What's the most annoying chant in wrestling? Most people would probably say one of those smart-assed indie chants, and yeah, some of them are irritating. As much as I don't like some of them (not all of them, most chants at an indie show usually kinda rule, suck it haters), even the most annoying ones like "This is wrestling!" end up as a statement of appreciation. They're reactions to stuff that guys do, even the ones that are negative in connotation.
Guess which chant doesn't have anything to do with action? Yep, those "WHAT?!" chants are just the worst. I love Steve Austin, but man, sometimes I wanna smack him upside his head for inventing that pox on mainstream wrestling crowds everywhere. The worst example yet of them happened last night during an Undertaker promo. Taker was out there delivering one of the best promos of the year to date, and this crowd was shitting on it like he was Michael Cole in hyper-smarm mode. I filtered it out at the time because I was so into what Taker was saying, but I can understand how this would get under people's skins.
Truth be told, they kinda get under my skin anymore too. They add nothing to the proceedings. Nothing at all. People like to shit on indie crowds for "trying to get themselves over", which as John Hyperion pointed out on a guest Fair to Flair piece, is a hilarious accusation to levy on a group of people coming together either to appreciate what their favorite guys are doing or to shit on what the heels are doing. "WHAT?!", to me, feels more like a "let's get ourselves over" thing than any other type of fan chant out there.
Sure, one could argue that it is the ultimate in shitting on something the heel is doing. I will grant that argument, but what did Taker do that was so heelish? Was it a boring promo then? Obviously, stuff like that might tread a fine line and be boring to some, but the same people who were "WHAT"ing on Undertaker were the same ones who ate up Triple H's speech later on that segment, and his pacing was slower and more monotoned than Taker's was by far.
Let's pretend for a second though that yes, maybe sometimes guys do bad stuff that deserves in-character scorn. What the fuck is wrong with just booing? Or if a guy's boring, what's wrong with being silent and letting the people in charge know that hey, we don't wanna hear this guy talk anymore? Bringing the "WHAT?!" in play is way more self-indulgent to me than even chanting "This is wrestling!" because the former requires no thought. It's a Pavlovian reaction that people do for attention. It's far more cutting than regular booing, and it really doesn't say anything like "This is wrestling!"
I'm all for free expression, and crowds should be able to react how they want. That being said, that doesn't mean every chant is created equal, and it doesn't mean that there aren't reactions that crowds end up causing more bad with than good when they chant them. The worst of these is that "WHAT" chant. If I never heard it again, I'd be a happy, happy wrestling fan.
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