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Catchphrases are an important part of professional wrestling. “If you smell what The Rock is cooking,” “That’s the bottom line,” and “To be the man, you’ve got to beat the man,” are phrases we all know and love because of pro-wrestlers. Then there are secondary phrases. I’m talking about short lines that wrestlers say and fans chant. The recent Daniel Bryan “Yes!” phenomenon got me thinking about these types of sayings.
Of course the greatest secondary catchphrase of all time is Ric Flair’s “Whooooooo!!!” It’s simply awesome. No matter what wrestling company and no matter the size of the crowd, you can always count on hearing “Whooooo!!!” after a knife-edge chop is delivered. That’s amazing and powerful. As for the others, I’m a huge fan of Chris Jericho’s “Ask him!!!”. Steve Austin’s “What?!?” is used (and abused) by millions of fans, even when it’s not appropriate.
Please participate in the battle for the #2 secondary pro-wrestling catchphrase of all time by voting in today’s poll and leaving a comment! If you need a refresher on these catchphrases then check out the videos below before casting your vote.
[poll id=”147″]
I always enjoyed the profanity laced chanting of the ECW crowd…
and the Kurt Angle "It's true it's true"
My friend Michael wrote in Ron Simmons' "Damn!" on Facebook. Excellent choice.
OK, so I'm watching Raw and Smackdown and trying to dust off the cobwebs in my brain. There are a bunch of new people and a lot I don't recognize, but in light of your (Mr. Padilla) eye for wrestling, I thought I'd see what you've been raving about.
For starters, I think you've opened my eyes to what you refer to as the "technical" part of wrestling. I really never noticed before how lazily some wrestlers pull off moves, while others really get into it. Case in point: I saw The Big Show and Mark Henry fighting. They were slow, cumbersome, and sloppy. Their hits looked like they were only putting in the minimal effort. Hell, even The Great Khali was painful to watch as he appears to be so damn stiff most of the time (especially when he's "dancing").
Second, I wanted to check out all of the hoopla about Daniel Bryan, but the WWE writers are making it difficult for me to really see him in action because they are trying their absolute best to make this guy seem like the worst heel of all time. Between the whole AJ thing and acting like a pussy when Sheamus is around, I'm starting to dislike the guy. Still, the few times I've actually seen him fight, he seems to do a pretty decent job. Also, there is no denying his reverent fan base. It's painfully obvious that they want this guy as a heel, but it seems to go against the grain because there's always a bunch of people that will like the guy no matter what.
So, with that said, what the hell is up with the writers? Are they so inflexible that they can't allow for Cena to have a personality other than vanilla? Or to capitalize on Daniel Bryan's obvious popularity to the point where they don't make the guy look worse than a turd stuck to the bottom of your shoe? These people seem to be doing a really lousy job developing a lot of these characters and exploiting their full potential.
Just my two cents.
-M
All very interesting points. The WWE writers can be all over the place. It's a tough process and they don't always get things "right".
Check YouTube for clips for Bryan Danielson from Ring of Honor. His matches for that company were incredible. Because of the TV style, he doesn't really get to do that kind of stuff on Raw or Smackdown. I'm really hoping he gets a good chunk of time to work with Sheamus during their 2 out of 3 falls match.
"HOOOOOOOOO!"
– Hacksaw Jim Duggan
"OOOHHH Yeah!… Dig it!"
-Macho Man
"WEAAASEL"
-in regards to Bobby the Brain Heenan
I could go on.
I forgot about Hacksaw. Damn.
I miss Brother Love.
That makes you… and nobody else that misses Brother Love. I'm usually a total mark for corny gimmicks, but Brother Love was even too cheesy for me.
Anyway, Bruce Prichard (the guy who played Brother Love) is actually with TNA doing talent relations behind the curtain.
He's doing a lousy job at that. Tell him to go back to being Brother Love.
-M
He's pushing Austin Aries. That's a good thing.
Hacksaw's was my first choice, too. I also liked Konnan's "Arrrriba la raza!" mostly because it was shouted by a bunch of white people.
I sort of hated "What?!" and I foresee "Yes!" becoming equally annoying. I don't consider "Ask him!" to be Jericho's, because wrestlers have been saying it for years. That'd be like crediting The Rock with "jabroni," a term used since the carnival days.
You don't have to be the originator to own the term. Most people think of Ric Flair as "The Nature Boy", not Buddy Rogers.
Catch-phrases and nicknames are different beasts. Animal, Natural, Playboy, All-American, Best in the World…they all have multiple people who used them. Aries was "The Truth" Austin Aries at first, before he found out Ron Killings was using it.
"Best in the World." Most WWE fans associate that with Punk or Jericho. Danielson used it before they did.
I am amused at how your responses are tweaked to include the group.
See, most fans don't realize that "Nature Boy" Buddy Landel was a wrestler in the 80s and 90s whose gimmick was that he directly ripped off Ric Flair.
That's doesn't address the "Best in the World" point.
You addressed that. I'm involving the class in the "Nature Boy" statement made previously.
When Flair and Landel had a feud in the '80s, it seemed pretty clear what they were fighting about. Besides, I brought up Buddy Rogers initially. The point was that you don't have to be first to be the most established. There are examples of that everywhere, not just in wrestling.
Typing this from United 758. I'm onna plane!!!
It would be better if you were on a boat:
[youtube avaSdC0QOUM&ob=av3e http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avaSdC0QOUM&ob=av3e youtube]
-M
I think the reason it's been 3 days and nobody has mentioned anything by the Rock, is because he has so many. Almost everything he said became a catchphrase.
Aside from people chanting "Rocky" all the time, he doesn't have anything the crowd can say all the time that would easily replace something like "What" or "Yes". I would say his primary catchphrase is "If you smell what the Rock is cooking." Everything else is secondary. Besides, he doesn't need a catchphrase to be entertaining since does extremely well with his promos.
-M
-"Aside from people chanting "Rocky" all the time, he doesn't have anything the crowd can say all the time that would easily replace something like "What" or "Yes"."-
What are you talking about? It was always "Sing Along with The Rock" with that guy.
Here's a abridged list:
"the Millions… (and millions) of the Rock's fans"
"IT DOESN"T MATTER__________"
"AND THE ROCK MEANS _________"
"Shine it up real nice, turn that sumbitch sideways, and shove it straight up your candyass"
"Roodypoo Candyass"
"Lay the Smackdown"
"Bring It"
and my favorite… wasn't even verbal… he turned raising his eyebrow into a catchphrase.
Then, there's all the things he would say about individual personalities.
Dude had a new catchphrase every week… because his promos were so outstanding.
And 2011 had "boots to asses" and "fruity pebbles".
Like I said; none of those (with maybe the exception of "Bring it") can really take the place of "Yes" or "What". It's not what the crowd it chanting, it's how the crowd is chanting.
"What" was used after every sentence or at the pause of in between sentences. Hell, it even permeated the National Anthem! "Yes" can also be used similarly after every sentence any wrestler speaks. You can't do that with "Roodypoo Candyass". Well, I guess you could, but it would take too much time.
The Rock's catch phrases (the ones that you mentioned) are only chanted on command or when prompted by the Rock during his promo. The crowd does not yell "If you smell what The Rock is cooking" all the time when he's actually wrestling or for other instances that is out of context for that phrase (unlike "What" and "Yes").
That is why I said that nothing The Rock has (other than "Rocky") can easily replace the versatility of the word "what" or "yes". Does that make more sense?
-M