Every so often a WWE superstar will utter a phrase that will stick with the fans long after their time in a ring has come to an end. From Daniel Bryan to Stone Cold, to The Rock, so on and so forth, it is a great line, quip or quote that helps connect a superstar to the fans and put that superstar over the top.
On the flip side, there are those that are so terrible or had such a negative impact on WWE that their infamy lives on today.
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#1 “Keep it up, my n-----.” – Vince McMahon to John Cena
Where does one begin while explaining why this is terrible? There are multiple levels of terrible that this quote reaches. First of all, even for someone trying to act ‘street’, McMahon does a terrible job and seems patronising. Especially considering this followed McMahon asking the champ “what’s good in the hood?”
Secondly, the quote was made in front of Booker T, who Vince acknowledged while walking off-scene. Booker could only respond with his trademark, “tell me he didn’t just say that,” though it’s likely, that was what he thought at the time.
Lastly, whether it’s being used in a character sense or not, the head of a Fortune 500 company saying things like that, in a pre-president Trump world just doesn’t fly, or shouldn’t fly.
While the term is perfectly acceptable in some circles and facets of entertainment, WWE isn’t one of them, especially considering that a sizeable part of WWE’s audience is under the age of 18. It’s hard to see something like this being acceptable, even during the Attitude Era.
Granted there is the irony of this happening with Booker T in the segment; given his history uttering the n-bomb on Pay Per View.
#2 “That’s gonna put some butts in the seats.” – Tony Schiavone
While this isn’t even the biggest miscue WCW made on the January 4, 1999, edition of Monday Nitro, that honour goes to the Fingerpoke of Doom later that evening; this quote is directly attributed to ending WCW’s 84-week reign of ratings dominance in the Monday Night War.
Under orders from WCW executive Eric Bischoff to use those exact words, Schiavone, gave the results of the previously recorded Raw, in the hopes that the idea of Foley being WWE Champion, would make viewers laugh or at least keep them from flipping the channel over to Raw since they already knew who won.
As wrestling fans know this move backfired on them, as the rating for Raw increased after the announcement, as viewers flocked over to watch Mankind triumph over The Rock.
#3 “Bret screwed Bret.” – Vince McMahon
McMahon’s second entry on this list is, somehow, more bemoaned in wrestling circles than the previous entry. For starters, it was a slap in the face of millions of Bret Hart fans, at a time when McMahon had legitimate heat with them, on the heels of the Montreal Screwjob.
Add the fact that, the exact opposite happened by most accounts, and you have a quote that would live in infamy for some time, though it has been quelled somewhat, by the relationship between McMahon and Hart thawing out in the 19 years since.
While it was used to create the Mr McMahon ‘character’ and was probably never meant to be taken as truth, it was taken as such and helped fuel the negative reactions McMahon would garner for at least the next decade to come.
#4 “Queering doesn’t make the world work.” – Ultimate Warrior
In 2004, the Ultimate Warrior was far less revered by WWE than he is today, and this statement is most likely the reason why.
Despite his religious beliefs or his justification that he meant the continuation of the species isn’t possible with homosexuality, it still came off incredibly crass and politically incorrect in a time, where Linda McMahon’s political aspirations forced the company to stay as far away from controversial statements as possible.
While Warrior was never concerned with political correctness, other people are, and the quote cast a shadow over him for nearly ten years.
#5 “Over the last few months I’ve lost a lot of things, and one of the things I’ve lost is my smile.” – Shawn Michaels
The infamous “Lost my smile,” promo from Shawn Michaels, was heartbreaking at the time for fans, as it meant one of the best superstars in WWE wasn’t going to be a part of WrestleMania XIII at the very least, and possibly could never return to active competition.
While those ramifications alone, make it one of the more heart-wrenching comments made in a WWE ring, there are those that feel the statement rings untrue, as Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart were set to face each other again after their WrestleMania XII encounter, and begin a feud that would run to at least the end of 1997.
Many, including Hart, felt that this was Michaels backing out instead of having to lose to Hart. Shawn’s knee injury wound up being less severe than initially expected and Michaels was back in the ring by the summer of that year, which led many to believe that this was the case.
If this is true, it’s an instance of backstage politics rearing its head on-screen, and this robbed the fans of a better rivalry than the admittedly legendary one that took place.
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