The term "sell" in wrestling refers to being on the receiving end of a move and then making it look realistic. The wrestler is selling the idea that they are hurt to the people watching the match. When somebody "oversells" a move it means they are going a bit far with it. Instead of taking a clothesline by falling straight back you might see a wrestler do a flip before they fall down. That's overselling. Some people like it. Some people don't. In some cases it's a great idea and at other times it's too embarrassing even for pro wrestling. This isn't a case of us criticizing wrestlers that oversell stuff. We actually like it a lot of the time. It makes us laugh. We want to be entertained when we watch wrestling, so when we see a guy fly across the ring after a punch or somebody gets knocked upside going into a turnbuckle it's something that we should smile about. When you think about overselling, a lot of the better in-ring performers come to mind. There are guys from the past like Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair or Mr. Perfect while among current guys a standout "overseller" is Dolph Ziggler. A guy like the Great Khali is never going to be confused with an overseller although sometime guys have taken his dreaded "Khali Chop" in a way where they bump all the way across the ring too. This is a look at some specific examples of people overselling while also paying tribute to some people that did it in nearly every match as part of their regular routine. Here are ten examples of overselling in wrestling.
John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.
