10 Modern Wrestling Tropes We're Totally Sick Of

6. Endless Nicknames

Michael Cole oh my
WWE

WWE Speak is a problem in and of itself. Rampant overscripting has created a roster of athletes that don't communicate like actual human beings, spouting stilted terms like "championship opportunity," calling the audience as "the WWE universe," and referring to the wrestlers as everything but "wrestlers" like a gang of cheesy corporate androids.

One of the maddening components of this is the idea that every wrestler on the roster needs at least a handful of nicknames to feed into the robot commentators' algorithm. 'The Monster Among Men,' 'The Swiss Cyborg,' 'The Joshi Judas,' 'The Striking Man From Amsterdam,' 'The Extraordinary Man Who Can Do Extraordinary Things' (thank god this one died), 'The Golden Goddess,' 'God's Greatest Creation,' just... stop. End this madness, refer to people by their real names (or at least something indicating their pedigree, IE: "the four-time Intercontinental Champion), use nicknames sparingly, and quit blurting these phrases out every 10 seconds. It's nonsense.

Yes, it's a different way to say somebody's name, but WWE's talking heads are insistent on beating you over the head with them until you either lose your mind or buy the relevant t-shirt.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.