Original subtitles

The absolute best part about being here

in Sacramento is in about an hour and a half

The Rock is going to leave Sacramento.

There's nothing quite

like the proverbial mic drop.

That I will never retire.

Woo.

Every WWE superstar has a voice-

Check it out.

and every one of them wants to make

a lasting impression.

Did you expect somebody else?

The 2000s gave us some of the most

memorable verbal jabs that left

the WWE Universe speechless.

What you got is my ideas, and you stole my life,

my money, my legacy.

Today, we look back of some of the biggest mic drop

moments of the 2000s.

This is WWE's Greatest Moments.

- Woo. - Woo.

Enough, enough.

If you smell-

Oh, my God.

What the hell are you doing?

Absolutely unbelievable.

Hulkamania is here.

Welcome, everyone, to WWE's Greatest Moments.

I'm Michael Cole, and on this edition, we're looking back at

some of the wildest mic drop moments of the 2000s.

Ain't no way that I'm going to lose

to that King Kong rip-off.

That's like Gary Coleman beating Patrick Ewing in a tip-off.

You're probably wondering

what our first moment is.

What else could we start with than paying homage

to WWE Hall of Famer "Stone Cold" Steve Austin?

Give me a hell yeah.

Throughout the Attitude Era,

whatever Stone Cold did every week

raised hell and brought audiences to their feet,

and that included his litany of catchphrases.

And that's the bottom line because Stone Cold said so.

What could be better than when the Texas Rattlesnake

got under his opponent's skin?

And in 2001, he was able to do so with just one simple word-

term-

expression.

Here comes "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

This one I remember.

It was in a promo with, I believe, The Alliance.

Your name is Hugh Morris.

What?

Your name is Hugh Morris.

What?

And I was just saying "What?"

all over him, and, uh, I was doing it to be a jackass.

You're an announcer.

What?

Did you say something?

The way Steve played it off, the way Tazz played it off,

and then from then on the way everyone else played it off.

What?

What?

What?

What?

What?

Shut up.

And Austin was so good at finding different ways to,

whenever someone said, "What?", he'd be like, this, this, this.

I looked down at my waist and I said,

"Do you see that?"

He said, "What?"

I said, "Do you see that?"

That's what he said.

He said, "What?"

It's just one of those things that rode the lightning bolt

as it happened.

I was just watching it unfold.

I'm-

What?

What?

What?

To this day, used, because it's so simple,

maybe the greatest catchphrase of all time.

Even if it is a catchphrase, it's just a word.

What?

D-Generation X was often called the most

controversial group in WWE history.

We are the D-Generation X.

You make your rules and we will break them.

We got two words for ya.

With the WWE Universe all in on the fun,

DX would make WWE true must-see television.

I barred DX from this arena tonight.

Hunter, it's Vince's production truck.

The whole show is controlled from in here.

We were just going out there and kind of being idiots.

Now they're in my television production unit.

I will not have that.

Which button did he tell you not to push?

No, no.

That- That one.

Push it.

No.

So, therefore,

I'm gonna

And just driving Vince McMahon crazy.

I'm gonna take care of DX, I can guarantee you that.

No one ever is going to--

It's off the cuff.

It's- it's let's just go create.

Let's go knock this out of the park, and that's what they did.

All of you people think this is funny.

To be able to go into that

at that point in our careers and just be funny,

or at least what we thought was funny, that was a blast.

I cannot believe that Mr. McMahon

has lost complete control of his own show.

In 2005, Edge was one of the top villains in WWE.

In life, there's winners and there's losers.

Me, I'm a winner.

He continued his road of controversy when he

began dating Lita, igniting an extremely personal rivalry with

Lita's ex, Matt Hardy.

You bastard, I'm going to make

your life miserable.

And The Rated-R Superstar

had quite the volatile reaction.

I saw your promo last week, Matt,

and I think it was pathetic.

It was absolutely pathetic.

After all the months of dragging our names through the mud,

our personal lives out there for everyone to see, and that's all

you can muster up from your stomach, from your guts.

Instead of going into a shell, I got to be a man here,

I got to step up, I got to set my shoulders,

pick my head up, and go.

My hands are shaking, and it's from hate.

It's a real emotion, Matt.

You can just tell when Edge's hands are shaking,

like, he's not cutting a promo that he rehearsed all day.

This was real life.

This is passion.

This is intensity.

This is real.

The comments were real personal.

And this is why Lita left you for me.

If we would have probably been in the same room

at that time, we'd have been in a fight.

You're in the main event picture now, and why?

Because your girlfriend fell in love with a main eventer.

And if the only positive that can come from that is that I am

the most despised guy in this industry, I'm going to use it,

and I'm going to get to the top.

Now, I know that cuts close to the bone.

I know it does, and I know it hurts.

The truth usually does.

I am The Game, JR.

Since declaring himself The Game,

Triple H has certainly been a cerebral assassin on the mic.

I do what I want to do when I want to do it.

It's hard to be humble when you're this good.

And after losing the World Heavyweight Championship

to Batista, an irate Triple H showed what a verbal

assassin he could be.

Last night at WrestleMania,

I lost the World Heavyweight Championship.

One of the things that makes Triple H

so great on the mic is his feel

the grr come through, like, this guy's pissed.

But for anybody that thinks this is the beginning

of a new era, you are wrong.

That anger, that hatred inside of you will burn,

and you'll be able to put that out there

and you'll make people buy into that.

That championship belt gravitates towards greatness.

That means it will come back to me.

He knows how to control his emotions,

but he couldn't in this promo, and you could tell.

Like, whoever is going to mess with Triple H now is going to

get a sledgehammer to the skull.

I will come back here and I will jam that championship

belt down each and every one of your throats.

One of the most popular women

superstars of all time would have to be WWE Hall of Famer,

Lita.

She's the Queen of Extreme.

Lita's high-flying maneuvers and authenticity

made her a fan favorite for many years.

Tremendous ovation for Lita.

But in 2006, the fiery redhead

showed a new side to her.

Oh, right in the face.

Come on.

Your winner and still WWE Women's Champion, Lita.

In November of that year, Lita went off on the WWE

Universe, saying she felt underappreciated for all her

contributions, and made a shocking announcement.

You people seem to forget.

You have a very short memory,

forgetting who I am and what I've done.

At the end of 2006, I come out total heel

and do what needed to be done.

Getting verbally berated by you idiots every week.

Seeing her be rude to fans was really,

for me, like heartbreaking.

All the sacrifices I made.

Sometimes talent reaches a point

where they feel like they haven't

been given their flowers yet.

Lita had definitely reached that point.

I revolutionized women's roles in the WWE.

It might have came across as bitter,

but she was telling the truth.

Like, she set the standard.

So you're gonna make my job real easy,

because Survivor Series is my last match.

What?

Last match?

And then I'm walking away from all you people.

Lita wouldn't be on the list, like, the top 10 promo

cutters of all time.

But when it's real, and you feel it, and it's from your gut and

your heart, it speaks for itself.

I'm going to retire the greatest Women's Champion

of all time.

In 2009, "The Greatest of All Time" John Cena

was at the top of his game as WWE Champion.

I have earned the right to say the champ is here.

But on the mic, gave his rivals

quite the Attitude Adjustment.

If you want a shot at this championship,

you lace your boots up real tight, and you work for it.

Including number one contender at the time, Sheamus.

Now standing before me is Sheamus,

demanding that I take him seriously.

I suggested to have a match with Sheamus,

and Sheamus was really early on in his career,

and I remember how promising Sheamus was.

I stand before you a champion because I never have given up.

I stand before you a champion because I have earned it.

I stand before you a champion because everyone in this arena,

because everyone watching at home, whether they like me or

they don't like me, know that this is my life,

this is my passion, this is all I got.

The beautiful thing about me saying that

is I knew where I wanted to go.

I have gone toe-to-toe with the meanest, the baddest, and the

toughest, and every single one has been compromised.

When Cena speaks, it's just authentic.

It's real.

This guy eats, sleeps, and breathes WWE.

You sign that paper, you go to war with me.

You better be ready to make a statement.

I have tremendous passion for this.

If I get passionate about something,

you're going to have to stop me.

Paul Heyman has been known as an advocate,

a wise man, and one of the greatest orators

in WWE history.

Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Paul Heyman.

But in the 1990s, Heyman was the mastermind behind

Extreme Championship Wrestling.

This is ECW.

In 2001, ECW closed its doors for good.

Hey, network, I dare you to throw me off the air.

Or so we thought.

Just four years later, ECW was alive again for one night only,

and with some anti-ECW crusaders from Raw and SmackDown in

attendance, Paul Heyman addressed the ECW faithful

with the whole world watching.

I was going to take the high road

and just say thank you and leave,

but I have something to say to you.

ECW could prove its superiority against the multi-billion-dollar

publicly traded global conglomerate

with the ECW crowd living vicariously through my promo.

You are in our house, bitch.

ECW represented the real wrestling to a lot of people.

When Paul did that promo, it was echoing everything they felt,

and Paul did a masterful job with it.

I almost forgot about you.

We were the bad guys.

These fans actually now get to see the people

that they hate in person.

The only reason you were WWE Champion for a year

is because Triple H didn't want to work Tuesdays.

You ask anyone that was in the audience that night,

it was just magic from the get-go.

This is EC W.

Perhaps nobody electrifies with a microphone

quite like The Rock.

Two plus two?

Thomas Jefferson, sucka.

Bend over.

Get your monkey out of The Rock's picture.

But in 2000, The Rock was set to face

five other superstars.

The Rock took the opportunity to dress down each and every one

of his opponents in a way only The Rock can.

Finally, The Rock has come back to New Jersey.

I was so focused on moving the crowd.

That's all I wanted to do every single night.

The Rock knows he's got five other guys he's got to compete

with, and even if The Rock has got to beat Kurt Angle,

which means I'm going to drink a big glass of milk.

Or maybe The Rock is going to face Rikishi.

I did it for The Rock.

I did it-- I d-- Oh, shut your mouth, you thong-wearing fatty.

It was just so simple, just so funny.

Or maybe even The Rock has got to beat

The Undertaker.

Rest in peace.

Rock's imitating everyone?

Yeah, I thought it was funny until he did me.

He had a rare gift, man.

Or maybe The Rock has got to beat Triple H himself,

which means, uh, he's got to beat The Game, uh.

Rock had impeccable comedy timing

that just made you laugh out loud.

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

I got to get in my pickup truck, drink some Steve Wisers,

listen to some Backstreet Boys, and that's the bottom line,

'cause the Great One said so.

Just entertaining so many people by talking trash.

If you smell what The Rock is cooking.

The hardcore legend, Mick Foley,

has always been a bit unpredictable.

And the only hope is Mankind's love for humanity,

and I assure you, I have none.

And what I am is one bad son of a bitch.

And in 2004, Mrs. Foley's baby boy found himself

in the crosshairs of a young up-and-coming legend killer

named Randy Orton.

It's been said many times that you never,

never forget your first.

I'd been the guy on the defensive

week after week after week.

I did inhumane things, but it wasn't the moves,

it wasn't the tacks that caught my eye, it was my eyes.

So, I thought, once in a while,

I should be able to put that fear of Foley into him.

Say hello to my friend, Barbie.

Up until that point, he hadn't seemed, like,

a real threat.

Barbie is going to get sunk into your skull,

and I'm going to carve caverns of gore into your virgin flesh.

Mick cutting that promo was all about recapturing

himself and making people realize like,

"Oh, now Randy Orton's in trouble."

Randy Orton, I'm going to tear you apart.

I'm going to take Barbie, and I'm going to you up.

I'm going to take Barbie, and--

Now I'd found that monster within me.

I'm going to rip, I'm going to tear, I am going to gorge.

I'm going to possibly disembowel.

And I'm going to- love it.

It is now time for our number one moment.

Shawn Michaels captivated audiences worldwide

with the spoken word.

I will give you a show like you have never,

ever seen before.

Why?

Because I can.

Whether it be out here or back there,

Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels loathe one another.

At Survivor Series 1997, in Montreal, Canada,

Shawn Michaels played a major part in screwing Canadian legend

Bret "The Hitman" Hart out of the WWE Championship.

You talk about controversy,

this crowd is livid.

In 2005, The Showstopper returned

to Montreal and, for the first time since Survivor Series 1997,

stood in front of a hostile Canadian crowd.

Who's your daddy, Montreal?

I couldn't remember the last time I was in Montreal,

but it was clearly the first time in a while,

and it was just electric as hell.

♪ Oh, Canada.

How I hate this place ♪

It would have been foolish to pretend not

everyone in that arena wanted to kill him at this point.

You could kind of let that get to you and play with your head,

or you could just lean into it like he did and just use it

for everything you have.

You're not going to get Bret because I screwed Bret.

Because Bret "The Hitman--"

And then, eventually, Bret's music hit,

which made people go insane.

What's going on here?

Uh-oh.

Got your hopes up just a little bit, didn't I?

To be able to take people on this journey

that they feel like they're on, and then take a hard turn,

that's professional wrestling in a nutshell, honestly.

You Canucks are not the sharpest knives in the drawer.

This is money.

I just started going off.

You're one move from your star being snuffed out.

You don't believe me?

Just ask Bret "The Hitman" Hart.

It's clear that when a WWE superstar is holding

a microphone in their hands,

there is no telling what will come of it.

That'll do it for this edition of WWE's Greatest Moments.

I hope you've enjoyed this look back at some of the biggest mic

drop moments of the 2000s.