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A top wrestler needs to be solid in their work. It needs to look believable and work with a variety of styles in your opponents. You need to cut a promo, connect with the audience, have a memorable theme song, sell merchandise, speak well with the press, and so many more attributes that could be listed. One aspect has been important longer than I’ve been viewing wrestling – the catchphrase.
A short, pithy, memorable line to connect with the audience in promos, in theme songs, and on merchandise. There are an overwhelming number of them to cover, and a top five will give little justice to many catchphrases which are just as worthy of being in a top five. You have ones that have staying power for entire careers. Hulk Hogan’s “Whatcha Gonna Do…?” line never left his vocabulary once it caught on. Even in sarcasm during his heel run with the NWO, the phrase would be used to remind you of the character you once adored.
Then you have catchphrases that were a product of their time. This could be “Y2J” around the time of the fear of disaster that was looming over us all with the Y2K problem. The most popular of these being, to the dismay of many teachers, “Suck it!” Times, they are a changin’, and sponsors make more money for the company than a line of teeshirts.
Sometimes you have decent catchphrases that are forced in and have to use all of them too often. It’s contrived and doesn’t stick organically. I’m looking at you, MJF. I also like ones that are intentionally bad, intended to make a heel bomb. A too-sure-of-himself Max Caster once had his chant of, “Let’s go Max! You’re the best wrestler alive.” A safer line than some of his recent rap lyrics.
Many of these chants are pre-rehearsed, trying new phrases out to see what sticks. Others are completely organic and stem from a throwaway line in a promo that the audience latched onto.
A true top five is near impossible for this topic; I would not consider my list in any way definitive. Look at it as “Five Top Catchphrases” instead of “Top Five Catchphrases.” This was an idea inspired by a recent topic in the PWTorch VIP Forum. You should stop by and add to the conversation.
“Beat Me If You Can, Survive If I Let You”
Taz is now known for using his ability to talk for his job longer than he wrestled in the ring, which is interesting for a man who wanted his character to be that of a silent hunter of his prey and who was not always comfortable behind a microphone. In ECW, he came up with a short statement that said everything about his character in ten words.
I like the fact that it admits that there will be times he will lose a fight, but also acknowledges that it will be no easy feat for his opponent. It showed a killer instinct that you were preparing to see in action with one sentence. While it may not have sold the most merchandise or had the longest impact, but it served its purpose very well for the performer who used it.
“When You’re NWO, You’re NWO 4-Life”
This catchphrase has outlived any expectation of relevance. WCW lasted 12 years as a company, yet there is one logo from them still selling shirts 30 years after its conception. If you were in the fandom at that time, it stuck with you. It was a wild, unprecedented time in professional wrestling, and it stood for rebellion against the norm. What was likely a throwaway line became true for many wrestlers and fans.
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Lay the Smack Down
I could pick from so many options that came from the king of the catchphrase. “If ya’ smell…”, “Know your role,” and “Turn it sideways…” were all fantastic. The crowd would always pop for a well-timed, “It doesn’t matter….” With all the catchphrases The Rock is known for, one launched a television show, a video game series, and a new word to the English lexicon. That one was when The Great One would threaten to lay the smack down on someone’s ass.
Austin 3:16 Says I Just Whipped Your Ass
It was the line that changed an industry. A line written for one promo after one match, and it was Steve Austin showing his greatness. Another king of the catchphrase, I easily could have put “And that’s the bottom line…” in the top five, but the importance of the Austin 3:16 line can’t be overstated.
People really started paying attention to Austin after this line. A line delivered after a tournament win he wasn’t originally supposed to have, after being taken for stitches earlier in the night only to show up and wrestle the match he wasn’t originally supposed to win. When someone talks about making the most out of your minutes, Austin did exactly that. That line turned around a company and boosted merch sales. It was so good, I’ll even forgive him for creating the worst catchphrase in the history of wrestling: “What?”
Woo!
One syllable, not even technically a word, but a sound. Yet, he says so much with it. Ric Flair would show his brash, cocky self by letting one out. Sometimes during a promo, other times after hitting a move on his opponent. It’s a sound that’s associated with one man, and in any arena where you see a chop performed on an opponent, you will hear a good portion of the audience letting that sound out after it connects.
The man had some of the best promos, matches, and character in professional wrestling. He deserves to be remembered for as long as the art form exists. His catchphrase alone will ensure that happens.
(Griffin is a lifelong fan of wrestling, superheroes, and rebellious music of all forms. He is the owner of Nerdstalgia, and you can shop online, learn about visiting the store in Colorado Springs, or catch him at a comic con in the Rocky Mountain area by going to http://nerdstalgia.shop.)
