A bump occurs whenever a wrestler hits the mat or the arena floor after receiving a move from his/her opponent. It can also refer to hitting the floor as a result of a missed aerial move. Every wrestler is trained to take bumps while avoiding injury, though they are not always successful in emerging unhurt. Some wrestlers are more willing to take bumps than others, and some even base their entire careers on taking massive bumps.

While there are innumerable ways to take bumps, there are two basic varieties. The schoolboy bump is one in which a wrestler falls backwards, kicking up his feet and landing on his back. It is so named because it is the result of a schoolboy trip maneuver. A schoolboy bump in which the wrestler jumps into the air before falling backwards, as when being chokeslammed, is called a high schoolboy. The Biel bump is one in which a wrestler falls forwards, rolling forwards or performing a forward flip before landing on his back. It is named after the Biel throw. Other kinds of bumps are usually variations on these. Much of the action in professional wrestling involved the application of techniques that involve lifting the opponent up and throwing or slamming them down. ...

A ref bump occurs when a wrestler collides with or otherwise attacks (whether intentionally or not) a referee. This usually results in the referee being "knocked out" or incapacitated for a time, allowing one or more wrestlers—normally the heel — to break the rules with impunity until the referee comes to or another referee is sent out to replace him. In professional wrestling, a heel is a character who is portrayed as behaving in an immoral manner; sometimes they are humourously referred to as evil. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are often bad guys in professional wrestling storylines. ...

To emphasize the power and fortitude of the wrestlers, referees are frequently knocked "unconscious" for long periods of time by moves that would not be considered particularly devastating when applied to wrestlers. For example, a wrestler being irish whipped by his opponent may clip the referee—while a wrestler would probably only be knocked back in this situation, the referee would most likely be knocked across the ring and act injured or knocked out.

Other performers can take bumps as well — including managers, valets/divas and others who are either participating or not participating in a match.

See also

• professional wrestling slang
• ukemi