Wrestling, just like any other game is a form of sport that combines athletic as well as theatrics performances. Watching a wrestling match, one would be tempted to assume the gravity of the game. However, wrestling lovers know better than to let the game proceed. Further, each wrestling game possesses a language upon which the game is grounded. In fact, each wrestler has a secretive way of communicating with each other which determines the prowess and success of each wrestling club. In the case of America certain words have become common in wrestling to reveal the multicultural context of America over time. This paper analyses the secret language of wrestling and how it determines the value of the American culture.
Wrestling was originally a form of entertainment very popular within Europe in the 19th
Century (Sehmby, 52). The game came to North America through the Carnival travellers as well as the vaudeville halls. Much of pro wrestling, as advanced by Sehmby experienced significant popularities in the culture and identity within the local versions (55). One origin of the terminology in wrestling language was the carnival circuit. This circuit became significant for wrestlers to begin fighting with intent of drawing a crowd rather than winning. At this time in history, workers from the carnival would surreptitiously identify customers who were gullible with a chalk such that others in the stall would know and fleece them (Finley, 32). This practice developed into a promoters and wrestlers having a mark as a generic term that was often condescending for the fans who believed that wrestling circuits were affairs worth competition. The carnival was also a platform where the word ‘carny’ emerged. This was a form of speech that most wrestlers often spoke openly in front of civilians (Finley, 45). The civilians could not understand this word. The word ‘carny’ was a unique one involving an insertion of an iz syllable between the words to create an unintelligible sound to the untrained ear. The sound would go like “spizeakizing
“as well as “cizarny”. Hogan, the legend had a record of using the word while visiting his son who was in prison in 2007. Around the same time, another wrestler also had a performance under the stage name of Kizarny (Duffy, 128).
The Pre-war movie scene also created several popular terms that indicted the heroes or villains of the wrestling circuits. The heroic wrestler, for instance, had a name as “baby face”. The villain performer, on the other hand, often got the name “heel”. The names came from a famous movie of this time and culture, where a gangster was often down at heel, with little or no luck that the shoes also began to fall apart (Duffy, 130).
The good guy, bad guy roles had different language connotations across the globe despite being universal. In Britain, the good guy became known as the blue eye, while the bad guy took the name villain. In Mexico, the culture took a twist to have a technico as well as a rudo loosely translated as a technical wrestler as well as a rough wrestler (Finley, 51). These names often came from the current culture trends of the time. Another example was the categorizations such as reality vs fiction where terms came up to signify a genuine activity. A shoot was often the name of a genuine wrestling activity hence the names shooting match, shooting interview
among others. The shooting interview was distinct from the match as the wrestlers would sit back stage and discuss their attempts to win at matches. The term was derived from the amateur wrestling terminology meaning to reach down quickly in order to grab an opponent and bring them to the mat. On the contrary, predetermined actions would be reflect as work, to show that the wrestlers worked together to create a show of their prowess (Duffy, 136)).
Perhaps one of the ultimate versatile words in wrestling was gimmick which had a variety of meanings. The first insinuation was the wrestler’s persona which many attributed to someone akin to a performing artist. On other fronts, the word also meant a bout with unusual stipulations. One such scenario was the ring and it’s being covered by a fence that is chain link (Finley, 45). Others also use the term to refer to a weapon that one of the villainous wrestlers would use behind the referee’s back. Finally, others use the word to refer to an item that was branded within the wrestling scene. As with other words, the meaning of this word was greatly determined by context. For example, a wrestler would easily say juice to refer to blood, or, in some instances, the steroids.
In conclusion, these words and terminologies used to have secrecy about them and only known to the wrestlers themselves. However, in the current age and time, most of these words and terminologies are known to the fans as well. In some instances, these words are used by promoters as marketing stunts. On the contrary, Sehmby asserts that wrestlers of the modern era may have also developed a set of terms for their own secret communication unknown to the public (42). Ultimately, the only way to find out these terms is to jump into the ring.
Work Cited
Top of Form
Duffy, William. “The Oral Poetics of Professional Wrestling, or Laying the Smackdown on Homer” (2018): 127-148. Oral Traditions. Web. 27th Nov 2018. http://journal.oraltradition.org/files/articles/29i/07_29.1.pdf
Fargiogio J. “WWE: Wrestling, Wellness & Entertainment – An Analysis of Work and Health in Professional Wrestling” (2014): (6-156). Atrium Library. Web. 27th
November 2018. https://atrium.lib.uoguelph.ca/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10214/8022/fargiorgio_joseph_201404_MA.pdf?sequence=3
Finley, Jessica. Medieval Wrestling: Modern Practice of a Fifteenth-Century Art. Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 2014. Print. https://users.wpi.edu/~jforgeng/Forgeng_Introduction_to_Historical_Combat.pdf
Sehmby Dalbir. “Wrestling and Popular Culture” (2002): 2-12. University of Alberta. Web. 27th November 2018. https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1144&context=clcweb
Bottom of Form
