Wrestling lingo
How to taunt like a wrestler
For a good wrestling taunt, you should imply that your opponent is weak and diminutive. Usually, a heel, or "bad guy," will do most of the taunting. Taunts try to incite emotional responses from the audience.
Much like schoolyard name-calling, taunts focus on the physical attributes of each wrestler. Wrestlers will call their opponents fat, skinny, weak and short. Taunts make the 'good guy' wrestler's revenge all the more sweet.
Babyface: A wrestler who's a good guy. Babyfaces usually have "pretty boy" features, such as perfect hair, tanned skin and shaved legs. Babyfaces try to get the audience to support them by countering their opponents' moves.
The best taunt I heard during my time at Dynamo Pro Wrestling was when a "bad guy" wrestler had a "good guy" wrestler's head locked between his legs and said,"I lost my contact! Ref, can you see contact?"
A runner-up was when a "bad guy" wrestler poked a "good guy" in the eyes and proclaimed, "Man can't see, man can't fight. Cobra Kai!"
Heel: A bad guy, who usually cheats in an attempt to win. Heels will anger the crowd to draw up emotion.
Bump: When wrestlers hit the mat. They should fall so as to make the most noise and sounds painful.
I begin to realize what Melin meant about the "story" aspect of the match. At first, Wyatt is dominant and keeps Cook on the ground and
Heat: Crowd reaction. Usually, this means cheers for the babyface and boos for the heel.
Job: When a wrestler is scheduled to lose.
finish'
The two wrestlers are Cook and Wyatt. Cook, a seasoned wrestler with a 3XW Pure Heavyweight Championship to his name (3XW is a wrestling group in Iowa), has his legs shaved and sports a perfect tan. Cook says his cared-for appearance is part of his act: He is a "babyface," the "good guy" wrestler who vies for fan attention. Wyatt, on the other hand, is a "heel," or a "bad guy." A heel's function is to taunt the babyface and incite crowd emotion and make them care about the outcome of the match. I learn the promoter decides who is the babyface and the heel, so wrestlers have to be ready for both.
Sandbag: When a wrestler doesn't cooperate with another wrestler, making it hard for the other wrestler to properly execute moves.
Selling: When you act as if you're in pain when you get hit or make the crowd think no one is holding back. Spot: A planned move, usually flamboyant, used to begin or finish a match.
Despite the danger, two wrestlers are trying out to join Dynamo Pro tonight.Andrew Gindlesberger says he became attracted to wrestling because of its mixture of theatrics and athletics. Gindlesberger, a 21-year-old Lawrence resident, says he was involved in both in high school. This is Gindlesberger's first practice.
This is Ariel Melin's second practice. Melin, a 25-year-old El Dorado resident, says he likes the "story" of the ring and calls it a form of art.
taunts him. But then Cook starts countering Wyatt's moves and eventually wins, becoming a hero.
I watch closer at the practice match to see what Melin is talking about.
When a wrestler gets up from a bump, they "sell," or act as though the hit was as bad as it sounded. Selling is perhaps the string the "story" of the match is sewn with; it's the theatrical part of the sport that makes it different than any other. Good wrestlers need to be in physical shape, but they also have to be
One of the main ways the wrestlers do this is by falling on the mats loudly, which is called "bumping" in wrestling jargon. When wrestlers bump, they fall with their chins tucked to protect their heads and slam their feet and arms down in unison to their back. This makes a near-deafening noise and sounds bone-crunchingly bad.
I learn that a major aspect of wrestling is showing more pain than you're feeling Without the suffering of the "hero," there is no plot to the story.
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