The Role of Jobbers in Professional Wrestling
Local Competitors and Enhancement Talent in Sports Entertainment
Jobbers, better known as enhancement talent, or local competitors as they are sometimes called, have been integral to the professional wrestling industry, though they are not used as often now. Some of the talent even became famous in their own right for losing so often, such as the Brooklyn Brawler and Barry Horowitz. For their hard work and dedication, they were even allowed one or two wins in the end, though usually for storyline purposes.
Wrestlers who are used as enhancement talent exist solely to make their opponents look good. They use little to no offense in the match, which is also known as a squash job when that happens. When an up and coming wrestler is able to defeat an opponent in a matter of a few minutes (or seconds in some cases), it makes the winner look invincible.
Fans can usually tell that a wrestler is meant to win when he goes up against someone with a generic name and plain ring attire, or someone they have never seen before, especially if it’s in a dark match (a match that takes place before a televised event). However, sometimes the enhancement talent are given gimmicks, as evidenced by the men mentioned below.
The Brooklyn Brawler
The Brooklyn Brawler, real name Steve Lombardi, is probably the most famous of all jobbers. He debuted in the World Wrestling Federation in 1983 under his real name, and became the Brooklyn Brawler in 1989. His matches with other wrestlers were not generally notable, though he did have one shocking win against Triple H in 2000. He recently made an appearance at the Decade of Smackdown Celebration on October 2nd, still cheering for the Yankees.
Barry Horowitz
Barry Horowitz began working for the World Wrestling Federation in 1988. Although he consistently lost to up-and-coming wrestlers, he gained minor fame when he defeated Skip of the Bodydonnas twice (including once at Summerslam 1995), and when he beat Hakushi. He competed in the 1996 Royal Rumble match, which he promptly got eliminated from. Still, it was a rare opportunity for someone who had been a jobber to compete in such a lucrative match.
The 1-2-3 Kid
One wrestler was briefly a jobber. The plan was to bring him in as a regular performer. This was Sean Waltman, eventually known as the 1-2-3 Kid. He had several names before coining that one. He defeated Razor Ramon in an upset when he was known as the Lightning Kid, and from then on although he was on the low card, he was not considered a jobber any longer.
He left the World Wrestling Federation in 1996 and returned in 1998 as X-Pac, and stayed until 2002, having fairly high-profile feuds along the way. In the course of his career in the Federation, he won the Tag Team Championship four times, the Light Heavyweight Championship twice, the European Championship twice, and the Cruiserweight Championship once.
Jobbers to the Stars
Some wrestlers are not pure jobbers, but are called “jobbers to the stars.” They do not lose all the time, and they can defeat pure jobbers (of the local competitor or enhancement talent variety) but often or always lose to more established wrestling stars. Some examples from the past include wrestlers such as Rene Goulet, The Genius, Duane Gill and The Renegade to name a few.
Al Snow and the J.O.B. Squad
Jobbing was made light of in 1998-99, when Al Snow formed a faction with Duane Gill, 2 Cold Scorpio, Bob Holly, and the Blue Meanie called the J.O.B. Squad. They openly acknowledged that they were there solely to make other wrestlers look better by losing to them all the time. The group didn’t last long, but it added some light-hearted fun to wrestling and gave its fans a wink in acknowledgement.
Are Jobbers Necessary?
It’s difficult to say. They’re not used as often in World Wrestling Entertainment as they were in the 80s and 90s, although Vladimir Kozlov and Ezekiel Jackson have recently defeated jobbers. If the talent is a wrestler the company is considering hiring in the future and this is his way in, that’s fine. But by beating a wrestler that seemingly never had a chance anyway, surely the established wrestler doesn’t look much better for it.
Still, jobbers have been around for ages and will probably always stay in some capacity. If it helps the people involved, and in some cases even gains them fame (wrestlers like Jeff Hardy and Edge once did jobs) then perhaps they should be kept. Not everyone can be a star.
Sources:
Jobber Hall of Fame, Online World of Wrestling
Steve Lombardi, Out of His Brooklyn Brawler Gear
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Al Snow and Ricky Ortiz
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