Why don't we standardize our vocabulary in this thread so we all know what we're talking about. Wrestling has an actual vocabulary...this is what I know..feel free to correct or add to it...
"Face" -- the hero character (Ricky the Dragon Steamboat is the quintessential 'Face.') Cena, Batista, Rey Mysterio are contemporary examples. Hulk Hogan, of course...
"Heel" -- the villain. The Iron Sheik is the quintessential 'Heel.' JBL, Edge, Jericho, Orton are pretty much consistent Heels. Jericho was a Face for most of his career, but no more. "Hollywood Hogan" was a great heel.
"Tweeners" -- wrestlers who change sides throughout storylines. HHH, HBK, The Rock, Stone Cold, Kurt Angle, Taker, Kane, Big Show...
"The Turn"--when a heel or face changes sides...Hulk Hogan becoming Hollywood Hogan is a classic "Heel turn." Generally when a wrestler backstabs someone it's because he/she is making a turn...
"Baby Face" -- a new wrestler who starts out as a new face. CM Punk was a Baby Face but this term isn't really utilized anymore. Arguably it's easy and better for a new character to start off as a heel and get noticed.
"Pop" --when the live audience gets charged up and responds to the action, usually when the Face does something but sometimes the Heels get the pop today...
"Work" and "Angle"-- a work and an angle are essentially the same thing. They are the reason behind a storyline. DX reuniting in 2006 is an angle. The "Money in the Bank" winner enters into an annual work of having the rights to a championship match whenever that right is exercised. That right is a "work" which changes hands with whomever wins the match. Edge, Kennedy etc. Goldberg's "angle" was running up an undefeated streak that became something for wrestlers in WCW to try to snap. Randy Orton's "work" of picking on and defeating old-time "Legends" like Hacksaw Jim Duggan or whomever began as a work but was so successful it evolved into a....
"Gimmick" -- this is the characterization of the actual wrestler. Randy became "The Legend Killer." Edge became "The RatedR Superstar." Kane's gimmick is a maniacal demon from hell (who sometimes does good things), Kurt Angle's gimmick was the "Olympic Hero" but the gimmick was more successful as a Heel gimmick rather than a Face. Stone Cold's gimmick is/was "anti-establishment badass." HHH's gimmick "The King of Kings" which is basically the ultimate arrogant heel (who is more popular today as a Face).
"Faction" --partnerships between more than 2 wrestlers. The Four Horseman was probably the greatest faction ever. Evolution was a good faction. DX, The Nation of Domination, LAX (with Konnan) in TNA. I think WWE has moved away from factions recently.
So, "works" and "angles" are storylines. "Gimmicks" are the basis for a character. Celebrities appearing as themselves are not gimmicks. Celebrity participation is always part of an "angle."
