The Worm is a dance motion associated with

breakdancing Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in ...

and "funk" subculture, also referred to as the centipede, the caterpillar or the dolphin, or also erroneously the snake or the wave (names of other breakdance moves). In this move a subject lies

prone position Prone position () is a body position in which the person lies flat with the chest down and the back up. In anatomical terms of location, the dorsal side is up, and the ventral side is down. The supine position is the 180° contrast. Etymolog ...

and forms a rippling motion through their body, creating a wave reminiscent of

earthworm An earthworm is a terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida. They exhibit a tube-within-a-tube body plan; they are externally segmented with corresponding internal segmentation; and they usually have setae on all segments. Th ...

locomotion. This can be done either forward or backwards, by shifting weight from the upper body to the lower body (backwards) or vice versa for forwards. The motion begins by pushing off from the ground with one's hands to start a ripple. The worm was performed at shows in the 1970s and was popularized widely during the 1980s "funk" period, and continues to be associated with breakdancing. The move has been used and popularized by

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

wrestler

Scotty 2 Hotty Scott Ronald Garland (born July 2, 1973) is an American professional wrestler who was most recently signed to WWE as a trainer at the WWE Performance Center. He also competed under the ring names "Too Hot" Scott Taylor (1991–1999) and Scotty 2 ...

as his finishing maneuver ending with a chop drop, and would later be used by

Otis Dozovic Nikola Bogojevic (born December 21, 1991) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Otis. After signing with WWE in 2016, he was assigned to their developmental ...

as his signature maneuver called the "Caterpillar" ending with a standing elbow drop.

David Arquette David Arquette (born September 8, 1971) is an American actor and former professional wrestler. He is best known for his role as Dewey Riley in the slasher film franchise ''Scream'', for which he won a Teen Choice Award and two Blockbuster Enter ...

, as a wrestler, has used the worm dance either ending with a chop drop as a finisher in

WCW World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nationa ...

along with a standing elbow drop later on in the

independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indie circuit is the collective noun, collective name of independent professional wrestling promotions which are smaller than major televised promotions. It is roughly analogous to a minor lea ...

References

Breakdance moves Funk dance {{dance-stub