Rib (professional wrestling)

Ribs may be practiced as a form of stress relief from the grueling schedule of traveling, experiencing the physical exertion of wrestling, and sleeping in a different town most nights.

The largest wrestling company, WWE, are reported to require their wrestlers to perform 4 nights per week,[1] so the backstage environment can become tense and in need of the relief that could be found in ribbing.

[2] There is also an enduring legend that Mr. Fuji once cooked another wrestler's dog and served it to him to eat, though the story may be apocryphal.

[3] Roddy Piper claimed in an interview that the unnamed wrestler had taken work from Fuji,[1] while Hulk Hogan recalled, on Eric Bischoff's podcast, that Tor Kamata was the victim of the rib, and that his pet cat was cooked, not his dog.

[4] Mr. Fuji was notorious for his mean-spirited ribs, as he has been alleged to have slipped laxatives into other wrestlers' drinks, nailed and glued their clothes to the ceiling, cancelled their flights, removed the engine from Bobby Eaton's car, and many others.

When Don Jardine arrived in the Florida wrestling territory, his new colleagues decided to pull a rib on him that they referred to as "The Mabel."

[6] Another was when Vince McMahon decided to rib Mark Henry by scheduling a match between him and Sin Cara.

[7] Some wrestlers have made it through their whole career without being the victim of a rib, such as WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus.

In a shoot interview, Owen's brother Bret Hart recalled issues they had with George "The Animal" Steele when he was an agent for the WWE.