Jobbers Of The Eighties
A Column by Derek K. for OWW
Originally printed May 1, 2006
Remember Gino Carabello? “No.” How about Brian Mackney? “Still nothing.” S.D. Jones? “Oh… I think I heard a murmur from the back of the room. What about Steve Lombardi? A few more hands…
What do those names have in common” Well, these men are some of the jobbers who could be found at WWF events back in the glory days of the nineteen eighties. “Jobber” is professional wrestling slang for, to put it bluntly, the loser. It’s more poetic origin is in reference to the fact that a “jobber” is not so much a wrestling superstar as he is a worker (just doing his “job”).
The reason some of you nodded when you saw the name Steve Lombardi (a.k.a: The Brooklyn Brawler), but looked blankly at the screen while reading Carabello’s name, is that some jobbers of the eighties (and earlier) had a slightly elevated status. For example, the Face (good guy; fan favorite) S.D. Jones would usually do some damage do his opponent before taking the fall, unlike the unfortunate Mackney who essentially played the role of practice dummy.