WWE: The 50 Most Quotable Wrestling Personalities in History

A picture is worth a thousand words, but sometimes the right quote can be worth thousands of dollars, if not more. 

Part of a pro wrestling characters' branding of his or her character, and thus setting himself or herself apart from everybody else, is coming up with a vocabulary specific only to that character. 

Catchphrases and repeated use of specific terms are usually crucial in deciding whether the superstar in question can get over, and it's no surprise that many of the more successful catch phrases belong to some of the better talkers in wrestling history. 

In many ways, a list of the most quotable wrestling personalities can double as a list of the best talkers in wrestling, however being quotable is just as much about raw charisma as it is about being a proficient talker. 

1. CM Punk

CM Punk is a no-brainer on a list of quotable wrestling personalities, as the majority of his vernacular seems almanac-worthy. 

Punk's recent infamous shoot promo on RAW was filled with quote worthy barbs directed at WWE's corporate atmosphere, and his days of a straight edge messiah produced some equally memorable quotes.

In fact, CM Punk is so quotable that rapper Papoose recently made a song filled with bits from his entertaining sermons.

2. Classy Freddie Blassie

Freddie Blassie's likeness is ingrained in WWE's opening vignette and his iconic "Listen, you pencil-headed geeks" catchphrase was also the title of his autobiography from 2003.

3. Hulk Hogan

It doesn't get much more quotable than the Hulkster, who seemed to immortalize everything that came out of his mouth.  Hogan's promos weren't exactly the most original, but what they lacked in originality they more than made up for in terms of being quote worthy.

4. The Rock

The Rock is the epitome of quotable as he has more catchphrases than world title reigns. 

Rock's own unique brand of charisma and delivery made for some of the greatest promos and one-liners that the WWE fans have ever had the pleasure of hearing.  

5. Stone Cold Steve Austin

Steve Austin is arguably the greatest WWE superstar of all time and much of his greatness is due in part to his pristine talking ability. 

One of Austin's more memorable lines, one that I'm sure Vince McMahon and co. would like to have back, was but one word-—"What?"

6. Bobby Heenan

Bobby "the Brain" Heenan amassed quite possibly the greatest talking career in history.  With all of his merits coming by way of the mic, and thereby gaining heat for the multitude of wrestlers he managed, Heenan was a great talker who seemed to produce a quote a minute. 

7. Vince McMahon

From "You're fired" to "I want a divorce," McMahon always had a talent for making an unforgettable soundbite equipped with his signature gravely and menacing voice.

McMahon's authoritative figure character has definitely lost its edge since its heyday, but McMahon's ability on the microphone has remained relatively sharp throughout the years.

8. Jim Ross

Jim Ross's popular catchphrases has been heavily neutered as of late by a quasi-lead announcer with half as talented, and at the behest of a 66-year old chairman. 

However Ross's signature phrases of "slobberknocker" and "business is about to pick up" are synonymous with the greatest announcing that WWE has ever had the audacity to take for granted.

9. Sgt. Slaughter

Sgt. Slaughter ran wild with his gimmick and made it into a very entertaining character.  Like many quotable wrestlers, Slaugher's unmistakable voice helped him author many great quotes that were punctuated by the use of the term "maggot."

10. Paul Heyman

Paul Heyman is almost too creative, as wrestling's "other" genius is pure gold every time he is in a speaking capacity.  As a man who helped make Brock Lesnar, his hard sell of the former wrestling phenom as "the next big thing"

11. Iron Sheik

Sure, it's difficult to understand or decipher half of what comes out of the Iron Sheik's mouth, but that's why there's Twitter and Sheik's tweets are second to none in terms of entertainment value. 

12. "Macho Man" Randy Savage

The Randy Savage's easy-to-imitate voice made every Macho Man promo ready made to be mimicked.  The late legend's likeness was further immortalized through Jay Lethal, whose Black Machismo gimmick was designed to pay tribute to the former multiple time world champion.

13. Santino Marella

It's tough to remember the last time Santino Marella said anything that wasn't quotable. Marella's brilliant use/exploitation of the Alliance culture as an entertainment tool is something that those Jersey Shore kids could learn from.

14. John Bradshaw Layfield

John Bradshaw Layfield was all about the money, and he was a walking "money" promo later on in his career once he adopted the millionaire tycoon gimmick. 

Bradshaw's "wrestling God" catchphrase was a nice compliment to many of Bradshaw's outstanding promos as they further incited anger within fans during his year long run as WWE Champion.

15. "Ravishing" Rick Rude

"Ravishing" Rick Rude is among the best talkers in history, so it's more than fitting that the most common line he used was "cut the music". 

Rude's incredible command of the microphone and live crowds lead to him quickly becoming a top heel no matter what company he was working for.

16. R-Truth

R-Truth seems to come up with a new quotable catch phrase every minute.  Here's a quick list within a list:

Top five R-Truth quotes:
5. "Don't be booing me, you should be booing yourselves!"
4. "C-O-N...SPIRACY!"
3. "I'm a good R-Truth!"
2. "All y'all Lil Jimmies!"
1. "Someone's gonna get GOT!"

17. Mick Foley

Mick Foley's psychologically stimulating promos were good no matter what gimmick he was portraying.  Foley was the man who gave us the term "testicular fortitude," yet he will always be remembered for his rather child-like, innocent sign off line of "Have of a nice day!"

18. Dusty Rhodes

Dusty Rhodes was and still is a promo cutting machine. The American Dream always had something on his mind, and the passion in which he cut his promos quickly became his calling card. 

Rhodes' most quotable lines centered around "dining with Kings and Queens," and he was never shy about adding some punch to his promos with generous use of words like "baby."

19. Ric Flair

Ric Flair coined many phrases that are still used in pro wrestling.  Yet it was the rather simplistic "Woo!"  that took Flair from being a Buddy Rogers knockoff to quite possibly the greatest that this business has ever seen.

20. John Cena

John Cena is rather standard in what he does on the mic, but he's always interesting and is on a very high level in terms of his skills on the microphone. 

Cena is known for announcing one of his many championship reigns with the battle cry of "the champ is here!" and of course his signature line of "You can't see me!"

21. Chris Jericho

Chris Jericho has constantly reinvented himself throughout his career and will likely continue to do so if and when he returns to the WWE. 

Jericho is one of the all time greats as evidenced by his own insistence that he is the best in the world at what he does. 

22. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper always had a new quote in the chamber like he was carrying an armed weapon filled with talking bullets. 

Piper's eccentric personality added an air of unpredictability to every segment he was involved in, and just when you thought you had the answers, he changed the questions.

23. Jesse Ventura

Jesse Ventura is another one of those classic wrestlers who fall into the category of having a unique voice that added to his delivery, thus making his quotes that much more memorable. 

In present day, many of Ventura's quotes are at the center of ridicule as he has virtually reinvented himself as a conspiracy theorist. 

24. Zack Ryder

In a few short months, Zack Ryder has gone from a jobber to a cult quote sensation.  Ryder's capitalization on the Jerseymania craze has lead to him being featured more prominently on WWE TV through the success of his Internet show "Z! True Long Island Story."

25. The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase

Perhaps the greatest WWE star never to win a WWE Championship, DiBiase was so quotable that a series of his greedy and cynical philosophies could be heard throughout his theme music. DiBiase's signature soundbite wasn't even a phrase, but rather his menacing laugh.

26. Boogie Woogie Man

Jimmy Valiant's promos were filled with life and enthusiasm, and you knew you were listening to a Boogie Woogie Man promo once Valiant referred to his fanbase as "brothas and sistas."

27. Jim Cornette

Jim Cornette's high-pitched, fast-talking style was built for a heel manager. Cornette's influence on the independent wrestling scene is profound as he was instrumental in the success of the legendary Midnight Express tag team(s). 

28. Jerry Lawler

Much of Jerry Lawler's success as the King of Memphis and a hall of fame wrestler was his ability to talk people into a building. 

Lawler was always proficient at inciting crowds to the point of a riot from the territory days, to the days of his invasion storyline in ECW. 

29. Lou Albano

Captain Lou's abilities on the mic are what made him into a great manager of many wrestlers. A borderline crazed wrestling personality, Lou Albano could easily be considered underrated as one of the all-time great wrestling managers.

30. Gorilla Monsoon

Some may not have felt that Monsoon was one of the greatest pro wrestling commentators, but his voice acts as a soundtrack to some of the most iconic wrestling moments in history. 

Monsoon's call of the "unstoppable force meeting the immovable object" during Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant's clash at WrestleMania III gave significant life to a match that already had plenty of it.

31. Scott Hall

Whether he was Scott Hall or Razor Ramon, Hall's slow-talking style of promo was always something to behold. Hall's opening line of "Hey yo" became a phenomenon in and of itself, and his weekly surveys were very popular during the Monday Night War era.

32. "Super Star" Billy Graham

"Superstar" Billy Graham basically laid out the blueprint for what would eventually become Hulk Hogan.  Graham had a propensity to rhyme during his promos, and had charisma to give away.

As the original "superstar," it's no wonder he was one of the better talkers in sports and entertainment.

33. The Miz

The Miz has already done enough to be deemed quotable—hell, the man has made enough media appearances to produce a library of soundbites to choose from. 

Miz's "awesome" catchphrase helped propel him to unlikely heights in the WWE as he spent the opening months of 2011 as WWE Champion. 

34. The Ultimate Warrior

The Ultimate Warrior is quotable for all the wrong reasons. If one can watch one of his infamous and legendary rants and decipher what it is he's trying to say, he certainly deserves mention on this list—for better or worse.

35. Raven

Raven's method of delivering promos was not always orthodox, but it worked. Raven was often poetry in motion with some of the deep, psychological promos he used to cut, and would cap them off with a quote of his own—"Quote the Raven, nevermore."

36. Triple H

Triple H seemed to be in his quotable prime earlier in his career with lines such as "I'm that damn good" and "I am the game!" 

He has since settled into an on-air character role, and while the position still lends itself to moments of quotable bliss, something tells me Triple H's best quotes are behind him. 

37. Michael Hayes

Michael Hayes has always been fun to listen to, given his animated and impassioned style of cutting promos. 

Unfortunately, the freebird's most infamous quote cost him some very valuable employee stock options. 

38. Paul Bearer

Paul Bearer's high-pitched voice went hand in hand with the Undertaker's character for years. 

It was Bearer who helped put the Undertaker on the map as a top flight character and a staple of WWE, and without many of his unique antics, there may have been no Undertaker. 

39. Scott Steiner

Many don't give Steiner his just due as a formidable worker (in his day) or a solid talker. 

While Steiner has been known to stumble upon a promo or two, he has shelled out a handful of solid lines from "genetic freak" to "Big Poppa Pump is your hookup!"

40. Kurt Angle

In 1998, Kurt Angle entered the WWE like a house fire and he was equipped with one of the most beautiful annoying phrases in WWE—his three I's of intensity, integrity, and intelligence.  

41. Undertaker

The Undertaker is usually a man of few words in his natural state, yet it was three words that helped pull the character together: "Rest in peace."

42. Vickie Guerrero

Never one to be outdone, Vickie Guerrero put herself into the quotable hall of fame in just two words: "Excuse me!"

43. Booker T

Booker T has had a handful of great quotes throughout his wrestling career, especially during his days as King Booker. 

However, he has slowly developed a mini-vault of signature phrases while unmercifully doing commentary on SmackDown. 

44. Jimmy Hart

As one of the greatest managers of all time, if you couldn't hear any of Jimmy Hart's wonderful lines, you may be deaf—dude shouted most of them into a megaphone.

45. "Mean" Gene Okerlund

"Mean" Gene was usually the one holding the microphone while great quotes were bestowed upon him, however his smooth, signature voice, that remains relatively unchanged today, was the heart of Mean Gene's popular hotline during the 90s. 

Worked or not, Mean Gene Okerlund was the original dirt sheet.  

46. "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan

Jim Duggan is a no-brainer on this list based on his "Hoooo!" battlecry alone. 

47. Jimmy Garvin

Jimmy Garvin drew similarities to wrestlers like Dusty Rhodes and Jimmy Valiant as he was a very high energy promo guy. 

Through such energy, Garvin was able to inject a series of phrases that were as animated as they were quotable. 

48. Matt Striker

Matt Striker went from a strong announcer on ECW to an annoying caricature in a more high profile role on SmackDown and pay-per-views.

Striker's enhanced vocabulary lead to many fun quotes, but he was eventually pulled from his announcer's gig as there wasn't enough room for both his and Michael Cole's detrimental egos.

49. "Road Dogg" Jesse James

Jessie James's most famous line opened his theme music in WWE and he talked all the way down the aisle. 

Given his unusual amount of microphone time prior to a match, there's no way he couldn't be considered quotable.

50. Michael Cole

Michael Cole has been highly quotable through his career as the underwhelming heir apparent to Jim Ross whose career as RAW's new lead announcer has coincided with eroded ratings on a year to year bases. 

Cole was most productive as a heel leading into WrestleMania XXVII, where he borrowed from Vickie Guerrero's heat mechanism with use of the words "May I have your attention please."

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