Myles Borne has offered a pointed, good-humored response to the “What?” chants directed at him during a recent NXT promo: they were not going to get his attention.
Borne, who is deaf, said he only discovered the chants after revisiting the segment with closed captions. The reaction came as Borne continues to show a more antagonistic side following his turn on Tavion Heights, a development that has brought louder boos from the NXT audience whenever he appears at the WWE Performance Center.
For many wrestlers, the long-running “What?” chant can be an interruption that changes the cadence of a promo. In Borne’s case, however, it carried an obvious difference. He could not hear the crowd during the segment, and he made clear that the fans would need considerably more volume if their goal was to distract him in the moment.
“The only reason I knew there was a ‘What?’ chant is that when I watched it back, there was closed caption, so I was able to pick up on it,” Borne said. “To me, it just shows me…you’re really doing ‘What?’ chants to a guy that can’t hear? You’re wasting your energy. You have to be a lot louder than that if you want to try and get my attention.”
For more background on this topic, read Kalisto Calls Ryback a ‘Sweetheart’ While Reflecting on WWE United States Title Feud.
Rather than taking offense, Borne described the situation as amusing. He acknowledged that the audience knows his circumstances and still chose to chant, then encouraged them to continue if that is how they want to react to him.
“I think it’s funny. They know the situation, and yet they are sitting there yelling. Keep saying, ‘What?’ I love it. Once I watched it back and saw what they are saying, great, I appreciate it.”
Borne’s New Attitude Has Changed the NXT Crowd’s Response
The chants are part of a broader shift in Borne’s presentation. Since turning on Heights, Borne has received boos in place of the support that had surrounded him before the split. His comments demonstrate that he is willing to use the crowd response as part of his developing on-screen persona, while also placing the unusual nature of the chant in context.
The “What?” chant has remained one of WWE’s most recognizable audience traditions for more than two decades. Fans often use it between pauses in an interview or promo, sometimes in a way that becomes a direct challenge to a performer trying to control the room. It can be playful, hostile, or simply habitual depending on the setting. Borne’s situation made this particular instance stand out, because the chant could only affect him after the fact, when he reviewed the footage with captions.
That distinction is central to Borne’s response. He did not portray the chant as something that rattled him or derailed his message. Instead, he turned it back toward the audience by noting the effort involved in shouting at someone who cannot hear them. In storyline terms, it is a confident answer from a wrestler now embracing a harsher edge. Outside of the storyline, it also highlights the practical way Borne accesses the spoken portions of a segment once it has aired.
Borne’s remarks do not suggest that he missed the crowd’s emotional tone entirely. Wrestling performers can read an audience through visuals, body language, timing, and the atmosphere in the building, even when every word is not available to them. But the precise content of this reaction became clear to Borne only through closed captioning. That made his later response especially direct: he understood what the crowd was saying, but he was not going to grant the chant the power it typically seeks.
The Tavion Heights Rivalry Remains Active
The central issue in Borne’s NXT story remains Tavion Heights. Borne’s turn on Heights altered the relationship between the two performers and established a feud that is still ongoing. The split has given Borne a clear source of conflict and given the NXT crowd another reason to react negatively to his appearances.
At present, Borne and Heights are not scheduled to face one another at NXT Halloween Havoc. The event is set for Saturday, October 31. That does not settle the direction of the rivalry beyond the show, but it means no singles meeting between the two has been announced for Halloween Havoc as things stand.
There is often value in a feud continuing beyond the first major betrayal. A turn can be the starting point, but the aftermath is where both sides establish what was lost and what they intend to gain. Heights has a direct personal grievance after Borne’s actions, while Borne is now operating with an attitude that is willing to welcome boos and dismiss the attempts of fans to get under his skin.
Whether the issue escalates before or after Halloween Havoc remains to be seen. What is clear is that Borne’s audience relationship has changed along with his relationship with Heights. The WWE Performance Center crowd is responding to him as a villain, and Borne appears comfortable meeting that reaction head-on.
Why the Moment Matters for Borne
Borne’s answer was brief, but it provides an effective snapshot of where he is in NXT. He has a live rivalry, a newly sharpened persona, and a crowd that is now actively looking for ways to challenge him. The “What?” chant could have been treated merely as a passing audience reaction. Instead, Borne gave it a memorable framing by exposing the contradiction at the center of it.
His response also reflects a willingness to engage with the reality of his deafness without allowing it to define the limits of his character. Borne did not ask for sympathy or present the moment as an obstacle. He made the chant part of the exchange, laughed at the fans’ effort, and suggested they would have to work harder if they wanted to register with him.
That is a useful response for a performer seeking to establish a more confrontational presence. A heel does not always need to silence a hostile crowd; often, the stronger move is to show that the hostility is welcome. Borne’s comments accomplished that while remaining specific to his own experience. The fans may have intended the chant as a disruption, but Borne’s reaction transformed it into another example of his confidence.
For now, the chant has become a small but notable detail in Borne’s evolving NXT run. He knows it happened, he knows what was said, and he is not asking the audience to stop. If anything, Borne’s message was that the NXT Universe is free to keep trying. Just do not expect him to hear it in real time.
As the conflict with Heights continues, Borne’s next appearances will offer a clearer indication of how far this new direction will go. Halloween Havoc does not currently include a Borne-versus-Heights match, but their unresolved issue remains one of the factors surrounding both men moving forward. And after his latest comments, any fans planning another round of “What?” chants have already received Borne’s answer: he finds the whole thing funny.
Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.