Job (professional wrestling)
Encyclopedia
In professional wrestling slang, the term job describes a losing performance in a wrestling match. It is derived from the euphemism "doing one's job", which was employed to protect kayfabe
Kayfabe
In professional wrestling, kayfabe is the portrayal of events within the industry as "real" or "true". Specifically, the portrayal of professional wrestling, in particular the competition and rivalries between participants, as being genuine or not of a worked nature...

. As professional wrestling
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...

 is scripted, inevitably a wrestler will be required to lose to an opponent.

The term can be used a number of ways. When a wrestler is booked, or scripted, to lose a match it is described as "a job." The act itself is described with the verb jobbing, while the act of booking (rather than being booked) to job is called jobbing out. To lose a match fairly (meaning without any kayfabe
Kayfabe
In professional wrestling, kayfabe is the portrayal of events within the industry as "real" or "true". Specifically, the portrayal of professional wrestling, in particular the competition and rivalries between participants, as being genuine or not of a worked nature...

 rules being broken) is to job cleanly. A loss through outside interference, cheating, or a reversed decision is called a screwjob. Wrestlers who routinely lose matches are known as jobbers or jabronis.

Effects

Although most jobs are routine, a high-profile loss might signify certain behind-the-scenes events that have real-life implications on a wrestler. A job may mark the end of a push, a departure from the company, or a loss of faith in the wrestler as a marketable commodity. 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. However, it can also be orchestrated by the wrestler himself, as was the case with David Sammartino
David Sammartino
David Lugogo Sammartino is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for being the son of former World Wide Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino.-Career:...

 (son of the legendary champion Bruno Sammartino
Bruno Sammartino
Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino is an Italian-American former professional wrestler, best known for being the longest-running champion of the World Wide Wrestling Federation , holding the title across two reigns for over 11 years in total, as well as the longest single WWE Championship reign...

) in the late 1980s when he purposely lost in a squash match to jobber Ron Shaw as a protest against his treatment as a competitor by Vince McMahon, the chair of the World Wrestling Federation. It later became evident that Shaw himself had no idea what Sammartino had concocted, the latter having called for the referee to stop the bout after Shaw caught him in a bear hug that Sammartino could easily have broken. Shaw was awarded the victory after a brief match in which Sammartino did not even register a single blow. Though he was not ousted from the WWF, Sammartino was then given a series of insignificant matches that were not designed to give him a shot at the championship title, and he soon left the circuit of his own accord, his career essentially ruined.

General information

A Jobber, also known as a journeyman
Journeyman (sports)
A journeyman or journeywoman is an athlete or professional sports player who is technically competent, but unable to excel. In certain parts of the world the term has less negative connotations and the inability to excel is not needed for a player to be labelled thus.-Definitions:Alexandra Allred...

 or "ham-n-egger", is a phrase supposedly first used by Bobby Heenan
Bobby Heenan
Raymond Louis "Ray" Heenan , better known as Bobby "The Brain" Heenan , is a former American professional wrestling manager and color commentator, best known for his time with the American Wrestling Association , World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation...

 in Professional Wrestling. The term, also used in boxing, refers to unskilled fighters who would earn just enough money to pay for a breakfast of "ham and eggs". A number of wrestlers have made a career out of jobbing. Barry Horowitz
Barry Horowitz
Barry Horowitz is an American professional wrestler, best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation.-Career:Horowitz, who is Jewish, attended Florida State University, where he studied sports nutrition and wrestled...

 and Steve Lombardi
Steve Lombardi
Steve Lombardi is an Italian American professional wrestler, and road agent. He is also known by his ring name Brooklyn Brawler...

 (better known as the "Brooklyn Brawler") are popular examples who worked primarily in the World Wrestling Federation. Although being jobbers, Horowitz and Lombardi both earned upset wins over Skip
Chris Candido
Christopher Raul Candito was an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Chris Candido...

 and Triple H
Triple H
Paul Michael Levesque is an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling authority figure, WWE Executive Vice President of Talent and actor, better known by his ring name Triple H, an abbreviation of the ring name, Hunter Hearst Helmsley...

, respectively.

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
Face (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a babyface or face or in simple words, a fan favorite is a character who is portrayed as a heroic relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains...

 and sometimes heels
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...

 towards the end of their careers, including Tony Garea
Anthony Garcia
Anthony "Tony" Garcia is a retired New Zealand professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Tony Garea, who wrestled for the National Wrestling Alliance and the World Wrestling Federation , spending thirty-two of his thirty-five year career in the promotion...

, Tito Santana
Tito Santana
Merced Solis better known by his ring name Tito Santana, is an American professional wrestler whose heyday spanned from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, though he continues to appear on the independent circuit. He is best known from his time in the World Wrestling Federation...

, and, more recently, Val Venis
Sean Morley
Sean Allen Morley is a Canadian professional wrestler better known by his ring name Val Venis, during his time with World Wrestling Federation, later known as World Wrestling Entertainment...

, Goldust and Chavo Guerrero
Chavo Guerrero, Jr.
Salvador "Chavo" Guerrero IV also known as Chavo Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero, Jr., is a third generation Mexican-American professional wrestler and member of the famed Guerrero wrestling family who was well known for working with World Wrestling Entertainment and World Championship Wrestling...

.

Many of these wrestlers are "heels" (villains) who routinely beat up on weaker "nice guy" jobbers ("faces") so as to build up a reputation of being reasonably capable competitors (which makes the stars all the more impressive when they in turn defeat them easily) as well as to earn the contempt of the audience who enjoy seeing them finally get their comeuppance when they take on the tougher wrestlers. Two of the more notable "heels" in this category were The "Unpredictable" Johnny Rodz as well as Jose Estrada.

Triple H was given this role in the summer of 1996 by Vince McMahon as punishment for the infamous Madison Square Garden Incident. Sometimes, the opposite will occur, such as with Curt Hennig
Curt Hennig
Curtis Michael "Curt" Hennig , also known by the ring name Mr. Perfect, was an American professional wrestler, manager and color commentator who worked for, among other promotions, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , the American Wrestling Association , World Championship Wrestling and the World...

 and Eddie Gilbert, who served as high-level jobbers during their initial WWF runs, then later became main-eventers.

In other careers and activities outside the wrestling world a "Jobber" is a very successful individual.

Historic usage

The World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) made greatest use of full-time jobbers during their syndicated television shows in the 1980s and early 1990s, WWF Superstars of Wrestling
WWF Superstars of Wrestling
WWF Superstars of Wrestling is a professional wrestling television program produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It debuted on September 6, 1986...

and WWF Wrestling Challenge
WWF Wrestling Challenge
WWF Challenge is a professional wrestling television program produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It was syndicated weekly and aired from 1986 to 1996. The show premiered as WWF Wrestling Challenge and became simply known as WWF Challenge in 1995. The show featured matches, pre-match...

. In addition to Horowitz and Lombardi, other jobbers of this period included "Leaping" Lanny Poffo
Lanny Poffo
Lanny Mark Poffo , better known by his ring name "Leaping" Lanny is an American professional wrestler. Poffo was born in Calgary, Canada, to Angelo Poffo, an Italian American Catholic, and Judy, a Jewish American. He is also the brother of wrestling legend "Macho Man" Randy Savage...

, Brady Boone
Dean Peters
Dean R. Peters was an American professional wrestler and referee. He was perhaps best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation under the ring names Brady Boone and Battle Kat....

, Mr. X
Dan Marsh
Dan Marsh is a former professional wrestling referee and wrestler most famous as Danny Davis of the World Wrestling Federation. He also competed in the WWF for several years as Mr. X, a masked wrestler....

, Barry O, Damien Demento, Reno Riggins
Neal Hargrove
Neal Hargrove, known by his ring name Reno Riggins, is an American professional wrestler who has competed in Southeastern independent promotions including the United States Wrestling Association and the National Wrestling Alliance during the 1990s...

, Duane Gill
Duane Gill
Duane Gill is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his stint in the World Wrestling Federation as Gillberg, a parody of then-rival promotion World Championship Wrestling's top star Goldberg. During his tenure in the WWF, Gill became a one time Light Heavyweight Champion...

, Barry Hardy
Barry Hardy
Barry Hardy is an American professional wrestler and trainer who has competed in North American independent promotions since 1987, including East Coast Wrestling, Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation, the National Wrestling Alliance, New Millennium Wrestling and Larry Sharpe's World Wrestling...

, Jack Foley
Mick Foley
Michael Francis "Mick" Foley, Sr. is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, author, comedian, actor, voice actor and former color commentator. He has worked for many wrestling promotions, including WWE, WCW, ECW and TNA. He is often referred to as "The Hardcore Legend", a nickname he...

, Scott Casey
Scott Casey
Scott Casey is a retired American professional wrestler who is probably best known for his stint in the World Wrestling Federation between 1987 and 1990. His brother, Steve, was also a wrestler who appeared in the National Wrestling Alliance in the late 1980s and for the Global Wrestling...

, Los Conquistadores, Bobby Who
Bobby Who
Bobby Who is the ring name of a professional wrestler who appeared in World Wrestling Entertainment , or World Wrestling Federation as it was known then, during the early 1990s.-Wrestling career:...

, Iron Mike Sharpe
Mike Sharpe
Michael "Mike" Sharpe is a Canadian professional wrestler better known as Iron Mike Sharpe.-Career:Sharpe comes from a family legacy of wrestling, as his father and uncle were a successful tag team in the 1950s, recognized as champions from San Francisco to Japan. He grew up in California, but...

, Von Krus
Vito LoGrasso
Vito Joseph LoGrasso is an American professional wrestler, of Italian origin, best known for his work in World Championship Wrestling as Big Vito and more recently World Wrestling Entertainment and working for their "developmental territories" Ohio Valley Wrestling and Deep South Wrestling as...

, S.D. Jones
Conrad Efraim
Conrad Efraim was a former professional wrestler best known as Special Delivery Jones or S.D. Jones from his time in the World Wrestling Federation...

, George South
George South
George South is a professional wrestler who has appeared as a preliminary wrestler in World Championship Wrestling, Jim Crockett Promotions and the World Wrestling Federation.-Professional wrestling career:...

, Dusty Wolfe, and Bryan Costello.

Some jobbers had gimmicks. For example, Poffo
Lanny Poffo
Lanny Mark Poffo , better known by his ring name "Leaping" Lanny is an American professional wrestler. Poffo was born in Calgary, Canada, to Angelo Poffo, an Italian American Catholic, and Judy, a Jewish American. He is also the brother of wrestling legend "Macho Man" Randy Savage...

 carried Frisbee
Frisbee
A flying disc is a disc-shaped glider that is generally plastic and roughly in diameter, with a lip. The shape of the disc, an airfoil in cross-section, allows it to fly by generating lift as it moves through the air while rotating....

s to the ring, which he threw into the stands just before he read poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

. Horowitz wore green tights with spangled purple suspenders and patted his own back.

In the early '90s, the WWF elevated Lombardi and Poffo into mid-profile programs. Poffo was rebranded "the Genius," and later stepped down from wrestling to manage "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig. Lombardi
Steve Lombardi
Steve Lombardi is an Italian American professional wrestler, and road agent. He is also known by his ring name Brooklyn Brawler...

 became the "Brooklyn Brawler" and engaged in a feud with Terry Taylor
Terry Taylor
Terry Taylor , is an American retired professional wrestler best known for his time in the National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling, and the World Wrestling Federation...

, a/k/a the "Red Rooster."

By the mid-1990s, the WWF dropped most jobber matches in order to increase TV ratings. Superstars fought each other on a regular basis on Monday Night Raw
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...

(see Monday Night Wars
Monday Night Wars
Monday Night Wars is the common term describing the period of mainstream televised American professional wrestling from September 4, 1995, to March 26, 2001. During this time, the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw went head-to-head with World Championship Wrestling's Monday Nitro in a...

). Superstars and Challenge were converted into recap shows. By 1995, Challenge was canceled and Superstars was moved to a Sunday afternoon timeslot on cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...

. Jobbers were mainly not professionally contracted like superstars, and with the Monday Night Wars forcing the WWF to sign all employees to contracts as WCW had been doing, jobber matches died out. Today, superstar-versus-jobber matches take place occasionally on Raw and SmackDown!, to put over up-and-coming superstars. However, the term has blurred into also incorporating superstars no longer pushed due to lack of heat (e.g. Val Venis, Snitsky
Gene Snitsky
Eugene Alan "Gene" Snisky is a professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Snitsky, who is best known for his time spent with World Wrestling Entertainment. He had played college football at the University of Missouri and was on the pre-season roster in 1995 for the Birmingham Barracudas...

, Viscera
Nelson Frazier, Jr.
Nelson Frazier, Jr. is an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring names Mabel, Viscera, Big Daddy V, and King V. He is best known for his work with World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment...

, Goldust, Charlie Haas
Charlie Haas
Charles "Charlie" Doyle Haas II is an American professional wrestler and former collegiate amateur wrestler. He competes on the independent circuit, and is signed to Ring of Honor , where he is one-half of the reigning ROH World Tag Team Champions with Shelton Benjamin...

, Hacksaw Jim Duggan
Jim Duggan
James Edward Duggan , better known by his ring name "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time with World Wrestling Entertainment in the 1980s, when it was known as World Wrestling Federation , and World Championship Wrestling...

). Classic jobbers on these shows come mainly from local promotions and are not contracted to the WWE. Many such superstar-versus-true-jobber squash matches are dark matches(either untelivised or pre-broadcast matches).

A jobber may not necessarily lose, only make the superstar look powerful or at least another superstar interfering with the match to be powerful. An example includes a jobber, Jimmy Jacobs
Jimmy Jacobs
Chris Scobille is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Jimmy Jacobs. He is best known for his time in Ring of Honor , where he is a four-time World Tag Team Champion...

, wrestling Eddie Guerrero
Eddie Guerrero
Eduardo Gory "Eddie" Guerrero was a Mexican-American professional wrestler born into the Guerrero wrestling family. He wrestled in Mexico and Japan for several major professional wrestling promotions...

 during his last heel run and feud with Rey Mysterio, who actually won by disqualification when Guerrero beat him with a chair. Another example of a jobber winning was when "The Kid
Sean Waltman
Sean Michael Waltman is an American professional wrestler currently signed with WWE in their developmental program. He wrestled there under the ring names 1–2–3 Kid and X-Pac off and on from 1993–2002, World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Syxx, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ...

" suddenly won an "upset" over Razor Ramon
Scott Hall
Scott Hall is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure with the World Wrestling Federation in the early and mid 1990s under the ring name Razor Ramon, as well as for his period in the mid 1990s and early 2000s with World Championship Wrestling under his real name...

 on the May 17, 1993 episode of WWF Monday Night Raw
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...

. He then renamed himself the "1-2-3 Kid". This win and the Kid were worked into Ramon's feud
Feud (professional wrestling)
A professional wrestling feud is a staged rivalry between multiple wrestlers or alliances of wrestlers. They are integrated into ongoing storylines, particularly in events which are televised...

 with Ted DiBiase
Ted DiBiase
Theodore Marvin "Ted" DiBiase, Sr. is a retired professional wrestler, manager, ordained minister and color commentator. DiBiase achieved championship success in a number of wrestling promotions, holding thirty titles during his professional wrestling career...

 with DiBiase taunting Ramon repeatedly over losing to a nobody until he too was pinned by the Kid. On the September 20,1993 episode of WWF Monday Night Raw
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...

I.R.S.
Mike Rotunda
Lawrence Michael "Mike" Rotunda is a former American professional wrestler, perhaps best known under the name Irwin R. Schyster or I.R.S. for short. He is currently signed with WWE working as a road agent and making occasional appearances on WWE shows as Irwin R...

 was pinned with a rollup by P.J. Walker
Peter Polaco
Peter Joseph Polaco is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation under the ring name Justin Credible. He is also known for his earlier stint with the WWF under the ringname Aldo Montoya...

 thanks to Razor Ramon's
Scott Hall
Scott Hall is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure with the World Wrestling Federation in the early and mid 1990s under the ring name Razor Ramon, as well as for his period in the mid 1990s and early 2000s with World Championship Wrestling under his real name...

 interference.

A jobber may win by making a heel wrestler look weak. An example of this comes during Marc Mero
Marc Mero
Marc Mero is an American retired amateur boxer and professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation as Marc Mero and with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Johnny B. Badd...

's feud with Sable, when Salvatore Sincere defeated him by countout, due to Mero being distracted by Sable disrobing and getting positive fan reaction. In this instance, Marc Mero used the term "jobber" on-air while describing Sal Sincere, 'outing' him by his real name Tom Brandi
Tom Brandi
Tom Brandi is a professional wrestler known for his work in World Wrestling Federation as Salvatore Sincere. He is also known for his current work as The Patriot, working for such companies as Pro-Wrestling WORLD-1, National Wrestling Superstars, and other independent promotions on the East...

, in an act of breaking kayfabe
Kayfabe
In professional wrestling, kayfabe is the portrayal of events within the industry as "real" or "true". Specifically, the portrayal of professional wrestling, in particular the competition and rivalries between participants, as being genuine or not of a worked nature...

 (admitting the show was scripted).

Gimmicks

Sometimes, jobbing may be used as a gimmick. While in ECW, Al Snow
Al Snow
Allen Ray Sarven is an American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name of Al Snow. He is best known for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment and currently works for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a road agent.-Early career:Sarven...

 began referring to jobbing on-screen as part of his gimmick. He subsequently formed a stable called the J.O.B. Squad
J.O.B. Squad
The J.O.B. Squad was a professional wrestling faction. The theme of the group was that each member was a perennial enhancement talent, in which they lost to established or up-and-coming wrestlers....

. Also, in World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...

 since 1994, the tendency of the Armstrongs (particularly Brad Armstrong) to lose matches was referred to as the "Armstrong curse". On average, however, Brad was more of a jobber to the stars, while his brothers were pure jobbers for the most part.

Steve Lombardi
Steve Lombardi
Steve Lombardi is an Italian American professional wrestler, and road agent. He is also known by his ring name Brooklyn Brawler...

, better known as the Brooklyn Brawler in the WWF, is often recognized as the most famous jobber for the majority of his in-ring career and has since become a part of his character.

The Barry Horowitz
Barry Horowitz
Barry Horowitz is an American professional wrestler, best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation.-Career:Horowitz, who is Jewish, attended Florida State University, where he studied sports nutrition and wrestled...

/Skip
Chris Candido
Christopher Raul Candito was an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Chris Candido...

 feud in the WWF during the Summer of 1995 revolved around how Horowitz's constant losing streak ended when he defeated Skip.

A jobber angle involved Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP), whose continual losses during the end of 2008 – including embarrassing losses in which he was pinned by roll-ups from mid-level WWE superstars – have, in the storyline, cost him the signing bonus he received when he joined WWE.
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