The phrase ready to rumble became famous in boxing through ring announcer Michael Buffer, whose let's get ready to rumble call opened major fights from the 1980s onward. It later crossed into wrestling, the 1999 arcade boxing game Ready 2 Rumble Boxing, and wider pop culture as shorthand for a contest starting. Online, the short clip survived as a reusable hype sound for gaming intros, memes and sports edits, because its meaning is clear even without any visual context or explanation.