Journeyman. Ham-n-egger. Enhancement talent. Call them what you will but a jobber is an essential part of the world of professional wrestling. Though not the most glamorous role, the jobber is required for growth in the industry. Especially during the debut or rebuilding stage in a wrestler’s career, they need to be placed in matches against someone who can make them look good. Many times, these enhancement talent are actually more talented individuals than the person they are making look better in the match. It’s one thing to throw someone around but it is a whole different level of talent to make that person throwing you around look like a more impressive specimen than they really are. For a time, there would be a number of matches on each televised wrestling program that involved jobbers
Just because they had a history of “doing the job”, certain jobbers did earn victories in their career. One of the first notable “jobber wins” came when eternal jobber Barry Horowitz defeated Skip of the Body Donnas. Horowitz went on to get his first ongoing storyline on World Wrestling Federation because of that victory.
Also a well known set of jobbers, the J.O.B. Squad included the likes of Duane Gil (who would be renamed Gilberg), Al Snow, Bob Holly, Scorpio and the Blue Meanie. Under the premise that they were sick of being the jobbers, they banded together to make that change. Gilberg would become the Light Heavyweight Champion and Snow and Holly would translate this to later career success. Holly would take it the furthest of the group, eventually competing for both the WWE Championship and ECW Championship on multiple occurrences.
One of the most famous jobbers in wrestling history is most likely the Brooklyn Brawler. Steve Lombardi started his career with the WWE in the 80s and is one of a very select number who has been able to compete for the company in every one of the past four decades. In addition to being the Brooklyn Brawler, Lombardi took on the roles of Doink, Kim Chee, MVP (Most Valuable Player) and Abe “Knuckleball” Schwartz. Despite a career based upon putting over other talent for the sake of the business, the Brooklyn Brawler still holds claim to a non-title victory over then-World Champion Triple H.
So the next time you see someone head out to the ring and it looks like they are getting their butt kicked in less than five minutes, don’t look down on them. Those are the guys who help bring other people to the top and without them, guys like Hogan, the Rock and Cena might not be where they are today.
