L.A. SPEAK : Grapplers’ Gab

angle - n. part of a story line in a wrestling melodrama, in or out of the ring. “The 1-2-3 Kid’s injuries were only an angle.”

blade - v. to cut oneself with a razor.

booker - n. the person who plans story lines, angles and the outcomes of matches.

crimson mask - n. what a wrestler wears when a blade job produces too much “juice.” “Stigmatoid blades so often you gotta wonder if he don’t like that crimson mask.”

finishing move - n. a wrestler’s trademark move, often a match-ender. “When Diesel drops the power bomb, the match is usually over. It’s his finishing move.”

heat - n. crowd response. “In his heyday, no one drew heat like the Iron Sheik.”

Related term: canned heat--recorded crowd reactions added to spice up a broadcast bout.

juice n. - blood, usually from blading.

kayfabe n. - pro wrestling’s code of secrecy in never revealing that pro wrestling is scripted. Origin unclear.

married adj. - when two wrestlers will be used in an angle for a long time, working together in many markets. “Those guys are married until the pay-per-view.”

shoot v. - when two wrestlers throw away the script and begin an actual fight. “The Cowboy lost it and started punching Fatboy full-force in the face, so he’ll get fined for shooting.”