Wrestling is a unique sport in which the people that compete use special type of slang to describe what they are doing. Both wrestlers and their fans can learn this jargon very easily, simply by participating in the sport or just observing what goes on. Many other types of slang in the American culture, including wrestling, take simple everyday tasks and moves them into a complex set of words. Wrestling has many slang words inside of its own vocabulary. This slang is mainly used to describe different moves executed by each wrestler. Most people know that the WWF and other Wrestling leagues, such as WCW, are filled with a lot of actors. These people that do these moves have staged and rehearsed these moves over and over again, until they are done right. There are a lot of moves performed by these, so called, WWF Superstars. These moves include the DDT, Cross-Face chicken wing, figure-four, sharpshooter, Tombstone, the pearl river plunge, Power Bomb, Vader bomb, and the Moonsault. Out of all of these moves, one move is universal to most of the wrestlers in WWF. This move is the DDT.
This universal move is called the DDT. This move, which nowadays is used by most of the WWF, was perfected by Jake 'The Snake' Roberts back in the late 1980's. This move is used to slow the opponents down and sometimes knock them out. To accomplish this move, Jake takes his opponents' head and puts it under his arm. Then Jake falls backward, making the opponents face ram into the canvas floor. This usually makes the opponent slow down, so Jake can finish them off.
Mr. Bob Backlund, who is another older wrestler also came up with a move called the cross-face chicken wing. Mr. Backlund lays down and straps his arms around the front of his opponents body. Then he puts pressure on the neck of the opponent, while pulling his opponents arm one way and his head the other way. The move is known as a submission hold, which means that a wrestler cannot be pinned for a three count while in this hold. The move is accomplished by making the opponent throw in the white towel and give up. This move was also made up and used a lot during the 1980's. Another move that was mastered by another WWF Superstar was the Figure Four.
Former WWF superstar Ric Flair made the Figure Four famous during his short career run in the WWF. During the early 1990's, Ric Flair used this signature move to win the title fast and then fall to destruction. The Figure Four was a move that wrestlers found confusing to get out of first, but after one of Ric's opponents found a way to get out, it seemed like all of them did. This move consists of many parts. First, Rick will take his opponent's legs and make them into the shape of a 'P'. Then taking his own leg, he sticks it in the middle of his opponents 'P' shaped legs. He then sits down on the mat, which puts a lot of pressure on his opponent's legs. This move is also a submission hold, because there is no way to pin the opponent when they are in this position. This move usually always makes the opponent give up.
There are also a lot of today's superstars that have signature moves. When fans see the beginning of the move, they know what is going to happen when they see it. These moves are special to today's superstars. The moves are only basically used by the wrestler who makes them up. If somebody else steals another wrestlers move, this is looked down on by the fans who pick who they like and not.
The most well known move in today's WWF is the Sharpshooter. This move is mastered and performed by two main people. These two people would be Bret 'The Hitman' Hart and Owen Hart. The sharpshooter is one of the submission holds. When a wrestler has played in as many matches as Bret 'The Hitman' Hart has, people very rarely get out of his hold. The sharpshooter is applied to the opponent by Bret Hart, or Owen Hart, by taking their own legs and wrapping them around the opponent legs. Then as they spin around, their opponents muscles in their legs tighten up and get very tense and start to hurt. Most wrestlers say that this is the worst submission hold there is. Since the Sharpshooter is the worst submission hold, the worst finishing maneuver is the Tombstone.
New sensation The Undertaker, has taken the WWF by surprise with the new move, the Tombstone. Undertaker makes sure that when this move is put on people that they are not getting up. The undertaker accomplishes this move by flipping the person straight in the air, with their feet straight above their head and then letting them fall. This makes the opponents head hit the ground and make a loud rumble. No one in history has ever gotten up from this finishing move. Another move that is a great finishing move is the Pearl River Plunge. This move is one of the newest moves in the WWF and one of the most risky moves around.
The Pearl River plunged is being made famous by Ahmed Johnson. Ahmed Johnson is a new wrestler to the WWF and he is using this move to try to move to the top of the WWF and take control of the belt. The Pearl River plunge is maneuvered by Ahmed Johnson taking his opponent, putting the opponents head between his legs. Then Ahmed flips their body 360 degrees in the air and then slamming the opponents back into the ring. This move takes a lot of muscle and is a real crowd pleaser. Ahmed Johnson will move far in the WWF with this new move sensation. Psycho Sid also does a dangerous bomb move in the WWF called the Power Bomb.
The Power bomb is a complex move that also takes a lot of skill to master and perform. Psycho Sid is the only WWF wrestler to ever try this move. This is because this move is considered high risk. This move is executed by Psycho Sid picking his opponent up by the neck and then slamming his body into the mats. This maneuver is so risky is because if his hand slips off the person's neck, then the opponent has a good shot of beating Psycho Sid. However, in all the matches that psycho Sid has been in, only three times has this happened to him. Another awesome, but dangerous move is by the Man that they call Vader, has two signature moves in the WWF. These moves are the moonsualt and the Vader bomb.
Both of these moves are dangerous to both Vader and the opponent. For both moves to be accomplished, the opponent cannot move at all, or it will throw off the move completely. The Vader bomb consists of the opponent being real weak and cannot move. Vader then drags them over to the ropes and jumps off the first rope and sits on the opponent. The commentators on the television say that this can break ribs, if not done with care. However, Vader doesn't really care about hurting anyone at all, he just wants to win.
The other move accomplish by Vader is called the Moonsault. This move consists o the opponent being the same way that he was for the first move. But instead of Vader dragging his opponent over the ropes, he then jumps off the top ropes and does a twist in the air. He lands on his opponent with full force. This is a definite finishing move, as is the Vader Bomb.
In conclusion, learning wrestling slang is very easy to do, just as long as you have the patience to take the time in learning the different moves. Once you get to know what the moves are, you can really get into all the television shows and even go to live events and see your favorite wrestler do one of his signature moves.