Wrestling F.A.Q. and Terms

WRESTLING F.A.Q. and Terminology
Is professional wrestling real?
The moves are real, the motives are not! To put it another way, the matches are scripted, but they actually pull off all those cool moves and take all those hits. Think of it like community theater or gymnastics with a whole lot more violence!
What do babyface and heel mean?
Generally speaking, babyfaces are good guys and heels are bad guys. In more traditional wrestling, you want the auidence to cheer for the good guy and boo the bad guy, so they tend to be over the top representations of good and evil. The good guy tells kids to stay in school and eat their vegetables, and the bad guy kicks puppies, etc etc. In more modern wrestling though, sometimes you find the good guy boring and you want to cheer for the bad guy.
What is kayfabe?
Initially it was a codeword wrestlers used to let other wrestlers know people not in the know were nearby, so they should act as their persona. Now that it's a more widely known term, it just refers to anything in the fiction of wrestling.
What's the difference between 'shoot' and 'work'?
'Shoot' means it's 'real' - as in, someone might go off script in a promo and say something about an actual person instead of the character they play, or throw a real punch that wasn't planned in a match. 'Work' means it's scripted - see 'kayfabe' above. 'Work' is also used when people think others might be falling for something scripted, thinking it's genuine or said outside of character.
What's a jobber?
A jobber is a somewhat rude term for someone who regularly loses matches to build up other wrestlers. While it's not a role most people want, most matches must have a winner and a loser, and it takes serious skill and commitment to make someone else look like they're really good at beating you up! In This House We Love Jobbers