WWE’s Most Memorable Ethers
That shit that makes your soul burn slow.
by Jameel Raeburn (@MeelzTV)
By far, one of the highlights in hip hop at the turn of the century was the beef between New York’s lyrical juggernauts JAY Z and Nas. It was the first time in our culture that two artists of this magnitude clashed, and it created classic moments that are still referenced today. But perhaps no moment during the beef became more infamous than the release of Nas’ “Ether” (Listen). In response to “Takeover”, “Ether” was released and shook JAY Z and Roc-a-Fella records to their very core. If “Takeover” was a mush to the face, “Ether” was the bodyshot and haymaker that ended it all (“Super Ugly” was the sideways trash talk all after the fact). It was brutal, hardcore, merciless attack at JAY Z with lines like, “Eminem murdered you on your own shit/You’s a dickridin’ faggot/You love the attention.”
Ether’s legacy still remains as the most influential, brutal, vicious diss track in hip hop history, becoming a term in hip hop lexicon. To “ether” someone is much more than just dissing them, because anyone can hurl an insult. To ether your victim is to insult them to the point where it humiliates them and wrecks their soul. Nas described it best as, “That ether, that shit that make your soul burn slow.”
Wrestling’s experienced it’s own share of ethers over history (some more brutal than others), and the result has always been compelling television. Check out our list of The Most Memorable Ethers in WWE.
CM Punk’s rips Kevin Nash on the mic, via text message (2011)
The summer of 2011 was by far one of the most promising summers in the WWE since the summer of Stone Cold in 1997. CM Punk’s career-altering pimp bomb sent shockwaves throughout the entire wrestling industry. And why? Because it disrupted the norm. For a long time, fans sat and watched promotions simply go through the motions, but CM Punk’s pipebomb and subsequent WWE Title victory at Money in the Bank added an air of unpredictability to things. It made wrestling exciting.
…and then any kind of intrigue immediately came to a screeching halt once Triple H and Kevin Nash got involved. Promises of change quickly dissolved when controversy surrounding Kevin Nash’s unwarranted return and Del Rio’s subsequent cash-in came into play. Just like that, it became less about change and more of the same ol’ shit.
Nash came out the night after on RAW to explain his actions, but little did he know he’d be walking into a full-frontal verbal assault from Punk. Trying to explain his motives from “the text he got on his telephone” (lolold) from Triple H, Punk’s quick-wit followed with a strong retort that felt like swift kick to the dick as opposed to a jab on the mic. Kevin Nash found out in the worst way that it wasn’t 1996 anymore.
Highlights:
PUNK: “…For weeks I’ve been hearing Triple H is going to do what’s right for business — he re-signed me because it’s good for business. And you’re just going to do whatever your best friend asks you to do? Don’t answer this because it’s a rhetorical question: If Triple H asked you to jump off a bridge, would you? Because I think that would be good for business.”
NASH: Would you like to see the text message on my telephone?
PUNK: “You want to see the text message my little sister Chaleen sent me last night? Here it is: “OMG KEVIN NASH, WTF THOUGHT HE WAS DEAD. LOL!” The funny thing is, normally Chaleen is wrong. And here you are, live in living color. It’s just your career that’s dead, right?”
The Rock burns Toronto down to the ground, verbally (2003)
Can we take a second just to acknowledge how good The Rock’s Hollywood Heel persona was back in 2003? Like seriously. The Rock was one of the highlights of my childhood as a face, but his return in 2003 (which only lasted 2 months) was incredible. He was the zenith of what an entertainer should be, and despite how many times he’s won the WWE Championship — THIS will be what I always remember him for.
The night after defeating Hulk Hogan at No Way Out 2003, The Rock was moved over to Monday Night RAW courtesy of Vince McMahon and cut one of the most scathing promos against an entire city that we’ve ever seen. There’s cheap heat, insulting a city’s team or saying their women are horrendous looking, but The Rock went on for nearly 10 minutes dragging the sheep of Toronto, Canada through the dirty. Forget getting an inch of revenge, he took the entire mile after Toronto booed them at Wrestlemania X-8 the previous year.
Highlights:
ROCK: “What, is this the first time you heard someone mention your city? “Yay, he said Toronto! Woo, yay! That’s where we live, we live in Toronto, yay!” SHUT UP!”
Edge pretty much ends the career of Billy Gunn (2001)
You can always pinpoint a moment when it all starts to go downhill for somebody’s career, and in the case of Billy Gunn, this is it. Billy Gunn was clearly frustrated that this “The One Billy Gunn” thing wasn’t working out, especially since he missed out on the chance to defend his King of the Ring status twice (uh, unless you win twice you can only defend it once, right?) and had to watch Edge win it while chowing down on meatball sandwich at WWF New York.
As bitter as Billy Gunn was, Edge made it about 10x worse. He managed to sneak in a Simpsons joke that reeked of awesomeness, and that was just a tip of the iceberg as Edge vowed not to “Billy Gunn” the King of the Ring title (GIF). And what was Billy Gunn’s response? “UHH… I’M GONNA KICK YER ASS!” Real smooth.
Literally, Billy Gunn’s career was never the same. He was pretty much non-existent during the Invasion, joined a pseudo-gay publicity stunt tag team, and then joined TNA (where Attitude Era guys go to drown their careers).
EDGE: “1999 is SO two years ago, and it’s not my fault if you’ve done a big pile of nothing since then! That doesn’t give you the right to come out and rain on MY parade — and Commissioner, I vow to you that I will not ‘Billy Gunn’ this King of the Ring title, because Billy…I plan on being entertaining.”
AJ Lee buries Total Divas (2013)
This must the reason why CM Punk married her, right? Had to be.
Total Divas began airing in 2013, and it heavily became the focal point of the Divas Division on WWE television. The very few segments that Divas had on television were dedicated to promoting WWE & E!’s latest success, even as far as a match on the Summerslam card. Who was noticeably absent from the picture? Divas Champion, AJ Lee. After weeks of being pushed to the side, AJ vented her frustrations (similar to CM Punk’s pipebomb two years earlier) and it became the most infamous moment of her career.
You hear from the swell in the crowd after the first few remarks that the crowd knew what was coming. After lining them up, she knocked them down and took note of the lack of value a bunch of reality stars brought to a Division that she saved from it’s previous lethargic state.
AJ Lee’s #PipeBombShell promo (as WWE refers it to), ruffled the feathers of a few Divas in real life. That ether, that shit that makes your soul burn slow.
Highlights:
AJ LEE: “I didn’t get here because I was cute, or because I came from a famous wrestling family, or because I sucked…. up to the right people. I got here because I am good. I earned this Championship and no matter how many red carpets you guys wanna walk in your four thousand dollar ridiculous heels, you will never be able to lace up my Chuck Taylors.”
Paul Heyman lets the revolver off at ‘One Night Stand’ (2005)
So I could either post the clip in a high quality format, that is unfortunately censored since it’s on the WWE’s YouTube channel…or the uncensored version on Dailymotion which looks like the shittiest VHS quality. Best case scenario: Watch it on the WWE Network.
Paul Heyman is one of the best talkers in the wrestling industry today, which is astounding considering he’s more than 20 years into his career. But at ECW’s One Night Stand in 2005 (a one night revival of wrestling’s most infamous promotion), Heyman delivered one of the most entertaining shoots of this era. Sure this was a completely worked shoot, but being able to witness Paul Heyman shoot on his home turf, in his house, that he built, you couldn’t get any better than that.
Forget the revolver, Heyman tossed a grenade into the sea of WWE superstars who came to the show to “invade” the land of extreme. Taking it straight to Eric Bischoff, he reminded him WCW One Night Stand was never going to happen (because WCW sucked). But perhaps the most scathing was to former WWE Champion, JBL — reminding him that the only reason why he was champion so long was because Triple H didn’t want to work Tuesdays.
What a glorious night
Highlights:
HEYMAN: “Hey John [Bradshaw Layfield], On a personal note…from all of us just to you…since you want to shoot cowboy……the only reason you were WWE Champion for a year, is because Triple H didn’t want to work Tuesdays!
Edge emasculates Matt Hardy on the microphone (2005)
There’s a reason why this is Edge’s second appearance on this list, and it’s not just because he’s an amazing talker — but if there’s very few who can channel passion in the way he does.
Things got very real for Matt Hardy, Edge, and Lita once their real life was exposed to the world after Lita had an affair with Edge, and Lita’s then-boyfriend Matt Hardy found out. The feud then played out on television in the summer of 2005, which teetered the line between work & shoot, but this promo? This one came from within.
Matt Hardy returned to major fanfare after being released from the WWE, and within four minutes Edge slapped him with a cold dose of truth. Matt Hardy didn’t put the ring on Lita’s finger, Matt Hardy did put his wrestling legacy before the love of his life, Edge did earn his main event stripes, and perhaps Matt Hardy did ride Edge’s coat-tails to the main event on RAW.
This isn’t like the Billy Gunn one earlier where Edge takes a dump over his entire existence, but with one moment he clearly showed why he would go on to be an 11-time World Champion and why Matt Hardy would…still be Matt Hardy.
Highlights:
EDGE: “You whined and complained, you bitched and moaned last week saying Lita was the girl of your dreams. You wanted to marry her. Matt, you were with her for six years but you never proposed! So let me fill in the blanks here, because I figured it out. You see nobody comes before Matt Hardy and his “wrestling legacy.” I HEARD YOU SAY IT! Nothing comes before V1. So with that being said, Matt you should thank me. It sounds strange but you should thank me. You see, you’ve never gotten reactions like this before in your career. You’re in the main event picture now, and why? Why? Because you’re riding my coattails in.”
CM Punk digs into Jeff Hardy on Smackdown! (2009)
When it’s all said and done, CM Punk will be remembered as one of the most controversial personalities in wrestling for his work on the microphone. With that said, when it comes to controversy, Jeff Hardy might be right up there with the Chicago-Made star..
Jeff Hardy was never witty or mind-blowing on the microphone, but he could carry a promo from it’s starting point to it’s ending point with no problem — often getting there as soon as possible. But in his World Championship program with CM Punk back in 2009, he was clearly out of his league against the likes of “Straight Edge” CM Punk. Without holding back any bit, CM Punk digged at Jeff Hardy weekly during their promos constantly bringing up his multiple suspensions and stints at rehab facilities for his “recreational activities” outside of the ring. The program led to a match where CM Punk defeated Jeff Hardy and kicked him out of the WWE, and even AFTER he left — there were more stabs at Jeff.
Needless to say, the entire latter half of the feud saw Punk drag Jeff Hardy’s issues out to the light with Hardy not responding in-kind to them at all. It was revealed to be more than just a promo when Jeff Hardy took to YouTube to shoot on CM Punk (ironically under the influence).
Highlights:
“So if you wanna imitate me, why don’t you try living a clean lifestyle? Why don’t you try living, a straight edge lifestyle? “Jeff… you’ve got two strikes. You know how many I have? Zero. Jeff, you know how many times I’ve been suspended? Zero. You know how many times I’ve been to a rehab facility? That’s right- zero.”
THOMAS JEFFERSON SUCKA!” (2001)
This one wasn’t a shoot promo, but this promo proved one thing:
1. Crowds in the early 2000s were lit.
2. Chris Jericho & The Rock are friggin’ incredible on the microphone.
3. Vince McMahon hated WCW so much, he let this one-sided asswhooping go on for damn near 15 minutes.
There aren’t many fond memories associated with the WCW/ECW Invasion in 2001, but this might be the highlight of the entire thing (I literally tried to remember more, but this really may be it). Poor Booker T thought he could come out and make cute jokes about Jericho’s long-hair and Backstreet Boys references, but he had no clue what he was going up against.
Chris Jericho was the master of running down Stephanie McMahon, especially considering she randomly showed up with breast implants one day. But The Rock. Oh The Rock made sure that Booker T was buried 6 feet under….then he poured a cement on the grave. Also, it might’ve been the only someone got away with saying “pussy” and “motherfucker” on WWE television.
Highlights:
THE ROCK: “The Rock could just imagine what you were like in High School! The oldest 27 year old senior the world has ever seen! Standing outside your house with your momma, and that short little yellow bus pulling up in front — beep beep, beep beep, beep beep! You just walk in on the bus, go into class, get inside the classroom, teacher up on the blackboard “Ok class, what is 2 + 2? Do you know Booker?” “Oh yeah I know the answer to that, 2 + 2? Thomas Jefferson, sucka!”
John Cena calls out The Rock for wrist notes… Live on RAW (2012)
There’s very few moments when The Rock gets flustered on the microphone, but there was one night on RAW where Cena got the best of him and legitimately got under his skin.
Leading up to their first encounter at Wrestlemania 28, The Rock was hitting all marks with his promo until John Cena stormed out with a retort of his own. Keeping it short and to the point, John Cena reiterated the fact for the 52nd time that he was going to be here every week while The Rock was eventually going to go back to Hollywood (which he did), but not before calling The Rock out for writing notes for his promo on his wrist. For months, The Rock had been running down John Cena because:
A. John Cena is a the easiest person to insult, even Cesaro got at him a few months ago.
B. The Rock is about 10x more entertaining.
But for one night, The Rock was left nearly speechless. You can tell from his facial expression to the body language that Rock’s blood was boiling. Moments later, he stepped to John Cena like he was about to throw all this wrestling shit out the window. After Cena left, The Rock dropped the entertaining shtick and came straight at Cena from the perspective of Dwayne Johnson.
The story of The Rock and John Cena’s real-life rivalry hasn’t been explored as deep as WWE would like to think for us to believe. Beyond the mutual respect for what each other has contributed to the business, it’s almost clear that The Rock and John Cena still do not like one another.
Highlights:
CENA: “You see these people love The Rock, I was one of these people, until I got to meet Dwayne Johnson. Dwayne Johnson is a self-centered, egotistical, see-through son of a bitch….that wouldn’t give a rat’s ass if this company closed it’s doors tomorrow. Now I’ll tell you something jack, I don’t need words like respect or loyalty to trend worldwide….just like I don’t need the notes to my promo on my wrist. Nice tattoo.”
Canada gets owned again…by Shawn Michaels (2005)
There’s cheap heat and then there’s real heat.
Canada is at the receiving end of the ether twice on this list, and this time it’s at the hands of Shawn Michaels. For one night only (okay, maybe an entire month), Shawn Michaels heeled it up on RAW in his program with Hulk Hogan and it was a great throwback to the 1997–98 Shawn we all knew and love. Everything was made easier once they set foot in Montreal, the same place where Shawn Michaels was involved in the Montreal Screwjob (that Canadians may or may not have forgiven Michaels for) at Survivor Series 1997. Stepping into the snake pit, Shawn Michaels stood defiantly in front of the Montreal crowd and sank his teeth into Hogan.
But the trick he played on the Montreal crowd was the real icing on the cake. He lulled them in by fake inviting Bret Hart to the ring (which always includes the guy actually showing up), and then hit them hard with theme through the speakers. Canadians were silly enough to fall for the prolonged entrance theme prank, when Bret “The Hitman” Hart’s theme blared through the speakers for the first time in 8 years. However after moments of absolutely no one, Montreal figured out that they’ve been had.
Oh you Canadians, with your beady eyes and your flapping heads, when will you ever learn.
Highlights:
“You want Bret?! You’re not gonna to get Bret because I screwed Bret. I did it once, and I’d do it again! If Bret “The Hitman” Hart had any guts, and he walked down that aisle tonight, stepped into this ring, and looked me in the eye like a man, I’d say, “Hitman, I screwed you once. And I’d screw you again.””
This post was original seen on WrassleRap.com
