Promo of the Year

[klunderbunker]

Life's short, talk fast.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I went with the Festival of Friendship because when I saw the commercials announcing it, I had this horrible pit pop up into my stomach and figured it'd be awful. Imagine my surprise in finding that it was one of the genuinely funniest promos/skits in the history of Raw. Jericho's genuine enthusiasm for it and Owen's shocked response to everything that was going on was beautiful to behold, at least it was later on as I was too busy laughing my ass off the first half a dozen times I watched it.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

Oh shit. How could I forget the Festival of Friendship? I picked Cena vs Roman before I saw it was an option. Was still a great promo anyway.

 

[SSJPhenom]

I went with Cena vs. Roman. Realest promo that I've ever seen in wrestling, (well besides when Matt Hardy and Edge were fighting over Lita. Those got pretty real.) When Cena said, "I'm still here because you can't do your job" and "It's called a promo kid you're going to have to learn how to do it sooner or later"; I thought that there was a legit beef between them. I know wrestling is fake, but that just seemed too below the belt to be a work.

Whenever they can make you genuinely question if something is real or not then it's usually great.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

SHIT

Voted for Reigns promo post WM, when the absolute best choice was Cena Vs Reigns. First time in a long time that promo segments became must-see tv for a few weeks.

 

[Bernkastel]

After this year, Cena has arguably solidified his status as the best promo man in company history. Roman trolling the post Mania crowd was excellent though.

 

[Khalifa]

I went with the festival of friendship. The reason being is not only because the Jericho and Owens friendship storyline was one of the reasons to watch Raw, but then when it was announced it just sounded like a stupid little segment ready for Goldberg to come in and destroy everything. Not only was the promo funny but it took a huge emotional turn as well. Ervurhijg was set up perfectly and it delivered better than I think anyone could’ve hoped for.

I get what people are saying about Roman/Cena promo but in my eyes it was just Cena making Reugns look like a bitch, which we all want but I wouldn’t say that’s promo of the year, though there as never really been a shoot promo that heavy before. Romans my yard again was great but one line doesn’t cut it for me.

 

[OYDK]

I thought for sure a Cena/Miz promo would be nominated because almost all of them were pretty fantastic. As it stands, I have to go with Cena/Roman. The amount of truth Cena spit at Reigns was equally hilarious and cringe-inducing.

 

[enviousdominous]

I'm alone here, I know. I had to go with the rap battle, because The Usos killed it.

New Day came out with a Rosebud entourage and had some so-so lines. The Usos came out with an entourage that looked like they were about to open for NWA.

I've been a fan of battle rap since Scribble Jam 1997. The Usos were phenomenal and took personal shots at Xavier. It was ten times more awesome than I expected.

 

[Барбоса]

Tough choice here.

Reigns post-Mania would be a shoe-in had it led somewhere, but I really loved Miz's "You can't see me... because there is nothing here worth seeing." Cena's attacks on Roman were great too.

It is a little telling though that all three of those promos ended up going nowhere - Reigns didn't capitalise on the heat he garnered, Miz was squashed at Mania and Cena was beaten in a one-off match by Reigns.

I think it is Reigns post-Mania for me. Just. In fact, no, I am going to give the Miz some love.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

That Cena/Roman promo made me cringe, and it was something I never thought they'd do. 22 years and they could still do that to me; fuck them, fuck me.

John Cena is the GOAT, might as well start saying it now.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

I still think that Roman's five word promo post Mania is the best. Seriously, it was five words. Can you name another promo that was five words that is going to be on a year end greatest list?

I will say this about the Roman/Cena promo. It was a serious promo from Cena that didn't include his whole "Fine speech..." routine he tends to do when people try to cut a serious promo on him. Seriously when I hear Cena say fine speech, I change the channel.

 

[ShinChan]

I'M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU!

No? Those battles where Cena beat the heck outta Roman Reigns on mic. And then lost the match.

 

[Navi]

Again Cena schooling Reigns was something that needed to be done to knock Reigns off his horse a little. Sometimes you need a kick up the ass to get things moving.

I picked the Maryse/Miz lost Bella's stuff. That was comedy gold. I never thought Maryse could play a character like a ditsy Nikki Bella. They were hilarious, on point and other than the Festival of Friendship and Fashion Files, were some of the best out of ring work on screen this year.

 

[@smarkmouth]

Cena should have grabbed a mic at the start of his match with Roman. Reigns would have been forced to tap out. Nonetheless, I didn't give it my vote. Frankly, now that those promos have the context of the entire feud to sit in, it doesn't age well. I'm oversimplifying this, but;

Cena: "Roman is terrible and the booking surrounding him is transparent to our paying audience."
They pretend fight
Cena: "I respect Roman now."

If you're going to "break the fourth wall" (inaccurate use) for a feud, I feel like it should ring true from the top to the bottom of the rivalry.

Much like Jack-Hammer, I felt that the Festival of Friendship was better than it had any right to be. That's my vote.

 

[Wildcat66]

"This is my yard now."

Five simple words. The only five words that could be spoken after potentially retiring the Undertaker.

And it was perfect. As amazing as Cena vs Roman's promo battle was and as shocking and funny as the Festival of Friendship was, nothing compares to how perfectly time and worded this promo was.

This was the moment that cemented Roman as one of the MVPs of RAW this year and to me: That makes this promo the best out of all the others this year.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

Cena should have grabbed a mic at the start of his match with Roman. Reigns would have been forced to tap out. Nonetheless, I didn't give it my vote. Frankly, now that those promos have the context of the entire feud to sit in, it doesn't age well. I'm oversimplifying this, but;

Cena: "Roman is terrible and the booking surrounding him is transparent to our paying audience."
They pretend fight
Cena: "I respect Roman now."

If you're going to "break the fourth wall" (inaccurate use) for a feud, I feel like it should ring true from the top to the bottom of the rivalry.

Much like Jack-Hammer, I felt that the Festival of Friendship was better than it had any right to be. That's my vote.

I fully agree with the Cena/Roman deal. I think there is this issue that exists with Cena, and has for a few years, and it is that his promos are good but ultimately they mean so little. You make a good point. The whole Cena eviscerating Reigns thing was supposed to be Cena being the voice of the fans. He was speaking to our frustration with Roman's constant chances to be the guy, but each chance never working. It felt like Cena had a legit hatred for Reigns and his position on the card. Then they have a twenty minute finisher fest and Cena raises his hand in a show of respect and fucks off for a while. In the end, it meant nothing other than about the third fan favorite to raise Roman's hand to try to get him over. It didn't work with Rock, it didn't work with Bryan, and it didn't work with Cena.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

I would probably go with Reigns post-Mania, but Joe's promo deserves some love (hell, I nominated it).

There wasn't a single promo that better demonstrated motive, established a reason to fight beyond said initial motive and elevated a guy (Joe) to be able to be a threat to an apparently unstoppable behemoth (Lesnar). Also Paul Heyman got choked out and that was neat.

 

[Uncle Sam]

The amount of shit - THE AMOUNT OF SHIT - I used to have to put up with on AJ Styles and Samoa Joe, people telling me they couldn't cut a promo. The fuck out of my face with that shit. Two of the best promo men in the business.

Aleister Black isn't quite on that level, but those four words after his match with Dream rocked my socks.