Is the a difference between taking a loss and doing the job? What do you consider jobbing?


Doing the job, jobbing out, jobber, ect. . . are word that still get used by wrestling fans. But I don't think I have seen what I consider a true jobbers in 20+ years. Long gone are the days of The Brooklyn Brawler, the Mulkeys, and Dale Wolf appearing weekly on our tv's only to get destroyed in a matter of minutes. We occasionally get one on tv to help put someone over but it seems rare.  Now if someone takes a few losses some fans start complaining that they are becoming jobbers.  If someone new comes in to a promotion the complaint is all the established talent is being jobbed out to the new guy. My favorite complaint is why do our guys/girls keep getting jobbed out to the ex-WWE wrestler?

When I think of doing the job I think of putting the other person over with little to no offense. Making the other person look great while not doing anything to make yourself look favorable.  I think a person can take a loss with out doing the job. If the match is competitive and entertaining and the person taking the loss still looks strong I think of it as a loss. If a person takes a loss but its not a clean win I don't really consider that jobbing. 

You can lose but get cheated in a loss or lose despite dominating or putting a 50/50 sort of seesaw affair when it comes to offense. Jobbing usually has a foul stench in that you only get maybe 5% offense in a match and it is set to make the opposition look good rather than you. It's all about perception of the audience. Losing isn't a backbreaker to the fans from a believable standpoint, jobbing sort of becomes a token attached to someone who has a habit of losing convincingly.