Vince Russo has had enough of wrestling fans calling every loud crowd reaction a “pop.” The former WWE writer went off on fans for what he believes is the completely wrong use of the term, and he gave a pretty wild explanation for where “pop” supposedly came from in the first place.
Speaking on The Coach & Bro Show, Russo used Roman Reigns as his example. According to Russo, a crowd going crazy when Reigns walks through the curtain isn’t technically a pop at all — it’s simply an immediate reaction.
“Me talking about the damn use of the word ‘pop’ by the marks. So let me educate you guys to make you understand what a pop is. Because when Roman Reigns comes out, bro, that’s not a pop — it’s a reaction.”
Russo said the way wrestlers traditionally used the term was completely different. In his telling, the entire idea was about deliberately building a match or storyline toward one huge reaction.
“The origin of ‘pop’ and how that word was used within the boys — because the boys would say, ‘We build to the pop.’”
That’s where Russo’s explanation took a very NSFW turn. He claimed the wrestling term came from the phrase “pop a nut,” comparing the structure of building toward a major wrestling reaction to building toward a sexual climax.
“Okay, here’s where that came from. There’s a term that we use as men called ‘pop a nut.’ And ladies and gentlemen, what ‘pop a nut’ means is when you are having sex with a woman, okay? And you are saying, ‘I’m coming, I’m coming,’ and then you pop the nut — then you come.”
Russo wasn’t finished with the comparison either. He argued that the key part is the buildup, because that’s what separates what he considers a real wrestling pop from an instantaneous crowd reaction.
“So you’re building and building towards that moment of ejaculation, and then you pop the nut. That’s where the term ‘pop’ came from. You build towards the pop.”
To give a wrestling example, Russo pointed toward the classic hot-tag formula. The babyface gets beaten down, repeatedly comes close to reaching their partner and finally makes the tag after several failed attempts, giving the crowd the payoff it has been waiting for.
“You build — think about a hot tag. Think about back in the day, the babyface is in trouble, he’s getting his ass kicked, he goes to the corner, they pull him back. Finally, after three attempts — the hot tag, the house pops!”
That’s Russo’s problem with fans using the same word for somebody simply receiving a huge entrance reaction. He insists a traditional “pop” needs to have something building toward it rather than happening the second someone’s music hits.
“That is where it comes from, guys. That’s where the pop in wrestling comes from. You build towards the pop.”
Russo then directly called out fans for what he sees as the term being thrown around incorrectly. As far as he’s concerned, entrances can get enormous reactions, but that still doesn’t make them pops under his definition.
“What you guys are talking about are instantaneous reactions. That is not the definition of a pop in wrestling. An entrance is not a pop! That is a reaction.”
He wrapped things up by asking fans to stop “bastardizing” the word. Russo also admitted he doesn’t know exactly when wrestling fans started using “pop” to describe entrance reactions in the first place.
“A pop, like a climax, is built to — for the pop. So can we stop bastardizing that word and using a word that we have no freaking idea what the hell that word means? I don’t know when ‘pop’ was equated to an entrance.”
Whether wrestling fans are going to suddenly change decades of vocabulary because Russo told them to is another story entirely. Still, he certainly isn’t leaving anyone confused about what he thinks counts as a real “pop” — or about the very NSFW origin he believes is behind the term.
What do you think about Vince Russo claiming wrestling fans have been using the word “pop” completely wrong? Let us know in the comments below.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
