In professional wrestling, a work is slang for a staged event (that is, one that enforces kayfabe). The term originates from "working a crowd." Professional wrestling is generally any form of wrestling in which the wrestlers receive payment for participating. ... In professional wrestling, kayfabe (pronounced KAY-fayb; IPA: ) refers to the portrayal of events within the industry as real, that is the portrayal of professional wrestling as not staged or worked. ...
As pro wrestling is staged, virtually everything that is seen during house shows or on televised shows is "a work", also referred to as "scripted" or "fixed." When a non-fan expresses the common "pro wrestling is fake" sentiment, they are referring to its nature as a work. A house show is a professional wrestling show run by a major promotion (such as the WWE), that is not televised. ...
The opposite of a work is a shoot (the term "shoot" can actually refer to more than simply a "real" fight; see article for details). On several (infamous) occasions, professional wrestling matches have devolved into "shoot matches", in effect a form of mixed martial arts (MMA) competition. Professional wrestlers generally avoid "shoots" at all costs, due to the high probability of sustaining injury, and also because audiences of professional wrestlers generally prefer the exaggerated and theatrical antics of pro wrestling to the calculated striking and grappling of MMA. It has been suggested that Legit (professional wrestling) be merged into this article or section. ... Ryan Purwick (top) works the guard of Joaquin Velasco. ... For other usages see Theatre (disambiguation) Theater (American English) or Theatre (British English and widespread usage among theatre professionals in the US) is that branch of the performing arts concerned with acting out stories in front of an audience using combinations of speech, gesture, music, dance, sound and spectacle — indeed... Grappling refers to the gripping, handling and controlling of an opponent without the use of striking. ...
On occasion, works are presented in such a way that some fans will perceive them as shoots. This is typically done to fool smarks, who tend to pay more attention to off-screen "backstage" events than the average fan. Such events are referred to as "worked shoots." A smark is abbreviated professional wrestling slang. ...
In professionalwrestling, a work is slang for a staged event (that is, one that enforces kayfabe).
As pro wrestling is staged, virtually everything that is seen during house shows or on televised shows is "a work", also referred to as "scripted" or "fixed." When a non-fan expresses the common "pro wrestling is fake" sentiment, they are referring to its nature as a work.
Professional wrestlers generally avoid "shoots" at all costs, due to the high probability of sustaining injury, and also because audiences of professional wrestlers generally prefer the exaggerated and theatrical antics of pro wrestling to the calculated striking and grappling of MMA.
Work (thermodynamics), a measure of the amount of mechanical work that can be extracted from a system as determined, typically, via free energy calculations
Work (project management), the effort applied to produce a deliverable or accomplish a task
Work (professionalwrestling), a staged event – that is, one that enforces kayfabe; the term originates from "working a crowd"