Philosophy Smackdown. Douglas Edwards

throughout. I’d also like to thank Ellen MacDonald-Kramer for her help and efficiency, along with a number of anonymous readers for Polity who gave very helpful comments on the proposal and the first draft of the book. I’d also like to thank Ian Tuttle for copy-editing the text.

Thanks to my colleagues in the Philosophy Department at Utica College, Chris Riddle, Leonore Fleming, and John Lawless, who have been interested in the project from the beginning, and very supportive throughout. I’m also grateful to Utica College for a grant to support a research trip for the book. Thanks too to Lisa Jones for reading the first draft of the manuscript, and to Jesse Weiner for many helpful conversations and jaunts to watch local wrestling in upstate NY.

      I’d like to thank Chris Underwood, for years of fun watching and talking about wrestling together, and also for discussing the project with me many times, and reading and commenting on drafts. Thanks also to my brother, Glyn Edwards, for starting the wrestling journey with me when we were kids, and to whichever of his friends it was that lent him all those videotapes. Thanks also to my parents for getting Sky TV, and for tolerating all the wrestling madness.

      I am very grateful to my wife, Alex Plakias, for encouraging me to pursue this project, for reading and commenting on drafts, and for putting up with all my wrestling podcasts, TV shows, and trips to live events. Thanks to my son Theo; it was on long walks trying to get him to sleep as a baby when I really got into wrestling podcasts. I’m surprised his first word wasn’t “kayfabe” given the number of podcasts he’s subsequently listened to in the car. A pre-emptive thanks too to my daughter Lola, who is blissfully unaware of all this.

      I am very thankful for the number of entertaining and informative podcasts, websites, books, and documentaries on pro wrestling, which make it so much fun to be a wrestling fan. Of particular use were The Steve Austin Show, Talk is Jericho, The Lawcast, We Enjoy Wrestling, Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard, 83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff, and WrestleTalk’s WrestleRamble.

Last but not least, thanks to those who give us pro wrestling: the performers and promoters. I’d particularly like to thank every wrestler who has laced up a pair of boots and entered the squared circle. I hope the book conveys not only the passion I have for pro wrestling, but also my deep respect and admiration for pro wrestlers themselves. Thank you for the risks you take, the sacrifices you have made, and the pain you have endured to make such a wonderful thing possible.

4. Glossary

      I’m assuming that, if you have picked up this book, you have some interest in pro wrestling, and may well know that pro wrestling has its own terminology of sorts. This is explained at relevant points in the book, but I thought it’d be handy to include a glossary of some of the key terms used here for reference.

Work:	Something that is scripted or planned.
Shoot:	When a wrestler does something that is not part of the script.
Worked-Shoot:	A pre-planned event that is made to look like it wasn’t pre-planned.
Workers:	Wrestlers.
Doing the Job:	Losing a match.
Jobber:	A wrestler who loses most of their matches.
Card:	Lineup for the show.
Dark Match:	A bonus match for the live crowd that is not televised, usually at the beginning or end of the show.
The Business:	The pro wrestling business.
Heat:	(a) the response a heel wants from the crowd;or(b) beef between wrestlers backstage, e.g. “Bret and Shawn had heat”.
Promo:	A spoken vignette on screen or in the ring, usually designed to further a feud or promote a match.
Getting Over:	What a wrestler aims to do: getting the desired crowd response (cheers for a babyface, boos for a heel).
Being Over/Over:	Getting the desired crowd response (cheers for a babyface, boos for a heel).
Going Over:	Winning a match.
Put Over:	Giving your opponent the victory. For example, “Van Dam was asked to put over Triple H”.
Gimmick:	Character.
Heel:	Baddie, or villain, who the crowd is supposed to boo.
Babyface/Face:	Goodie, or hero, who the crowd is supposed to cheer.
Kayfabe:	The world as it is presented on screen and in the ring. For example, “in kayfabe, the Undertaker and Kane are brothers”.
Mark:	A fan who is not “smartened up” to how pro wrestling works.
Smart fan:	A fan who is “smartened up” to how pro wrestling works, and is usually interested in the work behind the scenes.
Smart Mark/Smark:	A smart fan who nevertheless is able to lose themselves in the show and “mark out” for key moments as if they believed it was real.
Pop:	A loud, positive, crowd reaction.
Selling:	Making your opponent’s moves look good by convincing the audience that they hurt.
Bury:	Make someone look bad, to the point where their image looks unrecoverable.
WWF:	World Wrestling Federation
WWE:	World Wrestling Entertainment (in 2002, the World Wrestling Federation changed its name to World Wrestling Entertainment. In this book I use “WWF” to refer to the company pre-2002 name change, and “WWE” to refer to the company post-2002 name change)
WCW:	World Championship Wrestling
ECW:	Extreme Championship Wrestling
NJPW:	New Japan Pro Wrestling
AEW:	All Elite Wrestling

      OK, enough stalling, let’s get it on – RING THE BELL!