WWE's Top 25 Masters Of The Mic

[Magnum]

I wonder if people who don't like Piper have had their judgement clouded by his shambolic performances over the last decade or so. When you see him stinking up the place in his 'Legends' appearances or his time on WCW, it's easy to forget how innovative and charismatic he was in his prime. On the flipside, there are people who've been average > rotten for a lot of their career but have had periods when they've just been brilliant - I'm thinking specifically of Bret Hart in 97, as his body of work on the mic over the course of that year was up there with the best promo work I've ever seen in wrestling. Yet when he came back in 2010, he was stumbling all over his lines like he was having another stroke.

 

One glaring omission that I see on that list is Jerry Lawler - his commentary has varied wildly in quality over the years, but during his time as a part-time heel wrestler from 93-97 his mic work was some of the best in the company. He wasn't really positioned as much of a physical threat as a wrestler, and yet he got insane levels of heat purely based on his promos (as well as his commentary work and 'Kings Court' interview segments).

[air_raid]

On the flipside, there are people who've been average > rotten for a lot of their career but have had periods when they've just been brilliant - I'm thinking specifically of Bret Hart in 97, as his body of work on the mic over the course of that year was up there with the best promo work I've ever seen in wrestling.

 

Just as quite a few big names and bookers over the years have said that the most charismatic performers/convincing characters are just extentions of the wrestlers real personalities turned up to 11, the best promo work seems to come when there is a healthy dose of real feeling/emotion/truth behind the words. Brets 1997 can be summed up with "I don't understand why people are cheering Austin over me" / "I love Canada" / "I hate Shawn Michaels." Not much writing a rasslin promo needed there, is there?

 

Other great examples that come to mind for me of powerful "real" promos that stood out :

 

* Ric Flair's diatribe about himself being "number one" and what it means just after winning the Royal Rumble, his vitriol in the wake of the nWo parody of Arn Anderson's retirement and his outpouring when he returned on the Nitro after Fall Brawl '98 (an all-round incredible episode).

 

* Cactus Jack's "cane Dewey" promo, and also heel turn promo the week after the Outlaws took the belts off him and Funk.

 

* Steve Austin's angry rants in ECW at Eric Bischoff's expense (and Dusty) which were the pre-cursor to the "Stone Cold" character, his frustrated promos during his injured spell between SummerSlam and Survivors 97 including his "this is what I do, this is all I have" proclaimation at the Garden face to face with Vince (a cracking, realistic verbal exchange often forgotten about in comparison to the Stunner that followed), and lots of the promos about what 'Mania XVII was going to mean to him about settling who was The Man between he and The Rock, in which I always imagine Austin may have been tapping into some very real doubt that may have crept in when he was off injured that The Rock had overtaken him as the industry's top star.

 

Two of these men make the top 5 in WWE's ratings, another does not.

 

Conversely I wouldnt rank Edge as a particularly great promo man. The only times he has spoken on telly that have stood out in my memory have been vacating the title in 2007 and his retirement speech, and I think of those as just 100% realism rather than promos based on reality. If you can't understand the difference between the two, either you're stupid or I'm too pretentious for my own good. Either is fine. Plus, Edge's attempts at conveying intensity always end in comedic gurning and snarling like a retard. He, Miz or Santino should not have made the cut if Lawler didn't.

 

A couple of other observations : Piper being criminally underrated it seems by the forum (admiration for his 80s prime should really be universal) and Jericho being overrated by WWE. Yes, over the years he was very funny at points, but funny is not enough and he was/is usually hammy and over the top and seldom capable of portraying genuine passion without resorting to being hammy or over the top. When Ric Flair used to go crazy in a way that was both amusing and got his point across, I used to think "Flair being Flair." When Jericho did it, I thought "Jericho doing his lines."

[digforvictory]

On the flipside, there are people who've been average > rotten for a lot of their career but have had periods when they've just been brilliant - I'm thinking specifically of Bret Hart in 97, as his body of work on the mic over the course of that year was up there with the best promo work I've ever seen in wrestling.

 

Just as quite a few big names and bookers over the years have said that the most charismatic performers/convincing characters are just extentions of the wrestlers real personalities turned up to 11, the best promo work seems to come when there is a healthy dose of real feeling/emotion/truth behind the words. Brets 1997 can be summed up with "I don't understand why people are cheering Austin over me" / "I love Canada" / "I hate Shawn Michaels." Not much writing a rasslin promo needed there, is there?

 

Other great examples that come to mind for me of powerful "real" promos that stood out :

 

* Ric Flair's diatribe about himself being "number one" and what it means just after winning the Royal Rumble, his vitriol in the wake of the nWo parody of Arn Anderson's retirement and his outpouring when he returned on the Nitro after Fall Brawl '98 (an all-round incredible episode).

 

* Cactus Jack's "cane Dewey" promo, and also heel turn promo the week after the Outlaws took the belts off him and Funk.

 

* Steve Austin's angry rants in ECW at Eric Bischoff's expense (and Dusty) which were the pre-cursor to the "Stone Cold" character, his frustrated promos during his injured spell between SummerSlam and Survivors 97 including his "this is what I do, this is all I have" proclaimation at the Garden face to face with Vince (a cracking, realistic verbal exchange often forgotten about in comparison to the Stunner that followed), and lots of the promos about what 'Mania XVII was going to mean to him about settling who was The Man between he and The Rock, in which I always imagine Austin may have been tapping into some very real doubt that may have crept in when he was off injured that The Rock had overtaken him as the industry's top star.

 

Two of these men make the top 5 in WWE's ratings, another does not.

 

Conversely I wouldnt rank Edge as a particularly great promo man. The only times he has spoken on telly that have stood out in my memory have been vacating the title in 2007 and his retirement speech, and I think of those as just 100% realism rather than promos based on reality. If you can't understand the difference between the two, either you're stupid or I'm too pretentious for my own good. Either is fine. Plus, Edge's attempts at conveying intensity always end in comedic gurning and snarling like a retard. He, Miz or Santino should not have made the cut if Lawler didn't.

 

A couple of other observations : Piper being criminally underrated it seems by the forum (admiration for his 80s prime should really be universal) and Jericho being overrated by WWE. Yes, over the years he was very funny at points, but funny is not enough and he was/is usually hammy and over the top and seldom capable of portraying genuine passion without resorting to being hammy or over the top. When Ric Flair used to go crazy in a way that was both amusing and got his point across, I used to think "Flair being Flair." When Jericho did it, I thought "Jericho doing his lines."

 

I agree with most of what you said but I think Edge, whilst probably not a great promo, was certainly capable of giving a great promo now and then. He was a solid hand on the mic. His cutting edge segment with Cena before Backlash 2009 is superb, he just comes across so weary and bitter and full of hatred for Cena. It's a brilliant promo.

 

Plus lets not forget the promo he gave which effectively killed Matt Hardy before Summerslam 2005 in response to the infamous "I hope you die in a car crash" segment. It just completely destroys Hardy in a way you rarely see and it's one of my favourites.

[PSF]

The miz should be higher in my opinion. He's a man that became the biggest heel in the business for a while, won the wwe title a year after everyone would have thought he'd be on the future endevour list and wrestled in the main event of wm. All purely on his promo skills.

[pol_pot_rick]

Punk, Edge, Miz & Santino all made this list, while Terry Funk didn't?

 

FUCK OFF!

[Magnum]

The miz should be higher in my opinion. He's a man that became the biggest heel in the business for a while, won the wwe title a year after everyone would have thought he'd be on the future endevour list and wrestled in the main event of wm. All purely on his promo skills.

 

I mean this in the nicest possible way, but you're out of your mind. The Miz's mic work stood out precisely because everybody else in that midcard scene was so bland, but for me it was a case of him being the best of a bad bunch rather than being so good that he belongs on an all-time list. For me, he has good delivery, but I've never seen him cut what I'd consider a great or memorable promo. I'd put his style of mic work along with Edge in that both stand out because they're naturally articulate and comfortable with a microphone in their hand, but on the whole don't seem to have that fantastic range and ability to cut a really emotionally resonant promo that strikes a chord with both the live crowd and the TV audience that the real greats have.

[King Pitcos]

The miz should be higher in my opinion. He's a man that became the biggest heel in the business for a while, won the wwe title a year after everyone would have thought he'd be on the future endevour list

That's not true at all. Miz didn't go from line-fluffing diva search host shitehawk to champion in a year. It was obvious during his tag team run with Morrison that Miz was the star of the team and would fare better once they split. And then when he did go solo, he was pushed as hard as any midcarder has been (largely due to his own ability, because he stood out and made the most of every opportunity). He won the US title, he feuded with Cena and DX. There was way more than a year between Miz looking like he'd be fired and Miz winning the big one. For over two years before his title win, he was consistently one of the best things in WWE.