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A mark is a professional wrestling fan who believes that everything associated with pro wrestling is real, rather than recognizing the existence of kayfabe (that is, it is a work). Marks are often (but not always) children or young teenagers who are devoted fans of pro wrestling.
Some examples of beliefs which a 'mark' might hold would be:
- That the wrestlers are actually striking each other (and causing injury as a result), even though the punishment they appear to be inflicting would badly incapacitate or kill anyone else (or at least leave a huge bruise). When this is pointed out to them, marks might sometimes justify that the wrestlers are strong enough to sustain such damage, hence their apparent durability.
- That the wrestlers' gimmicks are their real-life personalities, and that they engage in behavior associated with the gimmick outside the wrestling ring (even if said behavior is not socially or legally acceptable). Sometimes, a mark will believe that a wrestler who has changed gimmicks is a totally different person.
- That face and heel wrestlers truly despise each other.
- That rival wrestling organizations do not exist (especially if they are not acknowledged by announcers), and that the career of a veteran wrestler who is new to a promotion does not exist. This was especially common during the 1980s in the WWF.
A mark can also refer to a devoted fan, either of a particular wrestler, wrestling company, or the sport itself.
Another common meaning of the word mark is someone who believes everything about a certain wrestling organization is good. This type of mark tends to overlook bad decisions that the organization makes (or to cast said decisions in a positive light) and overreact to the good ones.
Background
The term mark derives from pro wrestling's early days as a carnival sideshow, where those who were unaware or not privy to the workings of the business were seen as gullible 'marks' who would believe anything they were told.
Another source may be that the operator of a carnival booth would identify potential customers whom they thought were gullible, and then persuade them to patronize their booth (which often included a game rigged so it could not be won, or one that sold shoddy, overpriced merchandise); someone who fell for the operator's tricks would be seen as a mark. Allegedly, the operator's hands would be coated in chalk, so when the operator sportingly patted the victim on the back, he would "mark" him for the other operators as a promising prospect to exploit.
Followings
Following is a term for a wrestlers fanbase. For the most part, followings are composed of marks that tend to favor a certain wrestler, despite work rate, in ring ability, or being face/heel. They tend to have an undying loyalty to their particular wrestler. Wrestlers such as John Cena or Randy Orton are known for having large followings. Most of their followers tend to jump to their defense, despite being greatly disliked by smarks.
Smarks and marking out
Not all pro wrestling fans are marks, but rather smarks who know that wrestling is staged but enjoy it anyway. Smarks often take great offense at being called a "mark", since it implies that they are stupid and/or gullible. Both marks and smarks also become offended when another person attempts to "educate" them on the sport's staged nature, since it would greatly insult their intelligence to tell them that the sport that they are a devoted fan of is fake when they already know that and hate to be treated like an idiot.
Someone who enjoys wrestling "for what it is" rather than analyzing its staged nature often marks out (which such moments called marking out).
Critics of the WWE often allege that the organization plays to the marks' liking, while poking fun at the smarks. However, this is not always true, particularly with storylines associated with The Clique as well as the feud that involved the real life turmoil of Matt Hardy and Edge over an affair with female wrestler Lita.
See also
"Mark (professional wrestling)"