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WRESTLING COLUMNS

Cheers for Jobbers!!!
June 6, 2005 by Brandon Riley


Wrestling fans cheer some of the biggest jobbers in the industry. From the RAW show alone, we have the Heartthrobs, Val Venis and Christian. All of these stars are supported by the fans with cheers, signs and applause. They have some of the business' best gimmicks, battle many of the best superstars, but lose nearly every match.

I don't recall a single time that the Heartthrobs have won on either RAW or a RAW house show. When they come to the ring with their great gimmick (possibly the best in tag team wrestling), the fans go nuts, but tragically, they lose nearly every match. They lose to Tajiri/Regal and Hurricane/Rosie night in and night out, but we still cheer them knowing they will lose.

Next we have Val Venis. Personally he is one of my favourite wrestlers, for he has a good gimmick being a porn star. In the "Attitude" era he was one of those guys who pushed the envelope as to what was acceptable, and was cheered during his run as European and IC champion, and during his stint as tag partner with the Godfather. However, as of late he has been on HEAT jobbing to up and coming wrestlers. He is also used in exhibition matches with wrestlers who are being screened as future talent. Most recently he participated in the Masterlock challenge, and has lost to a bunch of nobodies and recent callups from OVW. For Venis, the crowd still cheers, the women still scream, but the Big Valboski still loses every match!

Finally, we have Christian. The heel that cheats to lose every match!! Heel for having Tomko interfere in every match, and then blasts all of the faces (but still gets cheers!). The honest truth is, when was the last time that Christian won a match""" According to the "profiles" section here on OnlineWorldofWrestling.com, Christian won about 2 months ago over Benoit with interference by Edge.

He also cheated to win on March 21, 2005 - RAW: Edge & Christian defeated Chris Jericho & Shelton Benjamin (Christian hit Benjamin with IC belt)... But before that, the last victory he had was on December 13, 2004 - RAW: Maven & Christian & Tomko beat Regal & Eugene & Shelton Benjamin (Maven pinned Shelton)... His last pinfall/submission victory was September 27, 2004 - RAW: Christian & Tyson Tomko beat Shawn Michaels & Chris Jericho (Christian pinned Michaels!). His last singles victory was April 26, 2004 - RAW: Christian defeated Grandmaster Sexay (after the match Christian brawled wth Jericho)...

Just per say, this "superstar" has not legitimately won a singles match on television via pinfall/submission for over 13 months!! He's participated almost every week, makes his opponent look good in battle, but loses!! He is the stepping stone for all the mid/upper carders such as Batista, Ric Flair, Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, Shelton Benjamin and the list goes on. Although he is cheered with enormous enthusiasm by the crowd, he is still a jobber, awaiting his push into the upper echelon of wrestling.

by Brandon Riley ..


Brad Dykens wrote:
When I saw the headline for this column I thought someone was actually going to pay tribute to the TRUE jobbers like the legendary Iron Mike Sharpe, Barry Horrowitz, Frankie Williams, AJ Petruzzi, Terry Daniels, Lanny Poffo to name only a few. The people you named aren't jobbers; their star just doesn't shine as bright as others.
Aaron Atchison wrote:
Christian pinned Eugene the Raw before New Year's Revolution. He used the ropes to win.
Geoffrey Catteau wrote:
I totally agree with you Brad , the true jobbers were the wrestlers picked up for one night only, those men had to battle such huge superstars. In fact at that time you could recognize jobbers for they lost the match after 30 seconds, they were overweight or skinny but they all deserve respect for they just made pro wrestling what it is today. They enabled superstars to build their fame. In the late 80's wrestling was magic to me just because wrestlers accepted to be defeated easily. Many of them lost their lives in the ring for their art but didn't have the honor to be inducted into a hall of fame. Now wrestling is very much like an industry that had to make profits, and quite frankly who would stand a raw or smackdown tv show with only 4 superstars and a legion of unknown jobbers" not Vince Mac mahon , neither the fans. It would be interesting if someone with enough sources could make a column about people like the brooklyn brawler, Mark Ming.....Sorry about the english, I'm not a very good writter and ABOVE ALL THIS I'm a frenchman.
Brandon Riley wrote:
Maybe my column does not deal with the old school jobbers. Maybe I should rename it "cheers for jobbers of 2005" but to give a bit of an update on these 4 men: hearthrobs this past week teamed with Victoria (wwe trying to get them over heel"") and won by DQ which I think is their first televised victory on RAW! Val Venis mounted some offence this week, but ended up losing to Chris Masters and his masterlock. Finally, Christian got his ass beat twice this episode. First by John Cena in the opening segment, and then at the end he was caned by Tommy Dreamer.

However, its good to see the WWE utilizing these 4 men better this week. Its the greatest disapointment to cheer and go crazy for one of your favourite superstars (christian) and see him lose 90%+ of his matches. Its also nice to see Val Venis actually dish out some punishment for once (and yes he again was cheered quite well). This gives him some credibility, and actually provides the suspense that Val might actually pull a win off. Personally I would rather the superheroes represent heel rather than the hearthrobs, since the hearthrobs could generate a much greater fan reaction if given the right push. Unlike Billy and Chuck, their gay gimmick is over with their fans, since the 2 have a great deal of charisma. But hey, I'm not a writer, just an 18 year-old fan sitting at home..
Eric S. wrote:
True, I don't know if there's anyone on the permanent WWE roster that could truly be described as a jobber. Someone who comes to the ring, wrestles their match, and leaves. Christian may lose a lot but he is spotlighted on Raw, gets promo time, engages in feuds. The closest thing on the WWE roster to jobbers are guys like Val Venis and Steven Richards, basically just working matches on Heat with no storylines, no character, just matches which they lose more than they win. Although even they will occasionally get a spotlight on Raw (as they both have against Chris Masters in the last couple weeks). Probably the best example in WWE in the last few years are guys who aren't on the roster at all, like Poker Face or Wavell Starr, who keep coming back to Heat and Velocity over and over but are never hired on full-time. Not only do they not have promo time, many of them don't even have ring entrances. The show will return from commercial break with them already in the ring. The WWE opponent will then have an entrance and squash them. They never win matches, don't have storylines, nothing.

To Brandon Riley, I'll just say that I liked your description of Christian as the guy who cheats to lose. I think there's a more in-depth article in there somewhere, about unsuccessful heels who continually cheat to lose. I'd like to see more on that!
Matt in Hoboken wrote:
I usually don't post, but I couldn't look at a list of jobbers without adding: The Brooklyn Brawler, The Red Rooster, and Marty Janetty (yes, I count Janetty as a jobber)
Joe L. wrote:
Brad has a good point, Brandon. I wouldn't exactly refer to Christian as a jobber since it looks like he will finally get the main event push he deserves. But I think anyone who has watched WWF from 1998 to this day knows that a wrestler might lose more than he wins but as long as he is over, he will mostly (not always) get the better end of the stick. Perfect example was Chris Jericho in 2000-2001, who despite occassional jobs to X-Pac (aKa Peter Brady's bitch), HHH and Chyna, never lost any sizzle in his heat and was actually given a main event push and World Championships at 2001. This means that as long as Christian is wildly over, I don't think the WWE would stoop in reducing him as a HEAT main eventer...unless, of course, they pull a Zach Gowen and have him job to an incredible performer like Matt Hardy did to Zach. Then you have the right to worry about things.
Bobby Van Sickle Jr. wrote:
As an old school follower of watching wrestling for over 30 some years, to me there are no jobbers to me. Jobbers used to get beat and get beat bad. They never got an offensive move in and if they did it would just glance off. Two of my favorite jobbers of all time were The Mulkey Brothers. Between them they never weighed more than one of the wrestlers the were wrestling in a tag match. There is one thing you have to give the jobbers credit for and that is they are living their dream as a professional wrestler no matter what anyone tells them they can or cannot do.
Brian Folan wrote:
I have to agree with Brad here; when I saw the title I was very excited to read about "Leapin" Lanny Poffo, Iron Mike Sharpe, and Barry Horowitz. Today jobbers don't exist. Back in the days of the three aforementioned gentlemen, jobbers appeared almost exclusively on WWF Superstars, Tuesday Night Titans, and maybe an early match on Saturday Night's Main Event. These men would not be found anywhere near a Wrestlemania, SummerSlam, or other Pay per View event card. They had no ring entrances, no gimmicks, no angles, and pretty much no offense. The closest they came to a gimmick was Lanny Poffo as "The Genius" who made it to mid-card level at a few big events, and Barry Horowitz patting himself on the back whenever he was introduced, and doing this so often he started wearing a jacket to the ring with a sequined outline of a handprint on his back. But the all-time jobber has to be Iron Mike Sharpe. He must have had a career record of 0 wins and about 5,480 losses (that's an exaggeration; I don't know his real record). He was always waiting in the ring when they came back from commercial, wrestled well enough to make his opponents look good, and maybe snuck in an offense move once in a while, which would only infuriate his opponent and lead to a quick defeat.

As far as Christian, Val Venis, and The Heartthrobs are concerned, Christian and Val are Hall-of-Famers compared to Sharpe or Horowitz. Christian started out in the semi-lame Brood gimmick, but evolved from there to become a European Champion and a multiple-time Tag Team Champion. Along with Edge, the Dudleys, and the Hardy Boyz, Christian has been part of some of the greatest tag team matches in history. The ladder matches, the TLC matches, they stole the show every time. And now he's up for a WWE title shot.

In the case of Val Venis, you said yourself he has held the European and IC titles, was a popular tag-team attraction with The Godfather, just because he has gotten a lame angle lately, does not make him a jobber. Having a ring entrance, an angle and a gimmick disqualify you from jobber status; if you've ever held any sort of title then you're not even close.

I can't even rationally discuss The Heartthrobs because I am so disgusted with the tag team situation in the WWE right now. This really deserves another column, but allow me to vent quickly. I mean honestly, is there a worthwhile tag team in the WWE right now" Maybe Tajiri and Regal. Think about this, if MNM wasn't accompanied by a hot chick, would you be able to tell the difference between them and The Heartthrobs" Does Rosey look like the illegitimate offspring of The Repo Man and the Blue Meanie to anyone else" Does anyone remember when there were several quality tag teams in the WWF" The Hart Foundation, the British Bulldogs, Volkoff and Iron Sheik, The Dream Team, Demolition, LOD, Strike Force, Money Inc. just to name a few. What happened to those days" Why do all my sentences end with question marks" There hasn't been a decent tag team since circa 1999 when we had the New Age Outlaws. So if you ask me, all tag teams today are nothing but glorified jobbers.
Rodney Seward wrote:
I would have to agree that the tag team division is in poor shape these days, but back to the issue. There is no such thing as a ''jobber'' on RAW or SMACKDOWN! anymore, as all the talent that is seen generates some kind of feedback, be it positive or negative. I point out the reason for this being what I would call the ''superstar ego'', as in nobody wants to be known as Barry Horowitz the second, or Leapin' Lanny's illigitimate offspring. These guys paid their dues way before the era of the instant superstars, and it is a shame that they don't get the respect they deserve.On the other hand, if it weren't for these guys we would probably be watching a very different product than the one we have today, and who is to say if that is better or worse" I for one will always remember the days of 80's eccess and the parade of no-name talent that was used to showcase the ''name'' wrestlers of the day, and for that, they earned my respect.
Kyle Bauer wrote:
To all you guys who say that there 'Are no true jobbers in SmackDown! or RAW anymore'.. I've got one name for you.. Shannon Moore.
wrote:

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