To be the man, you gotta beat the man

E1041101

"To be the man, you gotta beat the man" is a famous professional wrestling catchphrase popularized by Ric Flair, expressing that one must defeat the top competitor to become the best.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
To be the man, you gotta beat the man canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf catchphrase ⓘ
professional wrestling catchphrase ⓘ
quotation ⓘ
associatedConcept number one contender ⓘ
title defense ⓘ
world champion ⓘ
associatedWith "The Nature Boy" persona of Ric Flair ⓘ
linked to: Ric Flair

NWA World Heavyweight Championship ⓘ
Ric Flair ⓘ
WCW World Heavyweight Championship ⓘ
WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair ⓘ
linked to: Ric Flair
audience professional wrestling fans ⓘ
category pop culture quote ⓘ
sports quote ⓘ
culturalImpact used as a metaphor for defeating the top performer in any field ⓘ
widely quoted beyond wrestling ⓘ
firstPersonInQuote "the man" ⓘ
genre professional wrestling ⓘ
hasCondition defeating the reigning top competitor ⓘ
hasForm colloquial speech ⓘ
hasSubject status as "the man" ⓘ
language English ⓘ
meaning one must defeat the top competitor to be recognized as the best ⓘ
medium live wrestling events ⓘ
televised wrestling promos ⓘ
notableUseBy Ric Flair ⓘ
notableWord "beat" ⓘ
"man" ⓘ
originContext Ric Flair championship promos ⓘ
linked to: Ric Flair
popularizedBy Ric Flair ⓘ
register informal ⓘ
rhetoricalDevice boast ⓘ
challenge ⓘ
taunt ⓘ
structure conditional statement ⓘ
theme championship status ⓘ
competition ⓘ
supremacy ⓘ
tone confident ⓘ
confrontational ⓘ
usedAs motivational phrase ⓘ
slogan in sports contexts ⓘ
usedIn National Wrestling Alliance ⓘ
World Championship Wrestling ⓘ
World Wrestling Federation ⓘ
professional wrestling promos ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Four Horsemen (professional wrestling stable) → catchphrase → To be the man, you gotta beat the man ⓘ