is Jobbing an american concept?

[RedDwarfTechy]

I started thinking about this when I started watching NJPW. I saw a guy like Cheeseburger NOT get squashed, I mean, this guy is half the size of Ellsworth. I mean, he didnt look super strong of course but he lasted more than a couple of minutes.

And the more I watched of the NJPW product, the more I started to wonder.

Is Jobbing, as in getting squashed, not just constantly putting someone over, an american, maybe even a WWE concept?

 

[Solid Snake]

The term itself as in "job" is just losing a match. Anyone can job a match. What makes a wrestler a "jobber" is that they consistently lose more than they win, if they win at all. The term itself is only used in the US and Canada which is likely why you don't hear of it in Japan wrestling.

 

[RedDwarfTechy]

The term itself as in "job" is just losing a match. Anyone can job a match. What makes a wrestler a "jobber" is that they consistently lose more than they win, if they win at all. The term itself is only used in the US and Canada which is likely why you don't hear of it in Japan wrestling.

What about squashes, is that also a thing that WWE/American Wrestling has?

 

[Solid Snake]

What about squashes, is that also a thing that WWE/American Wrestling has?

Like "squash" matches? That I am not sure about but it doesn't sound like anything that Japan would use.

 

[RedDwarfTechy]

Like "squash" matches? That I am not sure about but it doesn't sound like anything that Japan would use.

Yeah I haven't seen much of that over there. I wonder if it was started in WWE because of TV time limits and immediate goal of making someone look stronger, but then again, why make just one person look strong when you can make both look strong?

 

[Solid Snake]

Yeah I haven't seen much of that over there. I wonder if it was started in WWE because of TV time limits and immediate goal of making someone look stronger, but then again, why make just one person look strong when you can make both look strong?

The term "job" and "jobbing" dates back to the 1950's so there is a good chance that it has been around since before WWE as well.

 

[Grievous 3D]

I'm not the biggest fan of "squash" matches...

I wish wrestling in general was booked more like Lucha Underground...
Everyone gets a chance to shine and every match means something
to a performers career or the story their involved with.

Granted I've only seen 23 episodes of Season 1...but I really like the
Lucha Underground booking.

 

[Roi]

This is an interesting discussion.

Every company has a number of wrestlers which function is to make the other one look good. The difference between, lets say NJPW and WWE is the fact that in Japan, they let you shine while you put someone over. The is not such squash matches. In every match the jobber or low tier wrestler will get some kind of offense scoring even a pinfall or perhaps a nearfall. It comes to mind Juice Robinson. Back in NXT, he would lose to everyone and anyone under 3 minutes. In NJPW, although his win-loss ratio is really low, he comes across as a believable opponent that will give a good match, come close to winning and eventually fail to a top tier dog. The nearfalls will fire up the crowd thinking that maybe this time he can achieve it which doesn't happen in WWE. If Slater challenges Samoa Joe, he will get little to no offense so the crowd won't be invested.

I think the main issue with the jobber thingy is that in the WWE, there are top tier wrestlers and low tier wrestlers. The top tier wrestlers will always beat the other tier cause they are better than them at any moment. In NJPW, trying to approach a more realistic situation, a low tier wrestler can surprise or be better than a higher tier wrestler at a concrete day because lets say motivation or fatigue giving him much more credibility than a WWE jobber.

 

[Stopspot]

Japan has tons of jobbers. They are called rookies.
Almost all rookies in Japanese wrestling spends their first couple of years losing in early matches on the show. And the idea and concept is that with time they get better and better and they start getting more and more offense in as time goes on, and eventually they even start winning matches (mainly against other rookies) until they eventually hit a turning point were they graduate from being a rookie to being a legit worker. Some companies send their rookies abroad for that, some work it into storylines, for some its just getting new and better gear.

Even then there are always going to be guys who's purpose is to make bigger name guys look better than they are. But those solid hands are incredibly valued.

 

[RedDwarfTechy]

Japan has tons of jobbers. They are called rookies.
Almost all rookies in Japanese wrestling spends their first couple of years losing in early matches on the show. And the idea and concept is that with time they get better and better and they start getting more and more offense in as time goes on, and eventually they even start winning matches (mainly against other rookies) until they eventually hit a turning point were they graduate from being a rookie to being a legit worker. Some companies send their rookies abroad for that, some work it into storylines, for some its just getting new and better gear.

Even then there are always going to be guys who's purpose is to make bigger name guys look better than they are. But those solid hands are incredibly valued.

True, but do they have veterans jobbing the same way we see in WWE? Like Yoshi Tatsu is a good example of almost always losing but atleast having some moments where they dont look like an utter weakling. But WWE's idea of jobbing is walk in, get punched around, get finisher done to you, lose.

Is that just the WWE or american wrestling in general?

 

[Gembo]

I've seen it in WCPW a couple of times but they were a bit longer and slightly more competitive than the ones in WWE