There are numerous aspects that make a great wrestler, ability (try telling Hulk Hogan), gimmick, presence, image and the subject of this here blog, promo skills. A promo helps a wrestler (or superstar!) sell themselves, their fued and any upcoming matches they have. Right here I'll be listing the top 10 wrestlers who I think had the best promo skills, along with my favourite promos of theirs (disclaimer: this is just my personal opinion and not to be taken seriously), I'll also be tweeting these promos on my Twitter account @MRPITT for those who want to see them, so enjoy.
10. Dusty Rhodes
Dusty is a wrestler with a distinctive promo style that is entertaining and captivating, his southern drole mixed with rhymes made viewers listen especialy to what he had to say. Rhymes like 'Funky like a monkey' and 'I've dined with kings and queens and fed on pork and beans' added an element of fun to his monologues which is what wrestling should be, fun.
Favourite promo: A promo he took in 1986 after losing the world title to Ric Flair, this is hard to find on YouTube since it's just titled 'Dusty Rhodes promo' so it's best to view on my Twitter.
9. Chris Jericho
No matter what phase of his career he's in, whiney cruiserweight, cocky rock star or suit wearing misanthrope, his promos are always great. He's perfect at selling himself as a performer yet also conveying the heel cowardness within. Early cruiserweight promos were shrill and obnoxious with sense of self deprication, rock star promos were wild and humourous with witty pot shots taken at opponents and misanthrope promos were cold, calculated and pedantic with fancy words said, conveying a man disgusted by those around him.
Favourite promo: hard to choose with Jericho, it would either have to be his 2007 return or his promo the week after he turned on Shawn Michaels, although I've had difficulty finding the latter on YouTube.
8. Jim Cornette
probably the manager with the best promo skills in wrestling history. The perfect heel manager, shrill, whiney voice, promos spoken so fast you'd think he'd have the cardio vascular conditioning of an Olympian and the ability to put over the wrestlers he managed. During his fast paced verbiages, he'd explain how his Midnight Express were the best team in wrestling and not bad looking either (perhaps that's why he had so much heat in the south). He'd also get in a bit of a character development for himself, being conveyed as a pompous mama's boy who's as tough as a ham sandwich.
Favourite promo: when he announced the new version of the Midnight express, both selling his men and putting in some development for himself.
7. Terry Funk
Preferable here are his heel promos and for good reason. He'd convey himself as a dispicable psycopath who enjoyed giving out pain, but the coup-de-grace was the way he insulted his opponents (and sometimes audience), using hateful phrases that conveyed his perniciousness and how much he hated his opponents. Anyone who uses phrases such as 'yellow dog' or 'jackass' to describe their opponent must be one evil mother!
Favourite promo: describing to Jim Ross his 'Beautiful dream' an example of Funk's disrespect to opponents beyond comprehension.
6. Roddy Piper
A mixture of high energy (not Owen Hart and Koko B Ware) and smarmyness made Roddy Piper a force to be reckoned with in the 1980s. And what do you do with someone who's a great talker but can't wrestle? (due to injury) give them a talk show. Yes, on Pipers pit he'd use his skills to insult his mostly face guests and put himself over as a heel. His promos were insulting, smarmy, cocky and made audiences want to see him hurt, what a great heel promo should be.
Favourite promo: Strangely enough, I didn't choose a Pipers pit promo or a heel promo, for me my favourite Roddy Piper promo is the one he did in Alcatraz leading up to his WCW fued with Hollywood Hogan, such passion, intensity and anger in showcased making this promo great, shame the same can't be said for the match they had.
5. Jake Roberts
Roberts had a particular promo style, with his smooth southern voice, he'd speak in a cool, calm way but talk about hurting other men and being methodical about it, making his promos chilling and dark. His promo style made people listen close and conveyed his cold, snake like character, the subject of his promos would be captivating, be it DDT standing for the end, or making Ted Dibiase beg for his money and his safety, Roberts made you take interest in his fued and his character.
Favourite promo: His post match interview at Tuesday in Texas after slapping Miss Elizabeth, probably the most disturbing promo ever.
4. Mick Foley
In the league of Terry Funk and Jake Roberts, someone who conveyed the nature of their character in their promos, in this case being a deranged lunatic who'll put their body on the line to win a match and gladly dish out suffering. My preference however is to his ECW anti-hardcore promos, in which he'd talk about how harcore wrestling has ruined his life and how it means nothing, being both a heel against what the ECW fans stand for and also putting across some valid points that I'm sure Jim Cornette would agree with.
Favourite promo: No promo that I've seen has had more emotion or phinece than the 'Cane Dewey' promo, probably the bestcof that era.
3. Randy Savage
With a deep, booming voice and eccentric personality, Macho Man Randy Savage was someone who could instantly grab your interest. His wildman character gave his promos an edge, whether it was quoting Sonny and Cher or talking about the bubbling and boiling of the couldren of madness. He'd also talk about how great he was compared to those fueding with him, selling himself, his opponents and the fued, exactly what a promo should be. With an eccentricity that exceeded others and some imaginative verbiages, Randy Savage was one of the great promo men of the 80s.
Favourite promo: 'Talkin about history' promo, classic Macho Man.
2. The Rock
'The most electrifying man in sports entertainment' and that's no joke, with promos that mixed humour with badassness with purpose, The Rock proved to be the best promo man of the 21st century. His showman way of speaking and memorable catchphrases made audiences involved and excited whenever he entered an arena, with the funniest one-liners since Lee Evans, you knew you were going to enjoy his promos and he could be entertaining, no matter the bad storyline or boring performer, truely the sign of a great wrestler.
Favourite promo: You might disagree with me, but I think that his response to John Cena's rap, via satellite was his best, no Rock promo has had more passion, memorable lines or electricity than that one.
1. Ric Flair
Yes, my favourite all time wrestler is also my favourite all time promo man, and for good reason. I've covered a bit of Flair's promo skills in a previous blog so excuse me if I repeat myself. This was a man who exuded brovado and confidence, a heel who was so cocky but could back it up, who lorded it over the audience how he was the best in the world and the way he said it made us believe it. The subject of his promos was another case putting himself and opponents over, but also putting the world championship, the promotion and wrestling as a whole over, something that's important in these times. The energy an confidence Flair conveyed excited the WTBS studio audiences into a frenzy, this was a man who had the crowd in the palm of his hand, this was Ric Flair.
Favourite promo: 'You're looking at the man' pure arogence, pure showmanship, pure Flair.
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