Enforcer (professional wrestling)

Enforcer is a professional wrestling term for one of two situations. An enforcer is either a bodyguard/powerhouse for a wrestler/faction, or can be a reference to a person who acts as a guest ringside referee during a match.

Powerhouse/Enforcer

A Powerhouse/Enforcer can either be a bodyguard character or a manager portrayed by a wrestler. This wrestler, often a "hoss" (a larger, less charismatic wrestler) will accompany a heel wrestler and become his/her bodyguard, accompanying them to the ring and helping them to win their matches, this is usually done so that the larger wrestler can get over with the crowd by sharing the heel wrestler's charisma.

A wrestler can also be the enforcer for an entire stable, often serving as the biggest and strongest man in the group (if not the entire promotion). A wrestler in this case is often utilized to "protect" the leader of the faction, and is often relegated to tag team matches to help him get over with the fans.

Examples of Powerhouse Enforcers

Perhaps the best-known enforcer in pro wrestling history is Arn Anderson. During his career, he acted as the enforcer of the legendary National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)/World Championship Wrestling (WCW) heel stable, the Four Horsemen. He has become so well known as one that he earned the nickname "the Enforcer."

Another famous enforcer was Diesel (Kevin Nash), who played the enforcer role for Shawn Michaels. When the two split, Sycho Sid briefly assumed the role.

Other wrestlers that have recently held the enforcer role (and who they associated with) include:

*Tyson Tomko/Tomko for Christian Cage/Christian, Trish Stratus, Kurt Angle, & A.J. Styles
*Chyna for the original incarnation of D-Generation X
*The Big Boss Man for The Corporation
*Lance Hoyt for Kid Kash
*Mr. Hughes for the York Foundation, Triple H and Chris Jericho
*Batista originally for Reverend D-Von and later for Evolution
*Vito for Nunzio
*André the Giant for The Heenan Family
*Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart for The Hart Foundation
*Viscera for The Corporation and for The Ministry of Darkness; also as Big Daddy V for Matt Striker
*Big Dick Dudley for The Dudley Boyz
*Victoria for Torrie Wilson and Candice Michelle (Vince's Devils)
*The Great Khali for Daivari
*Mike Jones for Ted DiBiase (as Virgil) and later the nWo (as Vincent)
*Stevie Ray for the nWo
*Scott Steiner for Jeff Jarrett and later for Christian's Coaliton
*Saturn for Raven's Flock
*Ron Reis for the Dungeon of Doom (as The Yeti) and Raven's Flock (as Reese)
*Rick Rude for D-Generation X and later Curt Hennig
*Dusty Rhodes for Scott Hall
*The Disciple for Hollywood Hogan
*The Harris Brothers for Jeff Jarrett and nWo 2000
*Kash for Harlem Heat 2000
*Bobby Roode for Team Canada
*Umaga for Team McMahon
*The Big Show for the Dungeon of Doom, nWo, The Undertaker, Team McMahon, Shane McMahon and most recently Vickie Guerrero
*Mark Henry for the Nation of Domination, Thuggin and Buggin' Enterprises, Melina, and Matt Striker
*Albert for X-Factor
*Test for Paul Heyman
*Marcus Cor Von for The New Breed and later Elijah Burke
*Dave Taylor for Drew McIntyre
*Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder for Edge
*Bam Neely for Chavo Guerrero
*Brent Albright for former Ring of Honor stable The Hangm3n Three
*Ezekiel Jackson for The Brian Kendrick
*Tony Atlas for Mark Henry (despite Mark Henry already being a monster heel)
*Manu for Ted DiBiase, Jr & Cody Rhodes
*Lance Cade for Chris Jericho

Ringside Enforcer

The term Ringside Enforcer or Special Enforcer in wrestling is a reference to a wrestler or celebrity who acts as special outside referee during a match. This can be done either to ensure that there are no unfair avantages in the match (usually the case when another wrestler is the enforcer), or it can be done to create a cross-promotional effort (involving a celebrity).

Examples of Ringside Enforcers

*At WrestleMania XIV boxing legend Mike Tyson acted as the special enforcer in the Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels match in the main event for the WWF Championship.
*Chuck Norris served as a guest referee at the World Wrestling Federation's 1994 Survivor Series for the casket match between The Undertaker and Yokozuna.
*At the WWF's 1998 UK pay-per-view Capital Carnage, wrestler The Big Bossman and football hard-man Vinnie Jones both acted as special enforcer for the Fatal Fourway main event between Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker , Mankind and Kane.
*In a Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) pay per view event in 2003, Sting served as a special ringside enforcer for a #1 Contender's match between Raven, Abyss, Ron Killings and A.J. Styles. Sting had to leave the match at one point to chase off Jeff Jarrett (the reigning champ), who attempted to interfere with the match.
*In a Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) pay-per-view Bound for Glory, Kurt Angle was a special guest enforcer for the match between Sting and Jeff Jarrett for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
*In a Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) pay-per-view Hard Justice 2005, Tito Ortiz was the special guest referee for the Jeff Jarrett vs. A.J. Styles.

See also

*List of professional wrestling slang