Annoying Crowd Chants at Live Shows

[Monkey_Mania]

I don't mind at all when fans start chanting at the wrestlers. Although there comes a point when they are disrespecting them. The "WHAT?" chants are definitely old and outdated. Also, the one that I hate the most. The "YOU FUCKED UP, YOU FUCKED UP" man, I hate that. How much more disrespectful can you get. Not everything goes smoothly in the ring. Sit back and watch them recover before you open up your gums. But, all in all, they pay their hard earned money to go see the shows, so I guess it's ok for them to chant whatever they want.

 

[The Dewbliners]

As a (former) indie worker, I can honestly say, the What???? chants got old. It got to the point, if I was cutting a promo, and it started, either me or my teammate would just say "Fuck you, that's what!" So, that's one.

Another one that gets my goat, isn't so much a chant, as it is a bunch of CZW fans being tools. A friend of mine (at least on Myspace) has been working for CZW for a while now, and every time the guy grabs a mic, the fans just start blowing foghorns/soccer horns, just to screw him up. I'm sorry, but did I miss the memo that it was appropriate to make workers get flustered? Then the idiots have the audacity to chant, "spit it out! spit it out!" I'm surprised Sami hasn't beaten the hell out of those fans yet.

Finally, the worst one of them all, the ever popular "You Fucked Up!" chants. Trust me people, we know when we fuck up. That's why if somebody botches a power bomb, they automatically go right back to it. We don't need some sniveling little punk telling us we made mistakes. I harkon back to a quote from Sir Alex of Shelly: "Listen, I don't come down to the corner, slap the dick out of your mouth, and tell you how to do your job, do I?!" Keep that in mind, all ye who chant "You fucked up!"

Damn, I've gone off on another tangent. Oh, well. Those were my choices, and reasoning.

 

[SavageTaker]

Great thread D-Man.

I love it when I’m watching a wrestling show and the crowd is fired up. Not only does a crowd that is involved in the show make the atmosphere better, it also makes the show look better. If a crowd is chanting their assess off then it makes the show look like it’s exciting and it’s something that I will want to see. If the crowd is dead, it will at times bring the quality of the show down, for me at least, because it makes it feel like whatever is going is boring. However, while I do love it when crowds are involved and people are having a good time, some chants do really annoy me.

First and foremost, like someone mentioned already, the ‘You still got it’ chants tend to be annoying when people don’t know how to use them. For example, when Ricky Steamboat made his return to wrestling last year, I think that was the right time to chant it. He showed that he was still good after so many years of not wrestling. However, when an old wrestler does one of the most simplest moves in wrestling and the crowd starts the chant, it annoys me because they really aren’t doing anything special that should make the crowd chant that.

Another one that is annoying, and I have to agree with everyone else’s reason on this one, is the ‘You Fucked Up’ chants. No fucking wrestler is perfect. We are not often going to see wrestlers like Ricky Steamboat and Randy Savage, or like Bret Hart that don’t mess up very often. When I watch a match of those three, they don’t fuck up, but it’s still really rude and disrespectful for fans to chant that at other wrestler. These men and women aren’t perfect. They are humans just like you and me, they are bound to make mistakes and ‘fuck up,’ so why need to point it out. Just be happy that they are putting their lives on the line to entertain you.

The ‘This is awesome’ chants I don’t really mind unless fans start chanting it at everything that goes on in the ring. Not everything that a wrestler does is worth having an orgasm over. Not everything they do is awesome. I don’t mind the chant if fans do it when there is actually something awesome going, not when a wrestler does a headlock or some other simple move that anyone regular person can do with some training.

The ‘You Suck’ chants I really don’t mind, and probably don’t mind them the least, but that’s only if they are directed towards a heel. The heels are the bad guys and it’s their job to get chants like that so I see no problem whatsoever with that one. When fans do it to faces, it irks me a little, but not every wrestler is going to be like everyone. Hell, Stone Cold and Hulk Hogan, arguably two of the biggest and most recognized stars the WWE has ever had, aren’t like by everyone.

When fans chant ECW! Or TNA!, I really don’t care and neither do I see what’s wrong with it. I guess it can by annoying to some people, but I don’t really mind it. Same thing for the ‘What’ chants. However, the one chant I haven’t mentioned is the ‘boring’ chant and that one I really don’t hate or like. I guess I’m indifferent towards it. Fans should voice their displeasure over something if they think it’s boring so that the company knows not to whatever match it was again because it won’t be well received. However, it must be tough for wrestler to hear that. They try hard, or at least some of them do, to entertain us and when they’re greeted with that chant it’s just kind of hard for me to imagine being a wrestler and going though that. Some of them will probably be annoyed by them, but they are good when it gets wrestlers to change for the better and no longer be ‘boring.’

 

[Shazam!]

"WHAT?!" is annoying as fuck. I was overjoyed when Vince took a shot at the crowd when he was in the ring addressing bret hart rumors, and they kept saying it.

however nothing annoys me more than when there are little kids or women with nasty, screeching, painful voices that get picked up by the camera during a wrestlers promo and they feel the need to respond to every one of the wrestlers lines.

Randy Orton: I will kick YOU in the skull, Ric!
Woman: NO I WILL KICK YOU IN THE FACE RANDY SUCKS RANDY SUCKS RANDY SUCKS

 

[krispix]

This is an excellent thread idea.

I went to a Smackdown/ECW taping about a month after WrestleMania 24, and I got to the arena about 20 minutes early. During the 20 minute wait, the dark match, and between matches, everyone and their mother was shouting "WOOOOOO!". This was before any Ric Flair retirement package had been shown. At first, it was cute, and I could appreciate fans wanting to pay homage to Flair, but it grew old fast.

I HATE chants that are either a) disrespectful or b) irrelevant. A "You suck" chant to a heel is not disrespectful. A "this match sucks" chant is disrespectful.

 

[One Punch Doug Crashin]

There are Two things on that list annoy me as a "Wrestling Fan" they are:

1: those insipid BORING chants- every time there's a really good Catch-As-Catch-Can sequence somebody starts a Boring chant. Obviously not a fan of that style but come on its disrespectful to the wrestlers. they're out to perform for your money. The least you can do is SHUT UP AND WATCH. Or go to the bathroom. Your Choice.




2: What?- Had I been in the business and somebody starts a "What" chant after each and every word I say for my wrestler I'd go "IF anybody else says What again I'll kick every one of your asses" really just to get some heel heat. It served a purpose with Austin but it doesn't serve any purpose now.

Although for a good way to end this post I'll say this:

One of my favorite chants is at the TNA House show I went to last year where a 10 year old kid started a "These Guys Suck" chant directed at the James Gang. They were the heels against Team 3-D. Even Bubba interrupted the match just to start up the chant again.

 

[axl626]

Most of the boring chants I've seen have usually been on the money. Only one time can I remember that I loved a match and the crowd chanted "BORING." That was a few years back when Big Show faced Kane and Big Show used classic wrestling moves instead of big man moves to get in Kane's head. Show and Kane kind of looked like they were having fun and so was I.

The "WHAT?" chant , to me, has ruined promos. It's disrespectful, annoying, and just plain idiotic. I never liked Stone Cold so this is just another to add to his pile.

One of my favorites is actually for my favorite wrestler, Kurt Angle. The You Suck has just sort of evolved to where it's not meant as a slam so much as just part of his (WWE) show.

 

[zozman]

Man the boooring chants make me want to kill whoever started them. As stated before the wrestlers are giving it all they got and if there is one stale moment you start saying boooring. The only time I would accept this chant is if the wrestlers were standing staring at each other for 5 minutes.

These fans must realise that its a privilege to be in the arena watching wwe or tna and that they represent us who couldnt be there because of living outside of the US.

 

[MizisAwesome]

I voted other for the 'Who Dat' chants when Raw and ECW/Smackdown were taped in New Orleans after the Superbowl. I am partly biased because the Vikings deserved it more but they were annoying

 

[.]

i was at a show in Dublin and Gregory Helms and Chris Benoit(RIP) had a 12-15 minute match with lots of back 'n' forth action even Benoit kicking out of the Shining Wizard and Helms kicking out of the Headbutt. Anyways Benoit won in the end with a sharpshooter. After the match Helms and Benoit shaked hands and the majority of the crowd booed Helms as if he & Benoit had done nothing and they chanted "you tapped out" to Helms while Benoit took an irish flag and wore it on his shoulders to a massive ovation. Later William Regal cut a promo saying he hated the irish and then a chant of "Go fuck the queen" started and loads of people got pissed including Regal and his opponent(Finlay). I felt embarassed being in the crowd wih them.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

I chose "other" because their wasn't an "all crowd chants" option. Crowd chants can be good from time to time, like when Kurt Angle used to walk to the ring and people would chant "You Suck....YOU SUCK!" Or when Austin was on the mic and people would say "What?" after every phrase. The WHAT? thing is stupid when used while other people are speaking, but whatever.

I think TNA has ruined the art of chants. It's not as bad now that Hogan/Bischoff are there (maybe some editing?), but I can still hear all of those stupid, pointless chants. Same thing used to happen with ECW. I love the fact that people are enthusiastic about wrestling, but come on, just shut up. You and your stupid chants are NOT more important than the show.

 

[GSM]

I hate the "What !?!" chants with the burning passions of two suns.

And guess what, there is no great explanation needed, these chants simply butcher any promo, they serve no purpose as Steve Austin is not around anymore and worst of all they weren´t very funny to begin with.

Haha they interrupt somebodies promo and practically force him to pause between his sentences. Haha that´s priceless, that air horn guy from CZW is more creative and he´s just pushing a freaking button on an air horn.

And I especially hated it when they did it to Bret Hart recently, first they all want him back and now they interrupt his promos, that´s wrestling fan 101.

 

[Tastycles]

"TNA! TNA! TNA!" /"ECW! ECW! ECW!"

Both are stupid, and both scream small time. What people are doing by chanting these is turning themselves into blind fans for the product. It isn't possible to like everything in a promotion, and for every ECW or TNA classic match, there is another reverse battle royal or New Jack hitting someone with a STOP sign. All this does is turns promotions into being little in crowd culty things. You would never go to a Football match and start screaming "World Cup! World Cup!", so why do this? It really makes promotions look small time.

"THIS IS AWESOME!! <clap, clap, clap, clap, clap...>"

I'd never do it in a million years, but I don't use the word awesome, and it is a very American style clap chant, but I don't see a problem with it, people showing appreciation for what they're watching right now.

"WHAT??"

Single handedly the most fun sapping thing in wrestling and what I voted for. It wasn't funny when Austin was doing it ten years ago and it certainly isn't funny now. Seriously, what are the audience hoping happens? All that ever happens is the heels say an off the cuff remark and then return to what they were saying before. Hilarious.

"YOU FUCKED UP!! "YOU FUCKED UP!!"

I'm not that bothered by this, to be honest, except that they try and edit it out and make it awful on TV. I suppose it is a little disrespectful, but I imagine most wrestlers take it on the chin.


"BORINGGGGG... "BORINGGGGG..."

Usually this happens at a completely inopportune moment, in which case it is irritating but rarely catches on. Sometimes it is fully justified, Divas 8 man tag matches and Kozlov v HHH, I'm looking at you.

"YOU SUCK! YOU SUCK! YOU SUCK!"

Do people still use this? It depends in what context. If they're doing it to Cena for no reason, then it just shows their own ignorance and I don'tcare, if they're doing it to a heel, then good, they're supposed to not like them.

 

[ckoneagain]

in the UK and i dont know if anyone else has posted this, but we get a 'who are you' (pronounced Ooh Aar Ya!) chant when the crowd doesn't recognise a wrestler and it's stupid coz they did it for Jack Swagger last year and anyone who was watching knew who he was, but the little kids who went there and chanted that were most likely expecting to see hulk hogan or at least kurt angle so wouldn't know half the people there

 

[Cryme Tyme's 3rd member]

The "WHAT"???? chant absolutely is hands-down the most annoying crowd chant of all time. They can and have killed many a great promo in the ring, simply because the crowd thinks they are cool by doing it.

That is truly the worst thing that WWE has ever encouraged in the past with Steve Austin, and I'm sure if they knew back then what they knew today, they would have never gone that route. It is absolutely pointless, other than being immature and disruptive to the event. It literally adds nothing to the show other than shows how many morons can fill an arena each week. It makes wrestling fans come off like a bunch of idiots whenever that crap is done."

Hands down the what chant is the worst of them of them all, I mean yeah it was cool when Stone Cold started in 98 I think, but these days when I heel gets on the mic and has something to say the fans always says "What" And I can see where people that are in the crowd could get tired of it... Now my personal favorite is superstar chants because the superstar your chanting for can get behind that energy, but if fans started chanting "what" during a promo it just ruins that promo. Because that person that is talking is not getting any heat or any support from the fans. Now if Stone Cold cut a promo then I could see the fans saying it but unless SCST isn't in the ring I won't say it.

 

[Schizophrenic]

Both are stupid, and both scream small time. What people are doing by chanting these is turning themselves into blind fans for the product. It isn't possible to like everything in a promotion, and for every ECW or TNA classic match, there is another reverse battle royal or New Jack hitting someone with a STOP sign. All this does is turns promotions into being little in crowd culty things. You would never go to a Football match and start screaming "World Cup! World Cup!", so why do this? It really makes promotions look small time.

It's only small time because the WWE fans have yet to figure out a way to chant the companies initials without it coming out like complete shit. Just kidding, but I see many other companies having the same thing done to them. Even AAA in Mexico has it happen and i wouldnt call them small time.

"WHAT" And "You fucked up" are without a doubt the most annoying chants in wrestling? I remember being at a RAW show here in Denver a year or so ago and DX was doing there post show match. They got on the mic and started doing the "are you ready gimmick" and when Hunter said "For those in Denver" some moron two rows behind me said "WHat?!" and I just looked back and yelled "He said for those in denver jackass!" Everyone around started laughing and it actually made Shawn laugh in the ring when he heard it since I said it pretty loud.

I also went to the first NITRO of the Bischoff/Russo era in WCW, Jarrett was wrestling Hennig and I was on the guardrail. Jarrett and he mistimes something in the match and on the way to the back someone tried a "you fucked up" chant. Jarrett looked at the guy and said "no shit dumbass! I know what I did!" Curt (being awesome as he was) passed by the guy and said "I didn't fuck up, I'm perfect!"

 

[UranageBackbreaker]

There ain't nothin' wrong with a good ol' fashioned "You fucked up" chant.

We're just letting the wrestlers know they fucked up, since the majority of them have taken so many chair shots to the head, they probably can't distinguish their left hand from their left buttcheek.

And I hate the WHAT chants. I swear, if I go to a live show and some ******* beside me starts chanting "WHAT?", I'm gonna pop him in the fucking balls.

Seriously. Stop with the WHAT? chants.

 

[Schizophrenic]

There ain't nothin' wrong with a good ol' fashioned "You fucked up" chant.

We're just letting the wrestlers know they fucked up, since the majority of them have taken so many chair shots to the head, they probably can't distinguish their left hand from their left buttcheek.

Then I'm sure you wouldn't mind me coming to your place of work and every mistka eyou make I am allowed to start a "You Fucked Up" chant and not stop for any reason. Tell me how quickly you get annoyed with me. That's why it's stupid to do. Like stated, yes they know they messed up, they don't need jackass armchair quarterbacks telling them something they already know. There is no point to it other than being a tool and mocking someone for messing up on something you haven't even had the balls to try to do aside from in your backyard.

 

[Henry Hill]

There is a lot of annoying when it comes to wrestling chants, and everything we got to choose from has been annoying and useful. The problem with all of these is that they really don't seem to have the impact they once did. For example when something hardcore would happen prior to the "merger" of WWE, WCW and ECW and you had mainstream fans chanting "E-C-Dub" it showed what an impact an "indie" wrestling promotion could have. Conversely now, when it happens it is almost a defiance of what is going on in wrestling as opposed to its previous incarnation that showered praise upon that tiny promotion, and the work of the wrestlers in the ring. The same goes for TNA, although i've always felt the fans chanted those letters as a rebellion, rather than a frank admiration for the in ring work. Sometimes it was genuine, but i think that's the exception rather than the rule. I've always hated the "boring" and "you fucked up" chants because, although anyone who paid the price of admission can say or do what they want (within the confines of the rules and regulations of the venue and organization) i think its just too negative to completely disrespect whats going in the ring. Which brings me to my biggest point, the "what?" chant. To me there is nothing more disrespectful than this chant. Its a complete dismissal of a performer by the audience for the sake of being an ass. Anyone can argue that it is a testament to Steve Austin's influence that crowds still chant this, but more than that, it an infectious bit of baffoonery that is only self satisfactory, and shows neither enjoyment nor disapproval.