WWE promises to “change with the times” to crowd still doing 17-year-old “What!?” chant

Sports-entertainment impresario Vince McMahon made a rare appearance on WWE Raw this week, joined by his offspring, to announce that WWE will “change with the times” — an announcement that was met with 15,983 fans repeating a nearly two-decade-old chant.

“It’s time to shake things up,” McMahon said, to which the audience responded “WHAT?!” — a monosyllabic holler popularized in the 2001 by Stone Cold Steve Austin, who has been retired from in-ring action since 2003.

Added Hunter Hearst Helmsley: “This business must keep moving forward, this business does,” added Hunter Hearst Helmsley, prompting the audience to repeat the grunt of groupthink that became tiresome the first time Austin used it, and has become progressively more annoying ever since.

Big changes are coming to WWE, McMahon told the audience — the majority of whom were clad in black “Austin 3:16” and “nWo” t-shirts, which most received as Christmas gifts from their parents in 1999.

“The new authority is all of you,” added Helsmley, while 87 percent of the arena audience struggled to take selfies with the Titantron in the background.

Many fans took to Twitter after Raw, excited about the announcement, the majority of whom tweeted the words: “I hope they bring back the atttatude (sic) era. #Puppies”