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Here's a little question for you peeps. While the in-ring work is the part people are trying to sell, to get eyes interested you need segments and promos to sell it. When a wrestler has the ability to speak on the microphone and make you as an audience member feel can be enough to cement them as a favourite too.
What I am specifically referring to is a promo where it is primarily one person talking, and not a full blown segment. Example: The Rock's "This is your Life" is a segment, same with the Trial of Sami Zayn.
This is not really strict apart from that. It can be from any wrestling promotion you watch, hence why I did not place it in the WWE section. You can also list multiple favourites.
For me, these are five which come to mind. These are not in any order, and some come from before I was even alive, but I went back to appreciate the art of them.
The Pipebomb: CM Punk. My feelings on the man are mixed at best these days. But Punk's promo where he sat on the stage, and spat venom at the entire WWE system in a way which seemingly broke a lot of rules was something with sparked massive fan interest and lead him to superstardom. It was also something which can be pointed to as a shift in WWE's programing from the kid friendly Cena era to something more 'reality based.' I think in some ways it has been cheapened by many pipebomb rip-offs, but it speaks to its impact where it spawned an entire subgenre of "worked shoot" promos, showing that it can be done well, all depending on the execution.
MJF's Origin Story: My only other one related to Punk and is probably the highlight of his time in AEW, the MJF feud. Max for the longest time was a classic chicken shit cocky rich kid heel and people ate it up. But we never truly had sympathy for the devil. Until this promo. This is his character's tragic origins. Arguably the first proper "babyface" MJF promo where we saw his vulnerabilities. The shock and horror of his stories of being bullied, how he was happy to meet his hero, CM Punk, and the depression, feeling of rejection after quitting. This, much like the pipebomb, did blend on reality as people found a FB post of the picture MJF referred to which resparked his dream of being a wrestler. I don't think babyface MJF would have been possible with this promo. Then the week after was an amazing follow-up. Get well soon, MJF, I know you've had it rough wiht being banged up, but you're a master at this stuff.
"Superstar" Steve Austin
So many people point to his 3:16 promo as his best. A promo which makes millions off of t-shirts alone is great. But for art, this is amazing. This will be one of two ECW promos I'll share and much like the first two, both will blend reality with wrestling. If anything, this was a Pipebomb before the Pipebomb, the nexus point of the Stone Cold character. Shooting down WCW for rejecting his ideas, keeping him down. Releasing him because the worlds of the Dusty Rhodes, Eric Bischoff's, and Hogans kept him down. Then he blasts ECW itself, calling it a place of rejects, saying he is above it because of where he started. So, he's here to wrestle and show ECW what a true SUPERSTAR can be.
Cane Dewey: Mick Foley/Cactus Jack
The double header of ECW promos, both anti-ECW, but this is an anti-hardcore promo and pro WCW one. Using a story of a fan's sign and Mick becoming slowly unhinged, us not knowing where Jack ends and Mick begins. The story of losing his ear. The heartbreak of hearing Tommy rejected a WCW contract when Foley's family wished they could go back to Atlanta. But the part where I get chills is the end, him saying he'll drag Tommy to the phone and say, "I burned by bridge, but a got a young man here ready to trade his ECW shirt in for suspenders." Then Uncle Eric will say... "Welcome Home, Tommy Dreamer... Welcome home. I love being right." Mick missed his calling as an actor. Amazing.
Hard Times: Dusty Rhodes
I'll tell the story of when I first heard this promo. Not see, but hear. It was the day he passed. I was going home with my dad from Baseball and I mentioned Dusty had passed. We talked about Cody and Goldust, I mentioned he was training people in NXT. But then... the radio mentioned his passing. The host mentions Dusty's passing and he decided to play the audio of Hard Times. I didn't see it. But I heard his voice. My dad and I were silent and I was lost in the majesty of it. The lisp somehow becoming still engaging. The passion, connecting his "hard times" put on him by Flair to the hard times the average man was going through, selling the story. And oddly enough, a message that still rings true today. There's something magical about this promo.
What I am specifically referring to is a promo where it is primarily one person talking, and not a full blown segment. Example: The Rock's "This is your Life" is a segment, same with the Trial of Sami Zayn.
This is not really strict apart from that. It can be from any wrestling promotion you watch, hence why I did not place it in the WWE section. You can also list multiple favourites.
For me, these are five which come to mind. These are not in any order, and some come from before I was even alive, but I went back to appreciate the art of them.
The Pipebomb: CM Punk. My feelings on the man are mixed at best these days. But Punk's promo where he sat on the stage, and spat venom at the entire WWE system in a way which seemingly broke a lot of rules was something with sparked massive fan interest and lead him to superstardom. It was also something which can be pointed to as a shift in WWE's programing from the kid friendly Cena era to something more 'reality based.' I think in some ways it has been cheapened by many pipebomb rip-offs, but it speaks to its impact where it spawned an entire subgenre of "worked shoot" promos, showing that it can be done well, all depending on the execution.
MJF's Origin Story: My only other one related to Punk and is probably the highlight of his time in AEW, the MJF feud. Max for the longest time was a classic chicken shit cocky rich kid heel and people ate it up. But we never truly had sympathy for the devil. Until this promo. This is his character's tragic origins. Arguably the first proper "babyface" MJF promo where we saw his vulnerabilities. The shock and horror of his stories of being bullied, how he was happy to meet his hero, CM Punk, and the depression, feeling of rejection after quitting. This, much like the pipebomb, did blend on reality as people found a FB post of the picture MJF referred to which resparked his dream of being a wrestler. I don't think babyface MJF would have been possible with this promo. Then the week after was an amazing follow-up. Get well soon, MJF, I know you've had it rough wiht being banged up, but you're a master at this stuff.
"Superstar" Steve Austin
So many people point to his 3:16 promo as his best. A promo which makes millions off of t-shirts alone is great. But for art, this is amazing. This will be one of two ECW promos I'll share and much like the first two, both will blend reality with wrestling. If anything, this was a Pipebomb before the Pipebomb, the nexus point of the Stone Cold character. Shooting down WCW for rejecting his ideas, keeping him down. Releasing him because the worlds of the Dusty Rhodes, Eric Bischoff's, and Hogans kept him down. Then he blasts ECW itself, calling it a place of rejects, saying he is above it because of where he started. So, he's here to wrestle and show ECW what a true SUPERSTAR can be.
Cane Dewey: Mick Foley/Cactus Jack
The double header of ECW promos, both anti-ECW, but this is an anti-hardcore promo and pro WCW one. Using a story of a fan's sign and Mick becoming slowly unhinged, us not knowing where Jack ends and Mick begins. The story of losing his ear. The heartbreak of hearing Tommy rejected a WCW contract when Foley's family wished they could go back to Atlanta. But the part where I get chills is the end, him saying he'll drag Tommy to the phone and say, "I burned by bridge, but a got a young man here ready to trade his ECW shirt in for suspenders." Then Uncle Eric will say... "Welcome Home, Tommy Dreamer... Welcome home. I love being right." Mick missed his calling as an actor. Amazing.
Hard Times: Dusty Rhodes
I'll tell the story of when I first heard this promo. Not see, but hear. It was the day he passed. I was going home with my dad from Baseball and I mentioned Dusty had passed. We talked about Cody and Goldust, I mentioned he was training people in NXT. But then... the radio mentioned his passing. The host mentions Dusty's passing and he decided to play the audio of Hard Times. I didn't see it. But I heard his voice. My dad and I were silent and I was lost in the majesty of it. The lisp somehow becoming still engaging. The passion, connecting his "hard times" put on him by Flair to the hard times the average man was going through, selling the story. And oddly enough, a message that still rings true today. There's something magical about this promo.
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