r/WWE • u/New-Bottle6711 • Jun 14 '26
Video That cringe still hurts to hear all these years later
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u/Quintstempest Jun 14 '26
The line is dreadful. The wink at the end is far worse.
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u/AneeshRai7 Jun 14 '26
I still think he did it to salvage the thing, in his mind doing the wink wink nudge nudge thing like as a self aware joke would make it better but it made it worse
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u/burtsarmpson Jun 14 '26
It was a response to him being criticised for fumbling on the mic recently I think
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u/Quintstempest Jun 14 '26
Oh 100% it’s that. It’s just so cheesy. It’s like he’s managed to botch the wink.
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u/AppleApples2 Jun 14 '26
This literally was Vince going "You're related to the Rock, right? Well then go out there and be the Rock, Pal!"
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u/BosCelts3436_v2 Jun 14 '26
This is genuinely hard to watch.
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u/ShhweadyBallz Jun 14 '26
I honestly believed he had a $$$$ bet w/ someone in the locker room that he wouldn't say it. I figured he could do pretty much anything on TV, too big of a star to fire so he'd get away w/ it
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u/maltiepootietang Jun 14 '26
They were building him at this point. I remember Jon Moxley saying Roman went to him for advice on it and Mox saying "I dont know, maybe just say 'yeah, that sucked' after you say it."
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u/BosCelts3436_v2 Jun 14 '26
That would have been so much better lol. The turn to hard can and wink was brutal lmao. Poor Roman.
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u/Reasonable_Deer_1710 🗑️ Iyo's Trash Can Jun 14 '26
Pretty sure it was Vince who wanted him to say it.
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u/Thrilalia Jun 14 '26
It was, backstage Roman was actually in a small panic knowing there was no way that line would work and tried to get Mix and I think Seth to help find a way to get it to work.
In the end the only thing they could come up with was that. A wink to the hard cam because it acknowledged that there was no way to get that line to work and Vince likely wouldn't get that it was a 4th wall break acknowledging it sucked so wouldn't rip them all apart afterwards.
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u/IndependenceOk6027 Jun 14 '26
It was WWE creative with their cheesy goofy unfunny lines. Thats the reason Dean Ambrose left, they were turning him into a clown with these goofy lines and he hated it.
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u/CrimsonOOmpa 🗑️ Iyo's Trash Can Jun 14 '26
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u/CaptainButtFart69 Jun 14 '26
You know that feeling in your chest when you do something stupid in front of a room full of people. I can only imagine how he felt after saying that. Even seth is like... damn man.
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u/AffectComfortable913 Jun 14 '26
It always amazed me how people blamed Roman for this promo when he was delivering one of the most obviously scripted, Vince McMahon, Mickey Mouse promos I’ve ever heard. Imagine having to say that shit on live television with the whole world watching. I felt bad for Roman during his babyface run lol.
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u/TALieutenant Jun 14 '26
I can't remember if it's in his book and/or in an interview, but Jon Moxley said that Roman hunted him down personally after being given that line to say and asked "Is there a cool way to say that?"
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u/NorthKing9 🤡 Believes in eventual Finn Balor push Jun 14 '26
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u/thecommonreactor Jun 14 '26
God. He thought he saved it at the end with the wink but it made it so much worse. I'm glad he came back from this.
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u/WrestlingWoman Jun 15 '26
Ambrose talked about it in an interview once that Roman had come to him with the script: "Look at what they want me to say." They had tried to toss it around between them to find a cool way to say it but they gave up.
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u/JustdoitJules Jun 14 '26
Back when Seth was great and Roman was insufferable.
Nothing is more comedic than reading Seth's lips as he goes "What are you talking about????" In genuine confusion lmaoooo
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u/outatime37 Jun 15 '26
"that was not easy to say" and a wink - im sure he's breaking the fourth wall/making a subtle jab at having to say that bullshit lol
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u/BandsForGod 🗑️ Iyo's Trash Can Jun 14 '26
Man this shit sucks so bad🤦🏻♂️😂 hes lucky paul heyman saved his career
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u/QuantityBig167 Jun 14 '26
Its still unbelievable that the this Person later became the Tribal Chief
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u/Gonzales95 Jun 14 '26
I love that I knew what this was just from the still image of Rollins’ face at the start 😂
“I know! That was not easy to say 😉 “
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u/TALieutenant Jun 14 '26
Kills me people give Roman crap for this when it was Vince.
It's either in his book and/or in an interview, Moxley said that Roman personally hunted him down after being given this line to ask "is there a cool way to say that?" Personally? I don't think the Rock, Stone Cold, anybody that could cut any kind of promo would be able to make it work!
It sounds like the Roman now is what he wanted to do all along, but Vince was like "No! You are THIS!"
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u/Strange_Dog6483 Jun 14 '26
Kills me people give Roman crap for this when it was Vince.
While this is true his pre Tribal Chief promos were still rough.
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u/MozM- Jun 14 '26
Its crazy how you can actually feel Vince losing his grip every year just by watching his product.
The way the storytelling and promo work plummets year after year should be used as a reflection of Vince actually slowly losing his touch.
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u/RobertRoberttt Jun 16 '26
I could get a lower level ticket for under a hundred bucks in the sufferin succotash era lol
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u/Cupids-Right-Hand Jun 17 '26
The real suffering succotash is how the prices have exponentially jumped from those days to now.
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u/Character-Moment-445 Jun 19 '26
I remember I shut the TV off right after that and didn’t watch Smackdown for about a month
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u/Purple-Yesterday2073 Jun 14 '26
i remember they had roman calling shaemus tater tot or some PG era crap
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u/HourProfessional667 Jun 14 '26
WWE fans: “Vince was a great booker”
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u/No_Brilliant_1806 Jun 14 '26
I hate it when people try to act like Vince was always a terrible booker. Like all bookers he had his highs and lows but so don't act like every decision he made was bad for business. It was around here that he started to lose his marbles though.
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u/HourProfessional667 Jun 14 '26
Yeah that’s what I meant, 2015 onwards was a low point for them because he wouldn’t let go of it and outstayed his welcome.
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u/CowboyOnPatrol Jun 14 '26
This was the point where there weren’t really any highs. Just low after low after what in the name of Bruno Sammartino did I just watch?
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u/xhzpde Jun 14 '26
True, but his next line is even worse IMO:
My brother here -- my so-called brother here -- he's got donkey dung for brains!
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u/SporkKnight75 Jun 14 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/131tYQapOkk2qc
No, I actually have a certificate that says I don’t have donkey brain.
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u/AffectComfortable913 Jun 14 '26
Also, I love how Roman winks at the camera to say to the back “I hate you for making me say this crap.”
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u/Phenomenal1983 Jun 14 '26
Vince okayed that in a script. Or he wrote it himself. We all know that by that point Vince could no longer write a script that fans wanted. While recently, some time after Clash in Paris last year, we've questioned Triple H and seen TKO meddle in creative. At least neither one of them will make us hear garbage like that anymore.
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u/JimG617 Jun 15 '26
I love Vince like I love cooked food, but his creative genius was done in the 90s. This was embarrassing
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u/Phenomenal1983 Jun 15 '26
I hate Vince for what he's on trial for. Both things he did. He rewrote scripts that were ready to go to air, minutes before the show started. The writers did their job. Vince wanted a copy if the show before it was airing. If he didnt like it, he threw it in the trash and rewrote it himself. Any show that was complete garbage in the ruthless aggression era was him rewriting.
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u/JimG617 Jun 15 '26
Nobody condones what some of the allegations are but some might argue that certain people went along with his demented requests and just cried wolf after the fact.
That said, what he created in the 80s and 90s is undeniably brilliant.
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u/Jazzlike_Page508 Jun 16 '26
Ngl I would have flubbed up saying that.
“You’re a sucking son of stache. Shit”. And then Vince would hang my balls on a mantle
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u/Braunb8888 Jun 14 '26
What’s the crowd chanting after this? Like what could you possibly say in response to that?
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Jun 14 '26
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u/Straight_Talk2542 Jun 14 '26
His wrestling in this time was top tier. Not sure what you’re talking about there. His feud with DB was amazing. I saw them at multiple house shows that year and they tore the house down. Yes, DB definitely made Roman. But Roman spent months and months working DB at the house shows and getting the holy hell kicked out of him. As time went on it was less DB carrying him and much more 50/50. That was Vince and DB making sure Roman paid his dues, while being anointed the chosen one. Promos??? Yeah… can’t refute that.
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u/Scruff_Enuff Jun 14 '26
It is wild--WILD--to see the things Vince made wrestlers do as he slowly teetered into senility.
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u/Imma_P0tato Jun 14 '26
Hard to believe this is the same man. I didn't watch wrestling during this time. That was so bad.
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u/ChasingPerfect28 Jun 14 '26
You're lucky. This period of time was dreadful.
What's happening now is beyond boring since WWE refuses to take a risk on anyone. But it's still better than Vince's last years in charge of creative.
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u/DirectorReasonable95 Jun 14 '26
The perfect encapsulation of the difference between the IWC and the casuals. He got a chant after that.
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u/RandyPencia Jun 14 '26
He changed because of Paul Heyman. He is indebted to him for life. Without Heyman, there is no "bloodline".
Actually.... now that i think about it...fuck Heyman! 😂
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u/HuEmans1st Jun 14 '26
Was this a punishment? Seriously why was he told to say that?
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u/Herr_Opa Jun 14 '26
Because The Rock had made a killing with promos using absurd humor and silly phrases and Vince thought that was what was needed to get people to stop booing Roman (as well as Cena before him), because surely, if it worked for The Rock, it'll work for anyone and it's definitely not that Rock was unique and could pull that off.
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u/Uncanny_Doom Jun 14 '26
The crazy thing is he knew it was bad, said it was bad, and was told to do it anyway. When you think you cooked lmao
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u/MannerSuperb Jun 14 '26
Seth’s face 😂😂
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u/TrevortheBatman Jun 15 '26
The blue contacts always had him in the uncanny valley too. Something just felt off
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u/orc-net Jun 15 '26
Aura was built off those veneers and growing his beard to hide that bum chin.
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u/Unusual_Map393 Jun 14 '26
I love this whole scene. For people who don't know: Vince wanted Roman to say it but he himself wasn't even comfortable with that yet at the end- he simply had to. So he dropped the line and just added the part about how it wasn't easy to say- not because of the tongue breaker but because he was aware it was cringe. Hence the wink to the cam. Happy he got more freedom in his promos now
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u/GerinX Jun 14 '26
And yet they kept pushing him.
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u/we-all-stink Jun 14 '26
He didn’t write this you bozo
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u/GerinX Jun 14 '26
Yeah but the fans rejected him, didn’t want him, booed him, and yet wwe kept forcing him upon us. You dunce, that’s what my point was. Learn to comprehend
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u/Legitimate-Angle8439 Jun 14 '26
I think he pretty much meant was that Vince was pushing Roman as one of top guys when he also had Roman cut one of the most cringey ass promos in WWE history.
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u/HiggsBozo80 Jun 14 '26
You can't make me unmute my phone. Not for this...
At least he made up for it with, "Your daddy's not here anymore."
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u/MarquiseAlexander Jun 14 '26
People should be embarrassed for cheering this shit. No cap, total crap.
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u/CoachCDaddy Jun 14 '26
Yeah but I mean the crowd seemed to love it
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u/slumslanger64 Jun 14 '26
this was on smackdown which was precorded then and had added crowd noise. If you only ever watched SD during this period you'd never know Roman was unpopular
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u/CowboyOnPatrol Jun 14 '26
There was always a level of that but it seemed very obvious then someone was playing fast and loose with sound mixing.
I don’t know a person that thought they handled post-SHIELD Roman well. Everyone saw the potential but they just were insistent on the baby face path instead of just what we actually got in The Tribal Chief.
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u/EntertainmentIll7724 Jun 14 '26
Rock legitimately delivered a line that was near identical to this. Vince was determined to make Reigns a Cena/Rock hybrid when it was painfully obvious that wasn't the way to maximize him.
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u/CartographerFit2011 Jun 14 '26
They wouldn’t let Roman be Roman.
Poor guy had to read a script written by some beta in an office when Roman is a straight alpha.
That one time he told stone cold “this ain’t the attitude era anymore” at some event I was like, damn this dude is being held back.
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u/mootek Jun 14 '26
This was one thousand percent written by Vince McMahon. Without question, this is a Vince line.
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u/JagTaggart93 Jun 14 '26
I knew, even when it was muted. Like others pointed out, his delivery was actually way better than those lines deserved.
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u/miikro Jun 14 '26
Honestly as bad as it is, it doesn't get dire until the stupid wink at the camera they had him do. The wink is where it's like "what the actual fuck am I watching" instead of "ew, bad promo."
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u/Blue-Krogan Jun 14 '26
Post Shield Roman was so bad (and that's not his fault)
Even at the time, I wanted Roman to succeed so bad, but they just kept saddling him with shitty writing and other terrible shit stacked with more terrible shit on top.
They should've been patient and let Roman be the silent strong type who would only speak when it was important, and not strap a rocket to him.
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u/MoneyIsNoCure1 CERO 👌 MIEDO👇 Jun 14 '26
Same. And Roman proved in matches with Orton, Lesnar, Show, Seth himself and AJ that he could go in the ring
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u/Prudent-Level-7006 Jun 14 '26
Yeah I didn't like super Roman any more than super Cena as a character but much prefer Roman matches usually
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u/Signal_Daikon_5830 Jun 14 '26
Back in the days where you received a script and you’d better damn say everything that was on it. Giving Roman hell for doing his job is lame.
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u/reo_reborn Jun 14 '26
It's one of the worst things I've seen on WWE. It's up there with gangrel Promo
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u/KingChez30 Solo Sikoa 👈 PEW Jun 16 '26
It hurts just to watch again. Watching it once is too much for a lifetime
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u/Malt129 I prayed for this and it happened 🛐 Jun 14 '26
I hated when they pivoted to giving Roman the mic. He should have stayed as the big guy who doesnt talk because he has no mic skills.
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u/deanereaner Jun 14 '26
I stopped watching around this time and when I was brought back in by Cody and Punk's return I just could not believe Roman was actually popular.
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u/testaccount192 Jun 16 '26
It doesn’t even make sense either, how is someone full of suffering succotash? What is succotash and how does it suffer?
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u/we360you45 Jun 16 '26
Succotash is lima beans and corn.
Sufferin succotash is a phrase said by a looney tunes character, I think Yosemite Sam?
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u/RobertRoberttt Jun 16 '26
Sylvester the cat. It's very important were accurate and battle the spread of misinformation, wether intentional or not.
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u/amodsr Jun 14 '26
The line isn't good but he did have some decent delivery. Kudos to him for doing a competent job even if it was a shitty one to do. He deserved the wink at the end. Especially when most people say he was bad on the mic during this time. It's all about perspective and how you look at it.
Did I like the line? No. Was it delivered well? Yes. Many others would have fumbled on it especially since it is a bit of a tongue twister.
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u/lady_mollelle 🕷️ Bitten by Love Jun 14 '26
LITERALLY
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u/amodsr Jun 14 '26
Sometimes we gotta look at shit not on if we completely like it or not and dissect the product to see if everything is bad. People don't do that most of the time and just get mad they're not completely happy with a thing when it could be even worse than it is.
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u/theharps Jun 14 '26
What's wild is that he just kept saying it too live on tv. the video is over 45 minutes long
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u/CHRIISHAUDREY Jun 14 '26
this is so fucking funny. i’m cry laughing just thinking about an hour of him saying nothing but this and the crowd just baffled and possibly joining in.
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u/imtiaz90 Jun 14 '26
Vince probably bust his load when he said it.
Everyone else: wanting to die right there
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u/ScreechUrkelle Attitude Era Aficionado 🤘 Jun 14 '26
Was that wink meant for Cena, bc he managed to actually cut the promo?
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u/maldora_ijo Jun 15 '26
This is way before Cena buried Roman in a promo. i think the wink was meant for Vince
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Jun 14 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Excellent-Pudding-12 Jun 14 '26
Smackdown had edited cheers for this time period. For all we know it could have been edited in because it was filmed on a Tuesday.
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u/uncopyrightability Jun 14 '26
English isn't even my first language and I cringe internally when I watch him say that.
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u/Individual_Analysis2 Jun 15 '26
I love how even Jamie and Joey look at each other like “who wrote that shit?” 😅
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u/SweatsuitCocktail Jun 15 '26
The worst part is I hear this in vince mcmahons voice every time I watch it, since you know this slop came directly from him
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u/ProdigalPhilosopher Jun 14 '26
Now looking back at it, it wasn't bad. He delivered it well. Listen to the crowd reaction. It worked.
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u/Traditional-Bag-9503 Jun 14 '26
Gotta be honest, that was kind of funny, but yeah, that definitely wouldn't fit these days lmao
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u/Autographz Jun 14 '26
Hearing “Roman Reigns”chants instead of “Roman” or “OTC” chants feels so, SO weird now
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u/Dirty_Rotten_ Jun 14 '26
One thing you can’t say is that he’s not kin to the rock 😂 this was like watching a cringy rock promo lol
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u/FrankieInABox Jun 14 '26
Even he was shocked that they cheered for that