Ashoot inprofessional wrestling is any unplanned, unscripted, or real-life occurrence within a wrestling event. It is acarny term shortened from "straight shooting", which originally referred to a gun in acarnivaltarget shooting game that didnot have its sights misaligned. Terminology such as this reflects the professional wrestling industry's roots intraveling carnivals.[1]
Initially, the term referred to practice or ability incatch wrestling as a legitimate sport. It has since come to mean anylegit attack or fight in professional wrestling regardless of the combat system employed, and its meaning has broadened to include unscripted events in general. The opposite of a shoot is awork orkayfabe. 'Shoot' may also refer to legitimate 'shooting' for atakedown, as in interscholastic, amateur, and Olympic wrestling.
Professional wrestling is staged entertainment rather than a sports competition. As such, virtually everything in it isworked (part of the show), and shoots rarely occur. Shoots in general are against the nature of the business, similar to anactorad-libbing or dropping character during a performance. Performers who shoot during a wrestling event are often punished (often by lower pay or relegation to opening bouts) or even fired, since they cannot be relied on to act according to thebookers' wishes. Shoots can also occur when wrestlers stop cooperating in a match. This may occur to teach one of the wrestlers "a lesson" for whatever reason, or if a wrestler has an issue with the promoter and intentionally makes the match look bad.
While the term technically applies only to wrestling performers, crowds also cause shoots by interfering in events, usually by assaulting or attempting to assault a wrestler. Fan interference and violence was prevalent in thenortheastern andsouthern United States from the mid to late 20th century, where many wrestling territories became known for offering violent action to a rabid, fiercely loyal audience which largely believed in what it was seeing.
In 1988, during a steel cage match between"Macho Man" Randy Savage and"The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase at New York City'sMadison Square Garden, a fan jumped the guardrail during a tense moment in the match. DiBiase, recalling the incident in his autobiography, yelled forVirgil (DiBiase's bodyguard, who was attempting to interfere in the match) to knock the man down, which he did, before security led the suspect away as the match played out as intended (Savage knocking the heads of DiBiase and Virgil together before escaping the cage).[2]
In 2002, during aladder match betweenEddie Guerrero andRob Van Dam, a fan jumped the guardrail, got into the ring, and knocked over the ladder while Guerrero was climbing it. Guerrero noticed what was going on, landed on his feet, and kicked the fan a few times before security took him away.[3]
During a match withBray Wyatt at a WWEhouse show inVictoria, British Columbia in August 2015,Roman Reigns was struck in the head by a metal replicaMoney in the Bank briefcase thrown by a fan. Reigns was momentarily dazed by the incident, but was able to continue the match.[4]
Worked shoot is the term for any occurrence that is scripted by the creative team to come off as unscripted and therefore appear as though it were a real-life happening but is, in fact, still part of the show. This can be seen as an example of the writers breaking thefourth wall and attempting to court the fans who are interested in shoots (i.e., events outside the traditional in-ring wrestling matchups). Notable characteristics of a worked-shoot include the mentioning of terms and information generally known only to industry insiders and "smart" fans. This community of "smart" pro-wrestling fans are sometimes referred to as "smarks".
A major example of a worked shoot occurred on the June 27, 2011Raw Roulette, whereCM Punk delivered apromo popularly known as a "pipebomb" promo. In it, Punk aired his grievances with WWE at the time and announced he would leave the promotionthree weeks after his promo with theWWE Championship (Punk would sign a new contract during the time period); the promo was not cut off until Punk attempted to mention bullying issues within the company. In order to provide an air of legitimacy, Punk received akayfabe suspension from the company following the promo.[5]
A "shoot interview" is generally conducted and released by someone other than a wrestling promotion. They are conducted out of character with a wrestler, promoter, manager, or other insider generally being interviewed about their career and asked to give their opinion on wrestlers, promotions, or specific events in their past. While some wrestlers used these as an opportunity to insult people or promotions they dislike, many are more pleasant. These shoots are often released onDVD, end up onYouTube or other video sharing websites, or as a part of a wrestlingpodcast.
While shoot interviews generally occur outside a show, one rare example of a shoot interviewduring a televised show occurred on October 23, 1999, whenDoug Gilbert, then with theMemphis independent promotionPower Pro Wrestling, turned a televised interview intended to further a feud withBrian Christopher into a shoot that soon led to the demise of the promotion. Gilbert publicly exposed the fact thatJerry Lawler, previously the owner ofthe USWA, another significant Memphis-based promotion, was Brian's father—a blatant violation ofkayfabe, the portrayal of events within professional wrestling as not being staged (in this case, Brian "not" being Jerry's son). He also made disparaging remarks about both Lawlers, as well as the promotion's booker Randy Hales.[6]
Drawing from this related term, ashooter orshoot-fighter is not a wrestler with a reputation for being uncooperative but one who haslegithooking skills in their repertoire. These wrestlers often gain their skills frommartial arts (Ken Shamrock orJosh Barnett),catch wrestling (Lou Thesz orBilly Robinson) oramateur wrestling (Kurt Angle orBrock Lesnar). These kinds of shooters are sometimes referred to asstretchers (from their ability to use legitimate holds on their opponents tostretch them).
Despite the worked nature of the spectacle, shooters have been around since the beginning. Originally, theNational Wrestling Alliance'sWorld Champion was typically a shooter or "hooker" in an effort to keep regional champions and other contenders from attempting to shoot on them and win the title when they were not scheduled to do so.
The use of the term "shoot" to describe a single or double-leg takedown attempt (in legit fighting situations such asmixed martial arts) is inspired by early professional wrestling shooters, who would often utilize these basic wrestling moves when shooting on an opponent (as opposed to the flashier takedowns used in worked matches, such assuplexes).
An example of shoot fighting happened on the November 4, 2004, episode ofSmackDown!, taped inSt. Louis, Missouri. During an unscripted segment ofTough Enough,Kurt Angle, a former Americanamateur wrestler and1996 Olympicgold medalist, challenged the finalists to asquat thrust competition.[7][8] Chris Nawrocki won the competition, and the prize Nawrocki won was a match against Angle.[9] Angle quickly took Nawrocki down with aguillotine choke, but Nawrocki managed to make it to the ropes, forcing Angle to break the hold. Angle then took Nawrocki down with adouble leg takedown, breaking his ribs.[9] Angle locked another guillotine choke on Nawrocki, pinning him in the process. After Angle defeated Nawrocki, Angle challenged the other finalists.[9]Daniel Puder, an American professionalmixed martial artist, accepted Angle's challenge.[9] Angle and Puder wrestled for position, with Angle taking Puder down; however, in the process, Puder locked Angle in akimura lock.[8][9][10] With Puder on his back and Angle's arm locked in thekimura, Angle pushed Puder's shoulders down, pinning him. One of the two referees in the ring,Jim Korderas, quickly counted three to end the bout,[8][9][10] despite the fact that Puder's shoulders were not fully down on the mat, bridging up at two.[8][9] Puder later claimed he would have snapped Angle's arm on national television if Korderas had not ended the match.[9]Dave Meltzer andDave Scherer gave these following comments:
It was real. If you don't follow fighting, Puder had Angle locked in the Kimura, or keylock as Tazz called it, although Tazz didn't let on the move was fully executed. Not only was Angle not getting out of the move, but most MMA fighters would have tapped already. Angle couldn't tap for obvious reasons. The ref counted a three even though Puder's shoulders weren't fully down, trying to end the thing, because the reality was Angle would have been in surgery had it gone a few seconds longer or had Puder not given up the hold.
— Dave Meltzer[8]
As you would expect, Kurt Angle was less than happy backstage at Smackdown after almost being forced to tap out to Tough Enough contestant Daniel Puder. Downright ticked off would probably be the best way to describe his mood. The unscripted nature of the contest was the main reason that Angle was made to look so bad since Puder just reacted to the situation and could have forced Angle to submit had the referees not thought quickly and counted a pin that wasn’t there on Puder.
— Dave Scherer[8]
The term is also often used by wrestling fans, in another definition (in this case, also known asshoot wrestling) to refer tomixed martial arts competitions, which, while superficially similar to wrestling matches, are actual athletic competition rather thansports entertainment.
Example of spontaneous events that are not shoots include mistakes by wrestlers (these are known asbotches) or matches where the wrestlers are good enough to not need to plan and rehearse beforehand. In such matches the wrestlers go into the match with only the length of the match and what the result should be, and work with each other off instinct and experience, often by "calling spots" in a voice low enough the crowd cannot hear until they reach the finish. The job of the referee will usually involve reminding them of time limits and often calling for the match to "go home" to the intended ending. Another way a referee may be involved is if there is an injury, or one of the wrestlers fails to respond to a 10 count or a pin. In some promotions referees are instructed to adjudicate regardless of the intended finish, resulting in a shoot ending with an "incorrect" winner, or one where the match finish is different.
Shoots may also involve those outside the wrestling business. In 1984, while filming a20/20 segment on professional wrestling, reporterJohn Stossel remarked to wrestlerDavid "Dr. D" Schultz that wrestling was fake. Yelling "You think this is fake?", Schultz slapped him and knocked him to the ground twice.[11] Stossel claimed that he still suffered from pain and buzzing in his ears eight weeks after the assault.[12] Schultz maintains that he attacked Stossel because WWF ownerVince McMahon wanted him to.[13][14]
TNAVictory Road (2011) ended with a shoot incident.Jeff Hardy was scheduled to challengeSting for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, but a heavily intoxicated Hardy had been in hiding for the duration of the event, arriving late and in doing so he evaded management before making his entrance into the arena and ring. RefereeBrian Hebner quickly realised that Hardy was not in proper condition to wrestle and threw up theX sign prior to the match starting. This caused an on-screen intervention from "general manager"Eric Bischoff and an instruction from Bischoff toSting to immediately and legitimately pin Hardy. After a tie-up and a handful of punches, Sting performed his finisher on Hardy. Hardy did not understand what was happening and attempted but failed to kick-out with Sting holding down the pin, with Hardy losing the match in only a few minutes.
