Screwjob (professional wrestling)

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In professional wrestling a screwjob occurs when a match ends in a controversy, often involving "cheating" by the nominal victor. This is in contrast to a clean finish, in which the match ends in an untainted manner.

[edit] Worked screwjobs

A worked screwjob, a common element of storyline booking, is when a match is intended to end controversially (usually by means of some form of outside interference).

Common worked screwjobs include use of weapons behind the referee's back, intentional disqualification, incapacitation or corruption of the ref (see also Dusty finish), and most commonly interference (either by someone seeking revenge, an ally of one of the participants, or a third party who stands to benefit from the result of the match).

[edit] Shoot screwjobs

A shoot screwjob is extremely rare, and almost never happens in modern pro wrestling. A shoot screwjob occurs when a change is made without one of the participants knowing, creating an outcome that is contrary to what was supposedly planned for the storyline by the participants. Shoot screwjobs are more common in Japan and even there it sometimes occurs even between top stars, such as Rikidozan vs. Masahiko Kimura in 1954, Akira Maeda vs. Satoru Sayama, Maeda vs. André the Giant, and Maeda and partners vs. Riki Chōshū and partners between 1986-87. In Japan, worked screwjobs have been very rare since the advent of the Japanese UWF, led by Maeda, in 1988; however, recent promoters such as Keiji Mutoh in All Japan Pro Wrestling and Nobuhiko Takada in his own Hustle promotion are attempting to reintroduce it.

The Montreal screwjob in 1997 was thus a significant example of a shoot screwjob. Coming at the height of the Monday Night Wars, the incident is by far the most notorious "real" incident in modern wrestling history.

Throughout the first half of the twentieth century, wrestling was a regionally controlled enterprise, where back-room deals were often cut by shady promoters with ulterior motives. Also during this time, there was less focus on storyline compared to modern promotions, and wrestlers might turn a worked match into an actual fight when either party refused to put the other one over.

[edit] The rarity of modern day shoot screwjobs

Shoot screwjobs almost ceased entirely after the WWF began to gain nationwide prominence in the late 1970s. With increasingly stable opportunities for televising events and thus the ability to carry long term stories, offer guaranteed contracts, and coupled with a lack of substantive competition, there simply was no reason or opportunity for real-life screwjobs to occur. Wrestling promotions were now multi-national corporations with professional relationships to maintain, and wrestlers were contracted talent rather than low-level tools of carnival barkers.