The hardest job in the business

The world of professional wrestling is challenging. People can get hurt, sick, or just burnt out. A lot happens behind the scenes that can cause anyone to get tired. However, there are ways to help people stay calm and avoid all the bumps along the way. Promotions have methods to help with these issues. For most, its allowing couples within the promotion to travel together. Others, allow talent to take free days to just relax away from both the business and fans. Both are very effective and can save a lot of time and help keep talent happy. But for some, the schedules are to tight to allow any such pleasures. That's when promotions have to get creative and have to work out deals. The goal is always a give and take, you do x and y will come soon enough. This is how WWE does business. The first step in almost every deal is a push. A simple request that is always brought up and depending on the talent is handed out without question. A push can make most do anything but to get that push going you need to have a fall guy. That's when you call the jobber.

The goal of a jobber is simple. Sell your ass off, and make guys look good. The jobber can go on to do other things but they still have to lose. The biggest problem is that sometimes promotions do to much and you get a guy like James Ellsworth.  He was a jobber through and through but WWE wanted him to do more. He would lose all the time but he would also get mic time more than was necessary and was lousy at promos. He would turn hell for a while which lead to nothing special and then became the mouth piece for Carmella which was a waste cause she can cut a promo. Overall, he was a guy that they asked a lot of and got not a whole lot back. Carmella was a solid champ but her run was lacking cause of James Ellsworth.

Barry Horowitz was a great jobber. He knew what was asked of his and though he was given some mic time he wasn't asked to do much. He jobbed for WWF from 1987-1990, he got three wins and then went to WCW. He jobbed there and went 1-50! He lost damn near every match and the one win he got was in a dark match. He would then come back to WWF in 1991 and be booked as the "Jobber to the stars". He would lose all his matches in '91 up until '92 when he would win in a dark match in Canada. '93 would start with all loses until June when he won his second match. This would be his wrestling career up until 1995 when he got a small push. This would lead to nothing special but he wasn't seen as a jobber after that small push. He would be seen as an underdog and crowds grew to like him and his gimmick. He was a great talent and his hard work helped grow WWF and WCW.

Speaking of WCW, they had a guy called Maxx Muscle who to be honest I never heard of. He was a guy that didn't do much of anything which is a waste. The company had other jobbers that I could have brought up but this guy is exactly my point. He shouldn't have been on TV as a jobber in the first place. The research I did shows that he was later moved into a bodyguard role for Diamond Dallas Page which isn't the issue. The issue is, why would I be scared of a guy who I just saw lose a few weeks prior. Why would anyone look at him and see him as a killer and a monster (which is what the bodyguard role is meant for). I see this as a slap in the face to the audience who isn't going to buy this character. This is more a reflection on the promotion than Maxx. His career is forgettable because he didn't lose enough and trued to be something he wasn't. Its a shame and I hope that others learn from it.

Wrestling needs guys in these roles, however I've noticed a change. AEW doesn't really have a jobber and WWE have a few jobbers but they outsource them. They have shows all over and where ever they happen to be they get a jobber from a small promotion in that area. This isn't a good or bad thing, its just the changing of the times. My guess is, AEW is using the wins and losses records as a way to hide jobbers behind actually developed characters. That way if they like a guy and they want to push them they don't have to put the work in to change anything. The idea of having a loser on retainer might be seen as old school and the tides might be moving away from the need of them. Nevertheless, jobbers have always been needed and maybe its something that's just not being show on TV's anymore. I think that the sport is changing rapidly and we as fans are loving it. Here's hoping that the changes that are being made stick around and become standards going forward.