Rib (professional wrestling)

The word Rib is professional wrestling slang for a practical joke. Wrestlers spend a lot of time together in close quarters, and often resort to practical jokes, either to break the monotony, or to get revenge for real or imagined wrongs. Ribs run the gamut from amusing, to annoying, to disgusting, to potentially harmful.

Some examples of ribs include:

• The late Owen Hart would come out for matches at house shows in mismatched combinations of all the ring gear he's ever worn and wrestle intentionally bad matches to amuse his friends.
• When Jerry Lawler first arrived in WWE, he quickly established a reputation for being arrogant. The Clique allegedly took turns defecating in his crown as a way to humble him. Other wrestlers are also rumored as defecating in Lawler's crown, most notably The Undertaker and Curt Hennig.
• When Sable was leaving WWE on bad terms in 1999, somebody defecated in her gym bag. She later used this incident as evidence in her sexual harassment case against WWE.
• While Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith were teaming as The British Bulldogs, Davey asked Dynamite about steroids. Dynamite told Davey he'd give him his first steroid injection--and injected him with a syringe full of milk instead. For some time afterwards, wrestlers would "moo" at Davey whenever he came by.
• The WWE character Simon Dean is apparently a joke on former wrestler/WWE road agent Dean Malenko, whose real name is Dean Simon.

Sources

Billington, Tom; & Coleman, Allison (2001). Pure Dynamite: The Price you Pay for Wrestling Stardom. Winding Stair Press. ISBN 1–55–366084–6

Foley, Mick (2000). Have A Nice Day!: A Tale Of Blood And Sweatsocks. Regan Books. ISBN 0–06–103101–1

"Scummiest Wrestling Urban Legends?." Death Valley Driver Video Review Message Board. Accessed on February 4, 2005.