If Ya Think We Need More Catchphrases Give Me A Hell Yeah

[The Brain]

“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages: D-Generation X proudly presents to you the WWF tag team champions of the wooooooorld The Road Dogg Jesse James, The Badass Billy Gunn, The New Age Outlaws.”

“It’s time once again for everybody to come aboard the hoooooo train.”

“If ya smelllll what the Rock is cookin”

“Give me a hell yeah”

The audience loved to sing along or respond to these phrases. I have never been the biggest attitude era supporter but you can’t deny the crowd loved to vocally participate as often as they could. At the time I would roll my eyes every time The Godfather went out and repeated the same thing week after week. Even though I had grown tired of the same old phrase most of the audience never did. I thought it grew stale long before he abandoned the gimmick. However, when I went to a live show I looked forward to hearing thousands of people say it along with him in unison. Then the obvious occurred to me. The people weren’t tired of it because no matter how many times they heard it before it was special when the Godfather came to their town because it was their turn to participate in the fun. It was what made attending a live event unique. They liked feeling like they were part of the show.

I wonder if giving some guys a few catchphrases would make the live event more enjoyable today. I’m not suggesting that something desperately needs to be done to make them more enjoyable but there’s always room for improvement. No one really has a catchphrase anymore. Cena has hustle, loyalty, and respect and rise above hate. Punk and Jericho are battling over best in the world. Those aren’t something the fans can chant along to. Miz has his and even as a hated heel the fans seem to like to chant it with him. I think that shows they’re eager to have something to chant along with. Zack Ryder may be the best proof. He’s pretty mediocre but the fans love chanting woo woo woo with him. Would he have become popular without that phrase? Probably not.

I’m not saying it’s anything major but I think it could help some guys become more popular and make the crowd more vocal if certain guys could develop a phrase that is easy to chant along to. After all, The New Age Outlaws were one of the most popular teams ever and it was all because of what happened before the bell. What do you think?

 

[AwesomeRko]

Hell Yeah! At the end of the day wrestling is all about audience interaction so anything that gets them more stoked is a good thing. You just have to look at people like Zach Ryder to see how a simple set of catchphrases if used correctly can give the audience a lift which in turn makes every segment a character is involved in more interesting.

 

[Con T.]

You're clearly forgetting the best thing going in wrestling today.

[YOUTUBE]http://youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US#/watch?v=4WGHeQw49ws[/Youtube]

Now then, the problem is, catchphrases are usually established with strong characters who can be identified by that catchphrase. Who in the WWE has a character like that? As you said, the closest thing is Ryder, because he plays his character so well, and can establish the character. Catchphrases have to start with building the character. Think Brodus Clay and his gimmick. However, in this day we don't take characters nearly as serious.

But something like Bryan's yes can be the next what, because of his character. WWE just has to market it

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Brain - you're a die-hard Cubs fan. Think of the thrill the audience still gets from saying, "A one, a two, a three" and then belting out their best Take Me Out To The Ball Game.

Harry Carey would never be so beloved and have such a rich legacy without that. Inviting the fans in to your experience is a great way to add something to the fan experience. It seems I think this would help them more than you probably do and I don't know why WWE isn't trying more of this. It doesn't seem that hard of a thing to do and if you try 10 different catch phrases and fail nine you still have one more catch phrase then most of the roster thus setting yourself apart.

Someone should start a create a catch phrase for a Superstar thread in Spam. I'm sure the IWC could come up with some stuff that would work.

Bad quick example - my posts get me more ass than Natalya has (pause for crowd) GAS!

 

[The Dragon Saga]

You're clearly forgetting the best thing going in wrestling today.

[YOUTUBE]http://youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US#/watch?v=4WGHeQw49ws[/Youtube]

Now then, the problem is, catchphrases are usually established with strong characters who can be identified by that catchphrase. Who in the WWE has a character like that? As you said, the closest thing is Ryder, because he plays his character so well, and can establish the character. Catchphrases have to start with building the character. Think Brodus Clay and his gimmick. However, in this day we don't take characters nearly as serious.

But something like Bryan's yes can be the next what, because of his character. WWE just has to market it

Catchphrases are all good and dandy when they aren't repeated every week for the next year. That is what I enjoy about The Miz's "Awesome!" or, dare I say it is a catchphrase of sorts, "Really?? Really??? REALLY???" reply to certain things, because he doesn't say them every week. He'd say it maybe once every three RAW's or so. Some other performers have the odd catchphrase, I'd consider Christian, while he was looking for "One More Match!" to have taken on the life of a catchphrase at the time, because there were fans saying it along with him at events even though he was portraying a heel.

It takes the right sort of catchphrase to get people behind you, if you can nab one and the people react then you're onto a winner. John Cena saying "You can't see me!" is something I think you can look at, if he hadn't of came up with that, God knows where he'd be, because if memory recalls when he started saying that, people repeated it even when he was a heel.

Overall, point I'm trying to make is catchphrases are still going, but I don't think they're as highly pointed out as they once were. Daniel Bryan saying "YES!! YES!! YES!!" can be looked at as a catchphrase by some, or even R-Truth, "The Truth Has Set Me Free!!" At the beginning of his entrance music. If they fall onto something the fans like, It'll gain speed, if they don't and it's a dud then they'll probably sink, and sink fast at that.

 

[legendkiller1979]

The problem with this idea is that it wouldn't be natural. Every week we hear nicknames of various wrestlers and they sound so forced by the announcers. The Barrett barrage....The apex predator.....the most must see WWE champion....and so on. Every time these guys come to the ring, the announcers are almost obligated to say these random nicknames eight times a match.

Take Randy Orton. He started out as the legendkiller and it was great. Then one day the announcers start calling him the viper. This isn't a 10th as good as legendkiller. It was as if the WWE needed some new merchandise so they switched up the nicknames.
The viper is just terrible. It doesn't fit his character at all.

And now we have the apex predator. This is a cool nickname but it's like the WWE is afraid we'll forget it so they call his that CONSTANTLY. it's like apex predator is his new first name and Randy Orton are his middle and last name.

What is it about some goofy tag line that the WWE thinks will get guys over? I don't get it

 

[The Dragon Saga]

The problem with this idea is that it wouldn't be natural. Every week we hear nicknames of various wrestlers and they sound so forced by the announcers. The Barrett barrage....The apex predator.....the most must see WWE champion....and so on. Every time these guys come to the ring, the announcers are almost obligated to say these random nicknames eight times a match.

Take Randy Orton. He started out as the legendkiller and it was great. Then one day the announcers start calling him the viper. This isn't a 10th as good as legendkiller. It was as if the WWE needed some new merchandise so they switched up the nicknames.
The viper is just terrible. It doesn't fit his character at all.

And now we have the apex predator. This is a cool nickname but it's like the WWE is afraid we'll forget it so they call his that CONSTANTLY. it's like apex predator is his new first name and Randy Orton are his middle and last name.

What is it about some goofy tag line that the WWE thinks will get guys over? I don't get it

Nicknames and catchphrases are two totally different topics, however I feel the need to correct you here on those which I've highlighted.

The Barrett Barrage is hardly forced to begin with. It has caught on, that is kind of why for the past four months or so while he was beating everybody, the forums were full of threads praising both Barrett himself and I believe there were two at least, praising the idea behind The Barrett Barrage, because he was naming what he was doing. So it wasn't forced at all. You should have said, "I think The Barrett Barrage us forced... I don't like it", instead of acting like it were the general consensus.

Secondly, on the topic of Randy Orton. The Viper came into play due to how he'd strike with the RKO, because he would strike as fast as a Viper. Adding to that, once the reference began to be made, when he pounced to the ground setting up the RKO his mannerisms would be very odd, "coiled like a Viper" is how WWE described it. And it wasn't forced because it has stuck and as you can see by taking a look around the forums at different signatures and posts, he is very much known as "The Viper" Randy Orton.

Orton himself ended The Legend Killer nickname in a promo when he said he'd nobody left to "kill" and nothing left to prove, which he didn't as he'd just won the WWE Championship from Triple H at the time. So really it was an eventual transition into becoming "The Viper." And saying it doesn't fit his character when he still does the same things now which gained him the nickname is pretty stupid to say.

Apex Predator even caught on when he first began using it, it was huge on wrestling forums for the first few months, now though it is a bit pushed and you are right about that, but so are a lot of things, so you just have to live with it.

 

[Jackal960]

Hell yeah!

In every single show, you need to get the crowd into it to make a better show. The more interaction the better. Crowd is what makes a moment historic. Otherwise two guys just staring at eachother and to the crowd, won't make one of the greatest scene in wrestlemania history (WM X8).

Catchphrases are the easiest way to get the crowd into the match. We need more catchphrases, we need wrestlers who belive in themselves and who believe in their catchphrases. If the guy is boring on the mic, there is not much hope. You can say the same thing every week and the crowd will hardly get into it. But if you are confident in what you are doing, even if you are Godfather, who is just your ordinary midcarder, you can pump up the whole crowd. You watch wrestling to get entertained, and noone can deny that a pumped up crowd means better entertainment for everyone

 

[Krossbreed]

well i like it that some wrestlers dont over use catch phrases...cm punk for instance...other than his pipe bomb reference and best wrestler in the world he got over quite well without them. Catch phrases however is for the wrestler who can entertain only works for a certain type of wrestler. But when Rock was rolling every thing he repeated became a catch phrase.

 

[Davi323]

I wil say no, we don't need more catchphrases. When you have that many catchphrases, promos become verbal spotfests and formulaic. Sentence sentence catchphrase, sentence sentence catchphrase. It becomes largely the same promo week after week. I would much rather the promos be a little more individual than that. The Attitude Era overdid it, I think. Win me over with a quality promo, not one designed to just get cheap pops through repetition.

 

[VinnieSunshine]

Catch phrases back in the day worked because they defined a character. Whether it was ening a promo with "If ya smell what the Rock is cookin'" or "Rest In Peace"...it MADE that character who they were.

Todays wrestlers are less gimmicky and more real life. They dont need a silly catch phrase to help get them over.

HOWEVER...with that said it DOES help. Back in the attitude era, almost every wrestler had one. Today doesn't ned to be that way. Ryder has his WWWYKI, Cena with "You cant see me", and a few others...but that is about as far as they go.

Someone rising in the ranks COULD get over with one. But how do you top the classics that we are used to? Henry has "Hall of Pain" but that only took 15 years for someone the same size the whole time to use.

Catch phrases could work if done right. It's got to be up to the wrestler to make one. Dont just throw a phrase at someone and say "here say this from now on". Do you think Austin, Rock, Taker, Road Dogg, etc. all had someone write that for them?

 

[PF1977]

You only need to look at

the jabroni beating, pie eating, trail blazing, eye brow raising
with his "millions and millions" of fans,
laying the smackdown on all your candy asses
if you smell what the rock is cooking


to know that catch phrases work - but they only work if people catch on, adn to do that, the wrestler must be over with the public. For example if Jack Swagger suddenly started going on about his millions and millions of fans, would anyone join in? probably not

 

[TempestH]

Some guys have had catchphrases only for them to be ditched and no longer used.

They should've never gotten rid of Alberto del Rio's "MY NAME...MY NAME IS ALBERTO....DEL RIOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! But you, you already know that." It had a vibe almost similar to "FINALLY...THE ROCK...HAS COME BACK..."

Also They should've never gotten rid of "Hi, I'm Dolph Ziggler."

Yes, Ziggler has improved leaps and bounds on the mic, but I think he should've used that introduction to begin each and everyone of his promos.

And lets not forget Christian's "That's How I Roll" back in 2005.

 

[midgensa]

This is a pretty good topic.

I think the OP hit it right on the head when he opened with the New Age Outlaws entrance chant ... there really was nothing quite as fun as when the Outlaws hit the ring and it single-handedly made them the top tag team at the time (and one of the top ones ever).

I think we have a few more than people are discussing here. Daniel Bryan and "Yes! Yes! Yes!" The Miz has a couple. John Cena still has a couple ("The Champ is here!" and "You can't see me"). Undertaker still has his. Every now and then Trips throws out a "I got two words for you ..." Jericho and Punk have theirs.

I think the discussion needs to be what is the difference in the Attitude Era catchphrases and audiences that make them seem to stand out more? I definitely would not mind seeing the audience get into things more (especially with midcarders) but that falls a lot more on the performer himself than the catchphrase.

For instance, if Deuce and Domino had been the ones that created the New Age Outlaws entrance they would have been laughed out of the building. The performer needs to be good. The phrase needs to be fun and good. And the phrase needs to fit for it to work. I think the WWE might be struggling to get those three things together on a regular basis.

 

[Thriller Ant]

If a mic worker is exceptional and doesn't have to rely on a catchphrase to get a reaction from the crowd, I have no issue with them having one. They can be a nice tactic to get the crowd involved, but you need not look farther than one Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to see where they can get a man into trouble. He has used catchphrase-heavy promos, which are fun for nostalgia, but lead to him talking a lot without actually saying anything. The catchphrase should be for decoration, not the meat and potatoes of a wrestler's promo.

 

[ccotreau1]

For me, I say only catchphrases only work with certain wrestlers. If the wrestler is real good on the mic, like Jericho or Cena then okay. But on the flipside, like Benoit, he wasn't that good on the mic, therefore a catchphrase wouldn't work for him

 

[smittyje]

The only two relevant right now is WOO, WOO, WOO - You Know It! And AWESOME! And Yes I would enjoy more catchphrases, I believe it could make the mid-carders more relevant it sure did for Zach Ryder and MIZ.

 

[PlayTheGameHHH]

HELL YEAH! The lack of catchphrases just makes a show feel, for me anyway, incomplete. I guess people these days would get bored with them though, I mean people are actually calling the Rock stale and samey!!!! I'm like "BITCH, back in the day this was the shit!"

The Miz's catchphrase is great, it allows the fans to get involved and have some fun. We definitely need more catchphrases in the 'E.

 

[bk555]

hell yea!

Wrestlers nowadays are becoming incredibly generic. A good percentage of them use names that sound real, have characters that are realistic, and personas that they portray in the ring that are generic. Take Dolph Ziggler for example. In WWE, we think he is great on the mic and in ring when simply he is just a normal douche with a big mouth.

Characters in the day like Austin and Rock were larger than life superhero characters that really brought the crowd in with their catchphrases and promo tactics. Sure it was a bit childish, but this is wrestling not politics. The need for total reality and truth is not that high in my mind.

Guys like the Miz and Ryder sort of have catch phrases but not the really good ones that define them. They basically just say them at the end of their promos to glorify their mediocre mic work.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Maybe a few more. Don't overdo it though. Otherwise it's just "catchphrase *insert putdown* catchphrase" and it's really not that entertaining after a few weeks.

Need to be like Roddy Piper. Sometimes do it, sometimes don't, but ALWAYS say something interesting and striking.

 

[MattRhys20]

Are we talking about every single wrestler here or just the big names that do most of the promos