The clip is associated with Vince McMahon, the longtime WWE and former WWF promoter and on-screen authority figure, whose exaggerated, villainous persona made his put-downs a natural source for wrestling memes. Short, quotable lines from his promos have long circulated among wrestling fans, who reuse them to mock heels, rivals and bad decisions. Rotten bastards fits that pattern because it is short, insulting and delivered with unmistakable contempt. It continues to appear in wrestling edits, reaction videos and meme compilations because it instantly frames someone as the bad guy.