10 Wrestlers Who Gambled On A New Catchphrase

2. Party Time, Excellent?

Al Snow Steve Blackman
WWE

Everybody required a catchphrase in the Attitude Era. They couldn't print t-shirts fast enough, and they couldn't get folk off TV fast enough, because so many acts were over under the car-crash framework.

The catchphrase was as mandatory as blood, t*ts, and Kane.

Steve Blackman's was awful, because he wasn't really a catchphrase guy. He was more of a "seems capable of killing you with his bare hands" and "boring" kind of guy, and didn't really fit in, cult legacy be damned. He was pretty entertaining when the WWF realised this, and channeled his quite terrifying intensity by making him the straight man to Al Snow, but Kurt Angle had the faux-boring thing down locked. In a bid to get over, Blackman took to saying "It's party time!" before pounding some poor prick's d*ck in the dirt. The punchline is that it wasn't a party.

The bit didn't get over because the Hardcore division, outside of the best of the 24/7 hijinks, wasn't that over. Fans were desensitised to the weapons-heavy action that took place all over the show.

Also the bit was not good.

Was it successful?

It might be, in retrospect, if Joey Janela does the right thing and books him for Spring Break.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!