Logan Paul humored fans during a WWE Smackdown when he recreated TikTok’s viral “hawk tuah” to taunt his opponent mid-match.
The “hawk tuah” catchphrase has taken over the internet since the original clip became a sensation on TikTok, with the girl behind the mantra, Hailey Welch, already making a massive profit in merch sales.
Now, “hawk tuah” is making its way into the sporting world – most notably, WWE. Professional wrestler and Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan has already recreated the viral moment, and now Logan Paul has joined in too.
During his match against LA Knight and Santos Escobar on June 28 WWE Smackdown, Paul took a moment to taunt his opponents with the popular catchphrase.
A clip from the match shared on X (formerly Twitter) by ‘wrestlelamia‘ showed Paul sitting in the ring with both LA Knight and Santos Escobar lying on either side of him.
Looking fired up as a referee stepped in, Paul pretended to spit while recreating the viral meme, “hawk tauh” only just audible over the commentary.
The moment has already been turned into a GIF on X, with viewers and fans alike sharing their amusement over Paul’s taunt.
“He actually did it [oh my God] hahah,” one person wrote. Another said, “This guy is slowly becoming a legend in the ring.”
However, not everyone was impressed by Paul: “He’s so irrelevant that he needs to use other people’s popularity to build his own backup.”
Others expressed confusion over why anyone would be “offended” or “surprised” by his recreation, pointing out it made sense for the “internet superstar wrestler” to reference “the most popular internet meme right now” as a joke.
WWE has allegedly reached out to Welch and her merch partner, Jason Poteete, which may also explain why Paul included the catchphrase in his match.
Despite Paul having seemingly had the upper hand during his taunt, his rival LA Knight ultimately emerged victorious and qualified for the Money in the Bank ladder match on July 6.