There are a couple of wrestling chants that are associated with the WWE and its wrestlers. One of the most iconic is the “what” chant, which came from none other than Stone Cold Steve Austin. Unfortunately, Fox Network does not like the chant and would love to see it die. Here are the details.
Deleted Tweet From WWE on Fox (@WWEonFOX)
The crowd heckling wrestlers with the “what” chant is not that uncommon. This week, Rusev and Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler had to deal with the chant. When it happened, Rusev directed himself to the crowd stating “Come on, he’s a Hall of Famer,” which seemed to nip the chant in the butt.
Fox picked up on the chants as well and commented on their Twitter account. Evidently, the comments did not go down well among fans. The tweets have subsequently been deleted. However, WhatCulture managed to get hold of the tweets.
“Dear @WWEUniverse, Can we stop the ‘What’ chants? It’s no longer 2001. xoxo @WWEOnFOX”
“We saw people chanting it to @AngeloDawkins as he said goodbye to @WWENXT, and now to a ‘Hall of Famer’ on RAW. That’s not a sign of rebellion, it’s a sign of disrespect. Now back to RAW.”
Here’s one fan’s reaction to the deleted tweet:
WWE on FOX@WWEonFOX
·
1h
Dear @WWEUniverse,Can we stop the ‘What’ chants? It’s no longer 2001.
xoxo @WWEOnFOX
Replying to @WWEonFOX @WNSource and @WWEUniverseFound this deleted tweet ……. what?
— John Q. Public (@JohnDoeOU812) October 22, 2019
Are The “What” Chants Still Needed?
The “What” chants are iconic. While there have been cases where the “what” chants were unjustified and disrespectful, this is wrestling.
Stone Cold Steve Austin turned “What” into his own gimmick, so why can’t the latest talent do the same?
The Trouble with the Creative Process
There are some clear problems in the WWE and it has everything to do with the creative process. Fans come to events to see good wrestling, but they are left with lots of sponsor messages, endless promos that do not serve a purpose, and too little in-ring action. Then, Fox wonders why the “What” chants keep on happening.
Even though I have said this a million times before, there is such a stark contrast between NXT and main roster WWE where the creative process is concerned. The wrestlers in NXT are encouraged to bring their own ideas to the table, albeit with some guidance from Triple H.
On the main roster, everything is so heavily scripted. When a wrestler has an idea, they need to jump through numerous bureaucratic hoops and their ideas almost never make it to the main roster.
Censorship and Monitoring
Vince McMahon is also known to tear up the scripts for Raw or SmackDown on the day of the taping. So, it is no surprise that the show often lacks direction and creativity, as everything is heavily censored and monitored by Vince.
Not taking away from Vince McMahon and his knowledge about wrestling, nobody can deny there have been some major problems.
Several wrestlers who left the company have talked about the creative problems.
In conclusion, the real problem is the product, not the fans. Wrestling fans have always been passionate. They care about the product and the wrestlers they are watching.
However, if you treat your fans badly over a long period of time, chants like this should be no surprise.
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