"What?" Chants

[HeenanGorilla]

Ok, it's been over TEN years since this chant became the cool (translation = very lame) thing to do at live events. Why is this still happening? It is so lame, I feel awkward for the people doing it as I watch from home. It is cringeworthy. I picture the people in the crowd sitting with baited breath waiting for a superstar to pause, just so they can amuse themselves with a useless chant. Do they high five each other? Are they thinking they are really a part of the show at that point? I picture grown men in their favorite wrestler's t-shirt getting gitty between chants, as this is the greatest night of their lives. "I heard them do this on TV in 2002 and now I am doing it." with one extra-"special" fool thinking he started the chant and sitting on cloud nine. Is it me? Or is this just the corniest thing ever?

 

[ratedrdestiny]

I agree with you. I think it's lame aswell. The problem is, I don't see it going anywhere anytime soon. Like wooo after the chop, I guess the live audience feels like they are part of the show when the do it. The wooo is a sign of respect for Flair, but that damn "what" chant gets annoying when someone is trying to cut a promo.

 

[InsomGTS]

It has the benefit of showing who the audience gives a crap about listening to. They don't ever do the chant for Punk and Cena. It's mostly to piss off slow talking heels.

 

[nicwits]

You really only hear it during heel/shitty promos. You don't hear CM Punks promos getting "what-bombed".

It's funny to hear a shitty mic-worker getting it, but it doesn't change the fact that it's lame.

Blame Austin for that one.

 

[Psychopathic Savior]

If you watched the Miz and R-truth a few weeks ago the chanted WHAT!? when Truth spoke but not when Miz did. I agree they do it for guys they have no respect for.......mostly

 

[closet_fan]

kevin nash would get destroyed by What?!?! chants everytime he ever cut a promo. he would always have to take a few seconds to talk between lines.

now it makes the guy doing the promo force himself to continue talking so they don't get a chance to.

even if there is a split second between lines, they always do it.

it doesn't bother me as much as other people

 

[The Hardcore Kid]

It's basically just modern heat. It only ever happens to either heels, or people who suck on the mic (not mutually exclusive. A heel who sucks on the mic is gonna get HUGE "What" chants). It's not like people just do it any time anyone tries to cut a promo.

The best heels can play off it. R-Truth's "Don't you WHAT ME!" is great. I do agree it gets to be too much though, because it sometimes ruins the promo, and forces the wrestler to alter his pacing so that there is no room to say it. I went to RAW a few months ago and there were two kids behind me, couldn't have been over 10 years old, SCREAMING "What?!" after every fucking thing said on the mic. Now THAT was annoying. Especially since they probably have no idea who Stone Cold is or why anyone says "What?".

 

[akrassikauda]

I agree with the OP. This is by far the most annoying thing on tv. I laughed weeks ago when CM Punk told the crowd in Boston that they had the perfect opportunity to say WHAT? And did nothing. This chant is just plain stupid by now, but two people stand out to battle the crowd.

Vickie Guerrero yells excuse me so loud sometimes it's louder than the entire crowd chanting what.
Cody Rhodes "Bag Yourselves" sometimes you just got to say thank you Cody thank you Vickie for getting at least 5 seconds to speak.

 

[legendkiller1979]

This is without a doubt the worst line in the history of wrestling. Stonecold put no thought into it. He didn't even use it in a way to be amusing. Forget being funny.
Honestly, how many thought does take to say a sentence and follow it with WHAT? Austin was already a heel at this point but when he started this chant, things were never the same for me. He made his face turn and continued the chant as if it was somewhat entertaining. The truth is (no pun intended) that it's profoundly annoying. I hate it and will never forgive stonecold for starting it.

 

[boywithbluehanger]

The WHAT chants ruin key parts of the show. And what bugs me is that for some stupid reason, people who pay to BE in the arena, will help ruin their own experience by doing it. Then there's people who are watching the show at home are getting screwed by the people in attendance.

I don't care how bad someone is on the mic, I actually want to hear what his/her thoughts are because I know it'll be essential for a storyline to come or something happening in the near future.

But I guess we should all expect this type of thing from entertainment that draws so many uneducated people.

 

[mdj2010]

I think my brain has learnt to tune it out after ten years of hearing it... What? I said after ten years of hearing it, i've learnt to tune it out... What? I said I don't hear it... What? I said it doesn't bother me... What? I said... What? Don't you 'What?' me... What?

 

[Pedigree1]

ahhh its funny i think it really gets under Truths skin when the audience chants What? But besides truth and nash yes this damn what chant ran its course years ago!! It is annoying beyond belief but the audience has the right to chant it!! What pisses me off more is the tools in the front row with replica titles on their shoulders.really dude leave that at home or the morons who do the thumbs with RVD!!

 

[Power & Glory]

I agree with the What chant being lame, stupid, useless and pathetic. I liked it when Austin used it on himself, i think people should still chant What at Austin now whenever he cut a promo because it's stuck in just like his Austin 3:16.

What! i don't like is that people don't realize how stupid it is to chant at anyone else, not just that the actual line doesn't belong with anyone else besides Austin but people don't see how disrespectful it is to any superstar they chant it at. Believe me i know how frustrating this can be, my wife is a huge Stone Cold fan.

Every time we argue, which isn't too often thankfully, she waits for the opportunity to say What?! just so she can push my button even more. She finds it funny, i don't. It doesn't help either if i come back with "Know your role and shut your mouth", it just gives her more fuel to What?! me.

As far as chants go, i feel i need to add one more that drove me nuts in the past. The "You suck" chant at Kurt Angle's theme music. Even when he turned face for god's sake. Kurt Angle was one of my favorite wrestlers of all time simply because i respect a person who wins the Olympic gold medal and to hear imbeciles chant that he sucks was unpleasant. Again, total lack of respect.

What's even worse, don't expect the stupid chants to die anytime soon guys and gals.

Cheers

 

[RJJ]

The "What?!" thing lost it magic the moment austin turned face, cause at that point everyone started to chant "what?" for no reason, it didn't matter whether you're a heel or a face, with the exception of few superstars. It was funny when Austin was heel, but after that it became annoying.

 

[avi01]

it was already annoying back in 2002,imagine now. I am pretty sure I read an interview where Austin himself said it was annoying. It works sometimes may be with the likes of Truth who can respond to it and kinda make it funny but then you have someone trying to cut some intense promo, this what chant comes like a total momentum killer. It sucks.
I remember when that thing started back in 2001...Austin was that psycho character who would talk to himself, what himself and answer himself..that was brilliant. But then the audience started to use it as a chant and by the time Austin turn face, it was just annoying.

 

[PompeyDJ]

the what chant does get annoying but it seems like most promos are spoken like the 'what?' is expected. the pauses that superstars take are perfectly setting up a 'what?'

one thing i'm beginning to like though is that the crowd are now getting behind the 'really?' line that the miz does. when he does it you can hear the crowd joining in
miz: really?
crowd: really?
miz: really?
crowd: really?
and so on

i think 'really?' could be the next 'what?'. but 'what?' is getting very annoying now. it's not like it's even serving a purpose. they just say it because they always do

 

[Dagger Dias]

A lot of people dislike the "what' chants, but obviously a lot of people still like them or else it would have died down years ago. The chants stopped being about trying to help Stone Cold annoy Vince, and they took on a life of their own. Now it's just the "cool" thing to do anytime a wrestler pauses for any reason during a promo. If I'm at a show I'd probably still join in on a "what" chant simply because it's something we do together as fans. I don't hate it nearly as much as some do, it's not that big of a deal. Just ignore the "what" if you don't like it. Truth has been responding to the "what" chants a lot lately, this is only breathing more life back into the tradition. It's not going away anytime soon. Be part of it or ignore it.

I like PompeyDJ's point about the "really?" chants. It is helping Miz each time the crowd does it and it become somewhat of a sequel to the "what" chants in the future because the fans are really getting into these and seem to be having fun with it. It's a lot more fun to follow along with than "what" and is more useful to a heel trying to get heat, not to mention that it doesn't interrupt a promo or disrupt someone's concentration the way that "what" does.

 

[thewrestlinggamer908]

the what chant does get annoying but it seems like most promos are spoken like the 'what?' is expected. the pauses that superstars take are perfectly setting up a 'what?'

one thing i'm beginning to like though is that the crowd are now getting behind the 'really?' line that the miz does. when he does it you can hear the crowd joining in
miz: really?
crowd: really?
miz: really?
crowd: really?
and so on

i think 'really?' could be the next 'what?'. but 'what?' is getting very annoying now. it's not like it's even serving a purpose. they just say it because they always do

You know What(s)? getting annoying now WWWYKI or also known as Woo Woo Woo You Know It. Zack Ryder is overrated bro he belongs in FCW or just released from the E i find Ryder boring he hasn't been right since he left Hawkins & Edge. Zack Ryder is overrated WOO WOO WOO YOU KNOW IT !!!

 

[sTyLnK]

What's wrong with it? If it pumps the audience up, that's a good thing. They're paying good money to watch live. Whatever helps them enjoy it. I say it's all good.

 

[Turnz05]

I did post a single word reply of 'WHAT?' here but it got deleted.

Very ironic!

It is easy to delete from a forum but in live pro wrestling it cannot be removed. It's a chant. I agree it is a shame though because fans arent listening to the promo but rather listening for the gaps to say WHAT? Maybe WWE should give out vuvuzelas to drown out the WHAT? chants....

CM Punk and Stone Cold had a promo earlier this year when CM Punk kept saying WHAT? and Steve Austin admitted how annoying it was and it sounded pretty legit!

Also, I loved Booker T when he tried to bring in the WHO? counter thing right after WHAT? started!

 

[Foshinzo]

I think it just feels forced. It's funny when they do it to R-Truth because he actually responds to it, and I think that's great for his character because he's one of the few who actually notices the fans. But, is it annoying? Almost every single time, for me.

The thing that kills me is that the whole point of it is to be annoying. The people who do it are like someone who is bad at Internet trolling: it's only funny when you pick your spots. Just doing it every time shows me people don't really get what's funny about it and they just like doing it to annoy the wrestlers.

 

[PompeyDJ]

You know What(s)? getting annoying now WWWYKI or also known as Woo Woo Woo You Know It. Zack Ryder is overrated bro he belongs in FCW or just released from the E i find Ryder boring he hasn't been right since he left Hawkins & Edge. Zack Ryder is overrated WOO WOO WOO YOU KNOW IT !!!

this thread is about the 'what?' chants, not zack ryder. i'm going to take a guess and say that you're bringing up zack ryder because of my avatar picture. i find zack ryder entertaining. so what? some people do, some people don't

your post belongs in a zack ryder thread

besides, it's not like the fans are chanting 'woo woo woo you know it' between every sentence

 

[SickJames]

NFL fans, Basketball, other sports fans dress in their teams' jerseys and chant stuff that could be considered meaningless too, but it's not.

I dont get where the fuck you get off criticising these people as if they shouldnt have fun the way they want to.

Another IWC purest thread.

The majority of ppl in every show do this, it's popular and you can just deal with it. Free speech. A parent cant get all upset because some guys chant HOLY SHIT! fuck them, it's gonna happen.

You chant whatever the fuck you wanna chant and to hell with those who dont like it and the fans are apart of the show. I dont even wanna hear ppl pretend like there wasnt just a thread weeks ago talking about how important the fans are to the show, fan reaction, how they can make a match better or how some fans dont react at the right times the right way in situations where the fan familar with the situation knows what to do or say, but this chant is pretty much one of those mainstays that have been passed down and it should stay.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

The "What" chant has become a vehicle for the crowd to show their displeasure for a performer. It has somewhat become like the modern "boo" except for the fact that it is aimed more at getting under the skin of the performer. And to be honest, I cannot see anything wrong with the chant. A loud "what!?" chant indicates that the crowd is a hot one. It is a very accurate measure of the crowd involvement. Also, why the hell should wresters complain? Every single thing that they do is aimed at getting a reaction from the audience and the "What!?" chant is just that, a reaction.

Furthermore the good performers are the ones who can play along with the crowd. Look at Miz and R-Truth. Miz uses the what chants to further insult the crowd by likening them to ducks. R-Truth almost waits for those chants so that he can tell the crowd to stop whatting him which further infuriates the crowd. It adds to their heelish gimmicks and benefits them which shows that the chants are hardly anything detrimental.

Also it kind of makes Austin immortal because some of the kids in the crowd may not even know who created those chants but they love to chant "what!?" anyway. Austin may be forgotten as the years roll on, but the "What!?" chants will always remain. Or so it seems.

 

[BK Styles]

You know What(s)? getting annoying now WWWYKI or also known as Woo Woo Woo You Know It. Zack Ryder is overrated bro he belongs in FCW or just released from the E i find Ryder boring he hasn't been right since he left Hawkins & Edge. Zack Ryder is overrated WOO WOO WOO YOU KNOW IT !!!

What the...wow. Veeeeeeeery clever. Have yourself a cookie and keep on topic. Moron.

I actually like the What chants. Not hugely, but I don't mind them. Like Dagger Dias said, its one of those things you do in a wrestling show now. Watching at home, I can see how it could be annoying (personally I don't), but at a live event I believe most people would join in.

Also second the Miz's 'really?' chant, though I doubt that'll become something separate form the Miz like What has become from Austin.