Job (professional wrestling)

A job is professional wrestling slang referring to a performer losing a match. As professional wrestling is scripted, inevitably a wrestler will be required to lose to an opponent. When a wrestler is booked to lose a match it is described as "job".

To lose in a fight without interference is to job cleanly. To lose through outside interference is called a screwjob.

Effects

Despite the scripted nature of professional wrestling, a job might signify certain events that have real-life implications on a wrestler. A job may mark the end of a push or damage a wrestler's self-esteem. As a result, it may also mark a downward slide in a wrestler's career. This is especially the case when the wrestler is beaten very easily, or squashed.

Jobbers

The act of losing is called jobbing and a frequent loser is referred to as a jobber. It is a mark of disrespect to refer to a wrestler as a jobber, as it implies they are a failure in their career. The term has entered into popular culture, to mean a loser or someone who is worthless, as well as its Italian equivalent, jabroni, a phrase that was made popular by The Rock. Former alternate terms included journeyman (because of jobbers being hired for individual matches and not having contracts with the major promotions), enhancement talent and ham-n-egger.

Despite the negative sense of the word, some wrestlers have made a career out of jobbing. Barry Horowitz and Steve Lombardi (better known as the "Brooklyn Brawler") made a career out of jobbing, primarily in the World Wrestling Federation.

A slightly higher position is jobber to the stars, which is a wrestler who still defeats pure jobbers but who consistently loses to top-level or up-and-coming stars. This often happens to popular faces towards the end of their careers, including Tony Garea and Tito Santana.

Many top names in wrestling began their careers as jobbers. Mick Foley and Bret Hart began their careers as jobbers in the 1980s, later going on to greater success in the 1990s after employers began to recognize their talent. Peter Polaco and Terry Richards were jobbers who later became stars in ECW as Justin Credible and Rhino, respectively.

Gimmicks

Sometimes, jobbing may be used as a gimmick. Whilst in ECW, Al Snow began referring to jobbing on-screen as part of his gimmick. He subsequently formed a stable called the J.O.B. Squad. Also, in World Championship Wrestling, the tendency of the Armstrong family (particularly Brad Armstrong) to lose matches was referred to as the "Armstrong curse".

Comedy Relief

Jobbers have also been used to simply inject light-hearted humor into a wrestling card, or to poke fun at certain wrestlers as thinly-veiled inside jokes. Recent examples include WWE's 2006 version of Extreme Championship Wrestling using The Zombie to playfully mock The Sci-Fi Channel and Macho Libre, who doubled as a cross between the 2006 luchador wrestling film Nacho Libre and "Macho Man" Randy Savage.