to keep the edginess of the audience at the turn of the century. By the year 2000, the audience had become a little more jaded. They weren’t "little Hulksters" anymore. They were teenagers and young college students with a better understanding of the inner workings of the wrestling business. In order to gain the attention from the crowd and pull them into the storylines and characters, Austin had to dig deeper into the emotions of the audience. He accomplished that in very different yet familiar way.
Austin took on the role of the babyface renegade capturing the rebellious nature of the audience in the late 1990s. He set himself apart from all others by taking on the evil Mr. McMahon and his corporate regime. He played by his own rules and didn’t care about the consequences. But was he really that different from Hogan? Why did he save Stephanie McMahon from The Undertaker and Paul Bearer when they were going to force her to marry the Lord of Darkness against her will? Jim Ross said it best. "Because it was the right thing to do." Even Austin’s famous catchphrase – "That’s the bottom line, because Stone Cold said so!" – is reminiscent of the Four Demandments of Hulkamania (Train, say your prayers, eat your vitamins, and believe in yourself). It’s not the same but it is an updated version of the idea behind it. While Hogan’s Demandments was about following him into prosperity, Austin simply stated, "I’m going to be successful! Whether you join me or not, I don’t care." Austin was an updated hero for the times. But the bottom was that Austin still did what all babyfaces do – fight for right.
If you’re not the classic hero like Hulk Hogan or the anti-hero like "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, the only other way to be successful as a babyface is to play the underdog hero. The hero that always has the odds stacked against him but always finds the grit, determination, and heart to come back and win the match. The underdog babyface’s greatest strength isn’t something that comes from inside of him or a weapon lying around the ringside area. The underdog babyface’s greatest weapon comes from the fans. Their cheers fuel him to stand up against evil. Their adoration drives him to take on his opponent. Their support compels him to dig deep within himself and overcome the impossible odds and come out the winner. The underdog babyface cannot survive without the fans and he will always let them know that his success is their success too.
Playing a babyface in the world of professional wrestling is one of the easiest things to do. All you have to do is stand up for what is right and enjoy the adoration from the audience. You have to tune into the audience, find out what they want, and, most importantly, give it to them. If they want you to pin your opponent, cover him. If they want you to punch your opponent that extra time, rear back and hit him with everything you have. If they are dying to see your patented pose or hear your inspiring battle cry, then flex those muscles and yell out loud and proud. You do everything they want but there is still one more thing you need to be successful . . .
. . . a heel.
Booooooooo!!!!!
Heel – noun (heel)
Definition: A professional wrestling term that indicates a wrestler is aligned as a "bad guy" or villain.
The word "heel" comes from a various number of roots. "Heel" could mean the lower end of any of a spear or rafter, the back part of the foot, or the crook in the head of a golf club. The main definition of "heel" that applies to the wrestling business is "Poor behavior from one person to another". It’s quite simple. Those who don’t exhibit exemplary behaivour is a heel.
Being a heel in the world of wrestling is a difficult task. Your main job is to incite hatred from the fans. If you’re doing your job properly, your success is measured by how many of the fans pay to see the babyface beat you up. But as difficult as that can be, a heel is the most important role in professional wrestling. Why? Because without a heel, there’s no conflict. Conflict drives the storyline and gives a reason for any action to happen. Without a heel, the babyface would just be walking around with nothing to fight for. And when a babyface has nothing to fight for he is not interesting at all to watch.
Just as the babyface has distinguishing characteristics, so too does the heel. However, where the babyface’s characteristics are more physical, the heel’s characteristics are more conceptual. First and foremost, the heel always has something to prove. "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase wanted to prove that everybody had a price and used wrestling to show that anyone could be bought. Jake "The Snake" Roberts sought to prove that everyone was afraid of something and set out to expose the fears of the biggest names in the business. Ric Flair preferred to prove what most heels wanted to prove – that they are the best in the business. The heel’s goal drives their action and furthers their character. It’s the sole reason they believe they exist and they blind themselves to all other rationales. It’s this blindness that causes their flaw.
Every heel has one major flaw. More often than not, the flaw is arrogance. Whether they can back it up or not, heels have egos larger than anyone else. If they win a match, they will brag about that victory for days on end. If they lose a match, they will make up an excuse, blame someone else, or even flat out deny it ever happened. The hypocrisy that a heel exhibits – the hypocrisy that incites the audience’s rage – is all because of one kayfabe reason.
The heel is never a better wrestler than the babyface.
The heel can have great moves and impressive finishers but the heel is never – ever – superior to the babyface in any way. This is why the heel always cheats. Whether it is use of a foreign object, a referee distraction, or a thumb to the eye, the heel needs to cheat to gain the upper hand. The babyface is always one step ahead of the heel causing the heel to resort to dirty tactics to win. Heels cheat because they are heel and they are heels because they cheat. It is a circle that cannot be broken. If the circle is ever broken, the heel is no longer a heel. He has become a babyface. It is that simple. To be hated, you must give the audience a reason to hate you. Pride and double standards are a heel’s only companions but those companions can only take one so far.
To become a successful heel, you must stand out above all others. Your cause, however evil, must be the biggest threat and cause the most concern for the babyfaces. The fans must hate you above all of the other heels. Over the course of professional wrestling history, the greatest heels have led the four main categories of heel types.
Chicken Heel – Backing down from a fight after barking like the biggest dog in the yard has always been the greatest form of cowardice. In the ancient civilizations of Greece and Japan, retreating was a crime against your own honour and punishable by death. In this vein, the chicken heel has been a staple in professional wrestling for generations. Primarily, managers who were too short, out of shape, or just plain wimpy to compete as actual wrestlers, have portrayed chicken heels. Managers like Bobby “The Brain” Heenan and “The Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart made incredible claims and then hid behind their charges often running away at the first sign of danger to themselves.
Monster Heel – Just like the movie monsters like Godzilla and the creature from Cloverfield, an unstoppable giant is easy to fear. A man of greater size can take a lot of offense to even knock down to one knee. WCW’s The Giant (aka Big Show) and WWE’s Undertaker are just two examples of how a man with a massive body frame and seemingly endless strength can provide a perfect foil for an undersized babyface. The major flaw with this character is obviously related to their athletic ability. While their strength and power are unrivalled, their movements are often slow and tedious.
Foreign Heel – A classic wrestling standby is the foreign heel. Attacking the audience’s sense of patriotism and nationality is a sure-fire way to get them to hate you. After World War II, there was a huge influx of Japanese and German villains into the business. During the Cold War, Russian characters like Ivan and Nikita Kolloff quickly rose to the highest ranks in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Quite possibly the best foreign heel was actually former American hero Sgt. Slaughter who turned into an Iraqi sympathizer during the Gulf War in the early 1990s. The only downside to a foreign heel character is sustainability. Wars end and national rivalries can change but if you can create your own national feud (like The Hart Foundation’s pro-Canada/anti-American storyline in 1997), you can elongate the run thereby giving it more of chance to become successful.
Arrogant/Cocky Heel – At its most basic principal, everyone hates an egotistical attitude. If someone tells you that they are straight up better than you, it’s irritating to the point of wanting to cause physical harm. The cocky heel is the most common type of heel character but the hardest to be successful at. Cockiness is a basic requirement of playing a heel but successful heels are those who master the art of arrogance. Sure, everyone hates an egotistical jerk but they seethe with hostility when confronted with an egotistical jerk that can back it up. When a great cocky heel wins, stands up, and flashes that "See? I told you I was great." smile, it makes the audience want to jump the barricade take him out themselves. Wrestlers like "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, Edge, and "Nature Boy" Ric Flair perfected the cocky heel character and used it to rise to the main event level in professional wrestling.
Regardless of the type of heel that stands in the ring, one thing remains true: the heel is the most important man in the match because the heel provides the conflict. Without conflict, there is no reason for the match to happen. If there’s no reason for the match to happen, there’s no point for the audience to show up and the wrestling business dies.
Good vs Evil
The world of professional wrestling has changed drastically since its humble beginnings in the traveling carnivals at the turn of the twentieth century. Wrestlers have become physically bigger and stronger, characters have become more colourful and flamboyant, and the business has gone from local territories to global enterprises. Despite all of those changes, professional wrestling always comes down to the same formula that has been tried, tested, and true for over one hundred years.
The babyface battles the heel to create a believable world of kayfabe.
That concludes Part 1 of this History Of series. Hopefully, it has been worth the wait but most importantly, I hope you learned something here today. Believe me, I learned many things with the research of this column. As always, your comments, questions, arguments, death threats, and constructive criticisms are always welcomed. You can e-mail me here or if you’re a member of the Columns Forum, leave a message here. The next part to this series won’t take four weeks to see the light of LordsofPain.net (that I promise) and for all you Teacher’s Lounge fans, stay tuned because KMA Jackson and I will be sitting down together real soon.
Pop Quiz Define the following wrestling terms:
1) Work
2) Pop
3) Job
4) Heat
