History Main / Jobber

In any competition, there are winners and losers. In ProfessionalWrestling, the overwhelming majority of them have been pre-determined since at least 1920. Fans and insiders alike refer to being on the losing end of the equation as "doing the job," or "jobbing" in short. A connected term, "jabroni" was used onscreen during the days of {{Kayfabe}} as a slang term for weak or poor wrestler, and as a way of indicating jobbers without admitting matches were scripted, and is still used occasionally today. ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' and other publications that uphold kayfabe and avoid insider lingo refer to jobbers as "preliminary wrestlers".

An established talent jobbing to a new wrestler is considered a huge favor, and will often boost the new wrestler's popularity instantly.

* There's also a niche of "Jobber to the Stars"; a wrestler who wins matches against other Jobbers, but loses matches to the wrestlers who are getting a Push. This works under the theory that TheWorfEffect is lessened if the "Worf" is regularly shown winning, even if it is against what are effectively {{Mooks}} or RedShirts. A Jobber to the Stars is usually either somebody who the bookers think has the potential to be a future main eventer (or at least upper midcarder) and thus needs to maintain some credibility in spite of jobbing, or a former main eventer seen as past their prime but still credible enough for it to mean something when the new stars beat them. Examples of past main-event stars who later became jobbers to the stars include Wrestling/PedroMorales, Tony Garea and Dominic [=DeNucci=].[[note]]One could make a pretty strong argument that '''everyone in WWE''' besides Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, Charlotte (Flair), and Becky Lynch (and Rhonda Rousey in between bouts of taking her ball and going home because she didn't get her way) is a jobber to the stars because outside of those names ''there is no stars'', and thanks to 50/50 booking 90% of the roster has a roughly .500 W/L record.[[/note]]

* Some are [[PromotedFanboy just thrilled to be part of the wrestling business]], and will do anything to be part of the show. (Wrestling/MikeyWhipwreck's long run as an ECW jobber might have been partly this, but he eventually inverted the trope.)

** Some of these talented but charisma-less wrestlers decide that a life of looking up at the lights isn't for them and become referees instead, where being undersized and anonymous looking is considered an asset. WCW refs [[Wrestling/BrianHildebrand Mark Curtis]] and Nick Patrick were both trained wrestlers (and Patrick is the son of "The Assassin" Jody Hamilton), but became refs when they each realized very early on that they were just too small to do much anything besides put bigger guys over. Curtis would famously defeat Wrestling/JimCornette in match while dressed as one of the Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles in Wrestling/{{SMW}} before going to work for WCW.

The term "jobber" has crept into other genres as well, most particularly in superhero comics and anime FightingSeries, in reference to when a character loses a fight against an enemy [[TheWorfEffect to show off how strong the enemy was]] and thus a credible threat for TheHero.

* Some are jobbing as punishment (see Wrestling/TripleH's extended run of jobbing after the Madison Square Garden Incident), or due to monetary disputes. Wrestling/BrianPillman was told by then-booker of WCW Ole Anderson[[note]]Who was hired mainly for his promises to cut costs wherever he could and make WCW profitable, or at least closer to breaking even. His tenure as booker ended up being pretty short lived[[/note]] that if he didn't take a pay cut he'd be jobbing in the opening match until his contract ran out. Pillman responded by saying that he was totally fine with being the highest paid curtain-jerker in the business.

* Some are jobbing as punishment (see Wrestling/TripleH's extended run of jobbing after the Madison Square Garden Incident).

In any competition, there are winners and losers. In ProfessionalWrestling, the overwhelming majority of them have been pre-determined since at least 1920. Fans and insiders alike refer to being on the losing end of the equation as "doing the job," or "jobbing" in short. A connected term, "jabroni" was used onscreen during the days of {{Kayfabe}} as a slang term for weak or poor wrestler, and as a way of indicating jobbers without admitting matches were scripted, and is still used occasionally today.

* Paul Wight (Wrestling/BigShow) achieved mega-stardom in his rookie year by not only winning the WCW championship, but by being the only wrestler in history to win Pro Wrestling Illustrated's (the Bible of Professional Wrestling) Rookie of the Year and Wrestler of the Year awards in the same year. Since then, he has rarely held any belt, and is usually either in squashes or jobs. He has jobbed to Wrestling/ChrisBenoit, Kevin Nash and much smaller wrestlers. Outside of his occasional main event runs, he's basically the WWE equivalent of a GiantMook. He is, however, the only singles wrestler to date to have held the WCW, WWE, ''and'' ECW titles in the course of his career[[note]]Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys are the only tag team, and have also held the NWA, TNA and IWGP tag titles[[/note]]. He just rarely held any of them for very long.

** To that end, other jobbers are [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin simply what they are presented to be on television ... not very good]]. One example is a young man named Steve Reese, who infamously oversold the offense of his opponent [[Wrestling/AllenCoage Bad News Brown]] during a match that aired on ''WWF Superstars of Wrestling'' in early 1989; for reasons that have never been made clear, this was Reese's only known match for the WWF. [[note]](One speculation was that Brown's intended jobber opponent no-showed and, needing a fill in, they turned to Reese, whose background was unknown; the match is also known for its play-by-play commentary, where commentator Wrestling/VinceMcMahon relentlessly made fun of Reese's physique and lack of ability as Brown mercilessly beat him down.)[[/note]]

Rookies are often expected to spend their first few years "jobbing." In the field, this is known as "paying your dues," and wrestlers who avoid doing this are often scorned by veterans unless they are a sublime talent like Wrestling/BigShow, Wrestling/{{Goldberg}}, Wrestling/{{Sting}}, or Wrestling/KevinNash. Famous jobbing runs include:

* There's also a niche of "Jobber to the Stars"; a wrestler who wins matches against other Jobbers, but loses matches to the wrestlers who are getting a Push. This works under the theory that TheWorfEffect is lessened if the "Worf" is regularly shown winning, even if it is against what are effectively {{Mooks}} or RedShirts. A Jobber to the Stars is usually either somebody who the bookers think has the potential to be a future main eventer (or at least upper midcarder) and thus needs to maintain some credibility in spite of jobbing, or a former main eventer seen as past their prime but still credible enough for it to mean something when the new stars beat them. Examples of past main-event stars who later became jobbers to the stars include Wrestling/PedroMorales, Tony Garea and Dominic [=DeNucci=].

** To that end, other jobbers are [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin simply what they are presented to be on television ... not very good]]. One example is a young man named Steve Reese, who infamously oversold the offense of his opponent [[Wrestling/AllenCoage Bad News Brown]] during a match that aired on ''WWF Superstars of Wrestling'' in early 1989; for reasons that have never been made clear, this was Reese's only known match for the WWF. [[note]](One speculation was that Brown's intended jobber opponent no-showed and, needing a fill in, they turned to Reese; the match is also known for its play-by-play commentary, where commentator Wrestling/VinceMcMahon relentlessly made fun of Reese's physique and lack of ability as Brown mercilessly beat him down.)[[/note]]
* There's also a niche of "Jobber to the Stars"; a wrestler who wins matches against other Jobbers, but loses matches to the wrestlers who are getting a Push. This works under the theory that TheWorfEffect is lessened if the "Worf" is regularly shown winning, even if it is against what are effectively {{Mooks}} or RedShirts. A Jobber to the Stars is usually either somebody who the bookers think has the potential to be a future main eventer (or at least upper midcarder) and thus needs to maintain some credibility in spite of jobbing, or a former main eventer seen as past their prime but still credible enough for it to mean something when the new stars beat them.

----

* [[WildSamoan Polynesian wrestlers]] often suffer this fate, regardless of their actual ability. The main exceptions are Wrestling/{{Yokozuna}}, The Rock (who's Polynesian on his mother's side) and Wrestling/{{TNA}}'s Wrestling/SamoaJoe, who are/were among their respective promotions' top stars. Roman Reigns seems to be going down this road as well, as he is in the middle of a huge push as a member of Wrestling/TheShield, though time will tell if it lasts. Samoa Joe seems to be the only Samoan wrestler to achieve superstardom ''with his Samoan ancestry as part of his gimmick''.

* [[Wrestling/MassTransitIncident Eric Kulas]], who had ''no'' experience before entering the ring, and nearly died from it.

The term "jobber" has crept into other genres as well, most particularly anime FightingSeries, in reference to when a character loses a fight against an enemy [[TheWorfEffect to show off how strong the enemy was]] and thus a credible threat for TheHero.

There have been times when a wrestler would refuse to "do the job" and would fight for real and defeat the guy who they were scheduled to lose to; this is called "going into business for yourself." This occurred primarily in the early days of pro wrestling, which was done on a regional basis aside from the champion who'd travel across regions. It rarely happens because the inevitable result would be getting fired. Sometimes a local challenger would "steal" the title by refusing to job to the champion (such events would likely be with the blessing of the local promoter but ''not'' national sanctioning body), which for many years meant that the champion would
always be somebody who can legitimately fight back against an uncooperative foe.

* Some are wrestlers who are [[TechnicianVersusPerformer very good at making their opponents look great, but lack the charisma or
presence to make it as a main eventer]]. One typical example given by fans is Peter Stilsbury, an Australian native who competed for the WWF from 1987 to 1988 as Outback Jack; Jack, using an exaggerated "friendly Aussie 'mate" gimmick, was given a huge push early in his run (and according to some reports, was also briefly considered for a tag team championship run with Wrestling/HillbillyJim), but when it became evident Stilsbury lacked what it took to be successful, he was jobbed out before being let go from the company in the spring of 1988.

Some long-running jobbers have gained a cult following. The most famous jobber would probably be the [[Wrestling/SteveLombardi Brooklyn Brawler]], who got his own action figure. The second best-known example would be Wrestling/BarryHorowitz, who briefly went from
perennial jobber to mid-card in the mid-90's when he pulled an upset victory on Wrestling/ChrisCandido (then wrestling as Skip), and then went on to beat him in at least two more matches. He is now a WWE road agent.

Some other wrestlers avoid "paying their dues" as jobbers because they're real fighters who have gained prestige in non-scripted
athletic contests:

* Paul Wight (Wrestling/BigShow) achieved mega-stardom in his rookie year by not only winning the WCW championship, but by being the only wrestler in history to win Pro Wrestling Illustrated's (the Bible of Professional Wrestling) Rookie of the Year and Wrestler of the Year awards in the same year. Since then, he has rarely held any belt, and is usually either in squashes or jobs. He has jobbed to Wrestling/ChrisBenoit, Kevin Nash and much smaller wrestlers. Outside of his occasional main event runs, he's basically the WWE
equivalent of a GiantMook. He is, however, the only singles wrestler to date to have held the WCW, WWE, ''and'' ECW titles in the course of his career[[note]]Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys are the only tag team, and have also held the NWA, TNA and IWGP tag titles[[/note]]. He just rarely held any of them for very long.

* Wrestling/RonSimmons (with [[Wrestling/JohnBradshawLayfield Bradshaw]] as The Acolytes) never received a singles push in the WWE
(although he did become the first black WCW World Champion), and would only see action backstage in promos, after the runaway success of Doom (with Butch Reed) and the failed push with the Farooq gimmick. The most individual fame he gained in WWE was
[[{{Flanderization}} as the guy who would randomly appear and say "DAMN!" at everything.]]
* [[WildSamoan Polynesian wrestlers]] often suffer this fate, regardless of their actual ability. The main exceptions are Wrestling/{{Yokozuna}}, The Rock (who's Polynesian on his mother's side) and Wrestling/{{TNA}}'s Wrestling/SamoaJoe, who are/were among their respective promotions' top stars. Roman Reigns seems to be going down this road as well, as he is in the middle of a huge push as a member of Wrestling/TheShield, though time will tell if it lasts. And Samoa Joe seems to be the only Samoan wrestler to achieve
superstardom ''with his Samoan ancestry as part of his gimmick''.
* It's very common for WWE mid-carders such as Wrestling/KofiKingston, Wrestling/CodyRhodes, Wrestling/WadeBarrett, Wrestling/TheMiz, Wrestling/ZackRyder, [[Wrestling/ClaudioCastagnoli Antonio Cesaro]], [[Wrestling/RonKillings R-Truth]], and Wrestling/DamienSandow to be frequently used as jobbers against such big names as Wrestling/JohnCena, Wrestling/CMPunk, Wrestling/RandyOrton,
Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}, Wrestling/AlbertoDelRio, and Wrestling/{{Ryback}}, because it seems that the WWE Universe is only interested in seeing the big names and not the mid-card. Thus, the Intercontinental Championship and the United States Championship both have lost their prestige, though both have their prestige status recovered when Wrestling/TheMiz (with the IC belt) and Cena (with the US belt) hold the belts in the 2015-16 period. This is known as being a "jobber to the stars". These are typically wrestlers that the bookers think might be a future main eventer (or at least a future upper mid-carder), and thus they're usually made to be a credible threat rather than simply being [[SquashMatch squashed]], even if they always lose to the top talent in the end. This leaves the jobber to the stars still looking strong enough that fans can buy into it if they're booked to TakeALevelInBadass down the road.

An established talent jobbing to a new wrestler is considered a huge favor, and will often boost the new wrestler's popularity
instantly.

* Some are young, up-and-coming talent from independent wrestling promotions, who are trying to get the attention of talent scouts. In fact, [[Wrestling/RingOfHonor ROH]]'s "Do or Die" matches are more or less this, with the fans (and the booker based on the fans'
reactions) as the judges.

-->-- '''Mottos''' of [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} WWF]], stable Wrestling/TheJOBSquad

In any competition, there are winners and losers. In ProfessionalWrestling, the overwhelming majority of them have been pre-determined since at least 1920. Fans and insiders alike refer to being on the losing end of the equation as "doing the job," or "jobbing" in short. A related term, "jabroni" was used onscreen during the days of {{Kayfabe}} as a slang term for weak or poor wrestler, and as a way of indicating jobbers without admitting matches were scripted, and is still used occasionally today.

There have been times when a wrestler would refuse to "do the job" and would fight for real and defeat the guy who they were scheduled to lose to; this is called "going into business for yourself." This occurred primarily in the early days of pro wrestling, which was done on a regional basis aside from the champion who'd travel across regions. It rarely happens because the inevitable result would be getting fired. Sometimes a local challenger would "steal" the title by refusing to job to the champion (such events would likely be with the blessing of the local promoter but ''not'' national sanctioning body), which for many years meant that the champion would always be somebody who can legitimately fight back against an uncooperative foe.

* Some are young, up-and-coming talent from independent wrestling promotions, who are trying to get the attention of talent scouts. In fact, [[Wrestling/RingOfHonor ROH]]'s "Do or Die" matches are more or less this, with the fans (and the booker based on the fans' reactions) as the judges.

* Some are wrestlers who are [[TechnicianVersusPerformer very good at making their opponents look great, but lack the charisma or presence to make it as a main eventer]]. One typical example given by fans is Peter Stilsbury, an Australian native who competed for the WWF from 1987 to 1988 as Outback Jack; Jack, using an exaggerated "friendly Aussie 'mate" gimmick, was given a huge push early in his run (and according to some reports, was also briefly considered for a tag team championship run with Wrestling/HillbillyJim), but when it became evident Stilsbury lacked what it took to be successful, he was jobbed out before being let go from the company in the spring of 1988.

Some long-running jobbers have gained a cult following. The most famous jobber would probably be the [[Wrestling/SteveLombardi Brooklyn Brawler]], who got his own action figure. The second best-known example would be Wrestling/BarryHorowitz, who briefly went from perennial jobber to mid-card in the mid-90's when he pulled an upset victory on Wrestling/ChrisCandido (then wrestling as Skip), and then went on to beat him in at least two more matches. He is now a WWE road agent.

Some other wrestlers avoid "paying their dues" as jobbers because they're real fighters who have gained prestige in non-scripted athletic contests:

* Paul Wight (Wrestling/BigShow) achieved mega-stardom in his rookie year by not only winning the WCW championship, but by being the only wrestler in history to win Pro Wrestling Illustrated's (the Bible of Professional Wrestling) Rookie of the Year and Wrestler of the Year awards in the same year. Since then, he has rarely held any belt, and is usually either in squashes or jobs. He has jobbed to Wrestling/ChrisBenoit, Kevin Nash and much smaller wrestlers. Outside of his occasional main event runs, he's basically the WWE equivalent of a GiantMook. He is, however, the only singles wrestler to date to have held the WCW, WWE, ''and'' ECW titles in the course of his career[[note]]Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys are the only tag team, and have also held the NWA, TNA and IWGP tag titles[[/note]]. He just rarely held any of them for very long.

* Wrestling/RonSimmons (with [[Wrestling/JohnBradshawLayfield Bradshaw]] as The Acolytes) never received a singles push in the WWE (although he did become the first black WCW World Champion), and would only see action backstage in promos, after the runaway success of Doom (with Butch Reed) and the failed push with the Farooq gimmick. The most individual fame he gained in WWE was [[{{Flanderization}} as the guy who would randomly appear and say "DAMN!" at everything.]]
* [[WildSamoan Polynesian wrestlers]] often suffer this fate, regardless of their actual ability. The main exceptions are Wrestling/{{Yokozuna}}, The Rock (who's Polynesian on his mother's side) and Wrestling/{{TNA}}'s Wrestling/SamoaJoe, who are/were among their respective promotions' top stars. Roman Reigns seems to be going down this road as well, as he is in the middle of a huge push as a member of Wrestling/TheShield, though time will tell if it lasts. And Samoa Joe seems to be the only Samoan wrestler to achieve superstardom ''with his Samoan ancestry as part of his gimmick''.
* It's very common for WWE mid-carders such as Wrestling/KofiKingston, Wrestling/CodyRhodes, Wrestling/WadeBarrett, Wrestling/TheMiz, Wrestling/ZackRyder, [[Wrestling/ClaudioCastagnoli Antonio Cesaro]], [[Wrestling/RonKillings R-Truth]], and Wrestling/DamienSandow to be frequently used as jobbers against such big names as Wrestling/JohnCena, Wrestling/CMPunk, Wrestling/RandyOrton, Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}, Wrestling/AlbertoDelRio, and Wrestling/{{Ryback}}, because it seems that the WWE Universe is only interested in seeing the big names and not the mid-card. Thus, the Intercontinental Championship and the United States Championship both have lost their prestige, though both have their prestige status recovered when Wrestling/TheMiz (with the IC belt) and Cena (with the US belt) hold the belts in the 2015-16 period. This is known as being a "jobber to the stars". These are typically wrestlers that the bookers think might be a future main eventer (or at least a future upper mid-carder), and thus they're usually made to be a credible threat rather than simply being [[SquashMatch squashed]], even if they always lose to the top talent in the end. This leaves the jobber to the stars still looking strong enough that fans can buy into it if they're booked to TakeALevelInBadass down the road.

An established talent jobbing to a new wrestler is considered a huge favor, and will often boost the new wrestler's popularity instantly.

* The other thing Wrestling/SeanWaltman (The 1-2-3 Kid[=/=]Syxx[=/=]X-Pac) is known for is that he broke through with a (Kayfabe) upset of Razor Ramon. He'd been all over WWF TV as "The X Kid" with X changing on a seemingly weekly basis, at which point Wrestling/BretHart taunted Ramon and christened Waltman the "1-2-3" kid to mock "The Bad Guy."

* Virgil's tour as Wrestling/TedDiBiase's whipping boy. At least once before assuming the character of Virgil, Mike Jones was billed as "Luscious Brown"; his only known match under that name, which aired on ''WWF Wrestling Challenge'', was against "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff[[note]](during Orndorff's 1986-1987 heel run and feud with Hulk Hogan)[[/note]].

* The other thing Sean Waltman (123 Kid, Wrestling/XPac) is known for is that he broke through with a (Kayfabe) upset of Razor Ramon. He'd been all over WWF TV as "The X Kid" with X changing on a seemingly weekly basis, at which point Wrestling/BretHart taunted Ramon and christened Waltman the "1-2-3" kid to mock "The Bad Guy."