The youngest men alive
Let's take a break and laugh at some funny stuff in wrestling.
Each promo ends with the same catchphrase.
"If you haven't seen the Outrunners, you haven't seen nothing yet."
As with many entertaining wrestling catchphrases and signoffs, it is nonsense by design. In this case, it's from the tag team that is made up of two men fully committed to the bit of 80's wrestling. They go by Truth Magnum and Turbo Floyd.
Among their many claims to fame and glory, they have dubbed themselves the youngest men alive.
In my only newsletter during the surreal haze that was last week, I encouraged people to treat themselves to an Outrunners YouTube wormhole. Then I said that we could come back here and talk about it. So, let's talk about the Outrunners and some other funny wrestling stuff.
In today's Kanefabe newsletter
It's all about laughing today. Let's take a little tour of some silly things in professional wrestling and enjoy the distraction.
I'm glad you're here. On we go.
That hurt a whole lot
"If you're anything like me. And I know I am."
That's how Truth Magnum starts this one-minute interview.
That's just one of the moments that makes me laugh in this short video. My favorite comes when a hyped-up Turbo hands things over to his pal Truth with a smack to the chest.
"I gotta tell you one thing, Truth Magnum, that hurt a WHOLE LOT, but not as bad as the hurting that we put on those guys out there."
That's followed by Turbo explaining that the Outrunners aren't covered in sweat after their match. It's sports gloss.
Here's how I know that the Outrunners have a lot of good one-liners. I've made this far without mentioning their amazing mustaches. Which, for anyone who knows me, is one of my beats here at Kanefabe.
Prince Nana
Here's one for you. Swerve Strickland is one of the biggest stars in all of wrestling. There's nothing he doesn't do well. Swerve has great matches. He delivers compelling interviews. In the obvious, on-the-nose parlance of pro wrestling, he is one of All Elite Wrestling's top guys.
In a component of his presentation that pre-dates his rise to the very top, Swerve Strickland has a manager named Prince Nana. The idea behind Nana's character is that he backs wrestlers financially. As explained by his Wikipedia:
"In storylines, Nana used his wealth gained from the taxes of people of Ghana to hire wrestlers to wrestle his opponents and rivals."
The origins of that character date back to 2002. The thread carried all the way through to Nana's management of various stables over the last couple years, namely "The Embassy" and then "The Mogul Embassy."
Let's cut to the point here: the idea was that Nana was a heel manager. But then, such as these things go in pro wrestling, Swerve emerged as a top babyface. Now Nana is managing a good guy, so he's a good guy.
As if all of that weren't silly enough, let me now share a video clip of Prince Nana accompanying Swerve to the ring while he makes his entrance.
Even as Swerve has engaged in some serious programs, Nana's dancing has been a consistent source of joy in AEW. If you need a chuckle sometime, just go to YouTube and search for "Prince Nana dancing."
Lumberjack matches
Here's the basic idea behind a lumberjack match. If either of the wrestlers competing leaves the ring for the floor area below, they are met by a group of "lumberjacks." These wrestlers are tasked with putting that person back in the ring, usually with some shots delivered in the process.
But we're not here to dig into the stipulation of a lumberjack match. We're here to talk about the funny outfits that wrestlers wear when they're assigned to be the lumberjacks.
In general, you know a wrestler gets it when they actually dress like a lumberjack: a flannel shirt, jeans, a beanie, and so on. With that in mind, let me show you Juice Robinson's lumberjack outfit. Because he took things to another level.
The famous catchphrases
I spent my youth reacting with glee every time the Rock reeled off his many catchphrases. For our purposes here, think about the one that starts his entrance music and ends most of his promos.
"If ya smelllllllll. What the Rock. Is. Cooking."
What? Are we missing the second half of the clause? What happens if I do smell it? What if I don't? Is it supposed to smell good?
It makes no sense. Is there anyone besides Dwayne Johnson that could have ever pulled this off?
Speaking of charisma carrying a nonsense catchphrase to great heights, John Cena will still be waving his hand in front of his face and offering up this gem during his retirement tour next year: "you can't see me."
That one started because Cena thought it was ridiculous in the first place. Which it is. Which is why it is great.
It's the little things
The humorous little details around the edges of professional wrestling add up to provide a lot of entertainment. In any given show, those subtle jokes and silly moments are often my favorite moments.
Hopefully you got a chuckle at a few of them today.
