Great wrestlers who got over without great mic skills

[Richard Blonoff]

I was watching some old matches and promos from Randy Savage and it got me to thinking. Who are some of guy who got over and were considered all time greats who never had great charisma?

My pick-Bret Hart

Bret was a great in ring performer. Good technical skills, played the face well, played the heel well. He just knew how to put on a good match. He could incite the American crowds well when he played the heel but he just never seemed comfortable. He often messed up lines and just looked out of place. He even said himself the reason he wore his trademark shades was to help hide his nervousness on the mic. I think some of it was when The Hart Foundation went toe to toe with DX he was simply outshined but he never really did anything that made me say, "Wow this guy can cut a promo"

Honorable mentions for me go to: Bob Backlund and The Iron Shiek

 

[#hamler]

I think a case could be made for The Undertaker. For the majority of the start of his career, he spoke seldom. His character didn't need mic skills to get over. The Undertaker's gimmick itself was dark, sinister, eerie, unique and best suited for someone who didn't do much talking. It is true his segments were usually filled with Undertaker picking up the occasional mic; he never really caught on to me as a great speaker until his days as head of the Ministry. He got over on looks and in-ring presence alone. The Undertaker was one of the first to do so so quickly; a year’s time.

 

[J.J.]

Ricky Steamboat. Got over extremely well without having to get on the mic. He was the only babyface I watched growing up that didn't need the mic for leverage even today he can walk out and generate a pop from the crowd. He can even perform well as a semi-wrestler better than many guys full-time in his 50s.

 

[Davi323]

Someone I never, ever hesitate to praise, one of my all time favorite wrestlers:

Ricky the Dragon Steamboat. When he spoke, he was kind of bland. Not entirely emotionless, just not overly exciting to listen to. But, absolute poetry in the ring. He was never a flashy guy, but his wrestling ability easily made up for lack of strong mic skills.

 

[Greg4WWE]

Magnum TA.. horrible on the Mic.. but the most popular wrestler there for awhile..

Nikita Koloff.. i know it wasn't his real voice, but listening to him was blah sometimes..

Ricky Steamboat that has been mentioned...

Steve Austin... Now his Mic skills were OK.. but it was the same toe and same words every time.. I'm gonna kick your ass.. and that's the bottom line cause stone cold said so..

Batista..??

 

[muzz-rocks]

Well, if no one else going to mention his name then i'm going to. Chris Benoit.

He was amazing in the ring and i really don't think anyone will ever come close to his intensity as a performer. He could wrestle, he could fight and had no problem with flying around the ring like a lightweight. His promos were god awful!

No matter what anyone says about him though, it will be tarnished by what he did during the last 48 hours of his life.

 

[thebromm]

There are so many wrestlers that, over the years, have gotten over REGARDLESS of their inefficiences on the mic. Some even had a lot of inefficiencies in the ring as well as on the mic and still got over.

Bret "Hitman" Hart: One of the greatest wrestlers of all time. Wasn't very good on the mic. I thought he could hold his own later on, but even then, he wasn't great at it.

"The Phenom" The Undertaker: Luckily he had a gimmick that got over whether he was good on the mic or not. Nowadays he's not terrible, but still not that great.

"Total Package" Lex Luger: He was over. Not good in the ring and not good on the mic.

"Canadian Wife and Handicapped Child Murderer" Chris Benoit: Another great ring technichian. He was in my bloated "fav five" from 1995 until a day or so after his death when the truth came out. Side Note: I was initially in denial on this subject, you know, like his brain being that of an 80 year old Alzheimers patient. I eventually accepted his guilt. Now I wish we could all just erase him.

Seriously though the list can go on and on. Even todays stars that are over and have limited mic skill. Morrison, Bourne, Kofi, Rey. As I said the list goes on.

 

[ECW Sandman]

3 of them come to mind

1. Sid Vicious great wrestler minus The Sin PPV accident he had the look but his mic skills really sucked he could not do a promo to save his life just go to Youtube and type in Sid messes up his lines.

2. Scott Steiner His Frankensteiner was just out of this world for a big man to pull of a move like that his mic skills though were not that great even now in TNA when he does a promo it's laughable because every other word he messes up on.

3. Ultimate Warrior his promos were just out there go to youtube and look up his promo on Hulk Hogan for WrestleMania 6 It was CRAZY.

 

[Lion1990]

Chris Benoit. He was bland, often boring on the mic for me. But he was a fantastic wrestler and athlete.

Scott Steiner for me was entertaining on the mic, because he would ramble his words, not knowing what the hell he was talking about. I guess he was bad, but still entertaining.

And for the guy who said Stone Cold?! WHAT?!

 

[havenstorm]

The Man of 1000 Holds Dean Malenko. One of the greatest technical wrestlers alive and to this day one of my perennial favorites who won myriads of championships and a slew of top profile feuds against top talents.

Of course this list is potentially endless for names who could be on it: Barry Windham, Tito Santana, Kerry Von Erich (or any Von Erich for that matter), Ron Simmons, Goldberg, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, The Great Khali, Keiji Muto (The Great Muta; with these last you could also add Tajiri, Haku, or any non-continental US born wrestler), Billy Kidman, pre-mop Perry Saturn, anyone with last name Holly (Hardcore, Crash, Molly) 9/10 of any Divas/Knockouts, Petey Williams, Rick Steiner,,,as I said this is a near endless list of names that can be used.

 

[FlairFan2003]

I actualy thought Luger was OK on the mic, not as good as you would think for how big a draw he was for so long.

Bret Hart is probably the best choice. Like Luger, he was usually average to slightly above on the mic, managed to have a great run from 86-99 though, that's a long time.

Barry Whyndam, injuries slowed him down in the 90's but he was World Tag Team Champion in WWE and a huge star both as a good guy & villain in NWA. His promos as a fan favorite were often bland, but his work on the mic as a heel was OK. Great in ring performer.


Sid Viscious had a great look, nothing else. Boring one dimensional promos, mostly suited to being a villain. Unlike Barry & Brett he couldnt compensate with his in ring work. In fact, I'd take the average Luger match over Sid's best matches almost any day.

Steamboat was actually not bad on the mic in my mind. However, unlike some of the great mic guys of all time, he couldnt be a heel. He coulkd never adapt his persona to be a villain. That holds him back in my mind.

Scott Hall: In the AWA he was fairly boring. As Diamind Stud in WCW he never got enough time to be memorable. His horrible fake accent and cheesy look in WWE detracted from his ability to be taken seriously. They dumped the look, but kept some of the accent, when he came back to WCW for his NWO run. His promos were not bad then, but they were not that good. In fact, he was often over shadowed by not only good guys like Sting & Flair but by his own NWO buds, Nash, Hogan, the comical but entertaining Buff Bagwell, and even Scott Steiner.

Steiner was a below average promo guy most of his career, really looked like a background player, especially next to his brother Rick, but his whole transformation into his heel character with the NWO actually was not bad, he was entertaining. Kind of like a below avergaege football player who late in his career hits a groove and becomes really good (see Rich Gannon, Jim Plunkett) Steiner had 10 years of great in ring work with totally forgettable promos followee by five years of pretty good promos (though the ring work was no longer there)

 

[ElliotOxford]

ROB VAN DAM:
As much as I can say he is my favorite wrestler he has in my eyes never cut amazing promos. I didn't care as much because he is so amazing in the ring thats all that really matters to me.

 

[T2KFreeker]

Sabu. Great performer. Before anyone goes into it, the guy broke so many bones for the fans. Horrid on the mic. One of the reasons Paul Heyman never let him speak.

Christopher Daniels. Another great in ring performer but his mic skills are not the best. Other than the way he phrases things, you never can tell what mood he is trying to portray.

Chris Benoit has to be mentioned again for the reasons already pulled up. The guy was my favorite wrestler until what happened.

I am also surprised nobody has brought up Lance Storm. Storm was amazing in the ring but knew he had no mic skills whatsoever. "If we can be serious for a moment!"

Ole Anderson. Man, this guy had serious intensity in the ring. He was brutal and heartless with his wrestling ability. Watching an Ole Anderson interview/vignette though is like watching Ben Stine talk about science. This is why the Horsemen needed JJ Dillon and Ric Flair.

Goldberg. THA' MAN at WCW for some time. The guy didn't have Mic Skills of any kind for quite some time. He didn't need them. The squash match was his language and he pulled it off tremendously.

Mike Awesome. The guy lived up to his name for sure, especially if he was in the ring with Masato Tanaka. Those matches are easily some of the finest you will ever see. Just forget the WCW Fat Chick Thrilla' and That 70's Guy gimmicks.

Jerry Lynn. The guy was awesome. The new F'N Show. His matches were fantastic in ECW, especially against Rob Van Dam. He helped big time to put TNA on the map with his hard work at legitimizing the original, and far superior, X-Division.

I also have to tip my hat to Bret "The Hitman" Hart. When wrestling was VERY character driven, Bret was able to get out there and just be himself. It was really cool for me to see that as a kid because it really helped me to see what Pro Wrestling could really be because of Bret's skill. For the longest time, Bret was really the only reason I watched WWF programming because I just found it to be way too cartooney. The fuy easily get's my vote.

 

[thedarkhorse]

on the current / present roster, i would have to say: Randy Orton (very bland and makes no sense as a face, everything about his persona and character screams heel to me...i don't think someone saying in a slow dull voice "i'm going to punt you in the skull" is something that warrants a cheer from little kids...the guy would be one of the best heels, they don't need him as a face right now, Cena and Punk and Mysterio sell more merch than Orton) Daniel Bryan (terrible on the mic), Santino (I used to like him but then he quickly got annoying, he's a mix of pee wee herman and mr. bean, i can't take him seriously at all), Kevin Nash (absolutely terrible this year in talking segments with CM Punk and HHH), Mick Foley (which is a same because as Mankind, he was one of the best on the mic, yet as himself, he is quite terrible) and Dolph Ziggler (he's getting better now, but for the longest time and still now he needed to hide behind a woman and have her talk for him and get heat for him). I love sheamus but I think he sucks on the mic too, he was better as a heel.

Now to whoever said Scott Hall / Razor Ramon was bad on the mic...umm excuse me? He was one of the best speakers i remember as a kid. His vignettes were amazing...the "take a look at the bad guy" stuff was brilliant, today Alberto Del Rio tries to be a modern day razor ramon but doesn't come close. Maybe today's Razor Ramon doesn't have any mic skills...because he can barely even stand up or talk...but back in his prime in the WWF he was fantastic.

 

[rob198807]

Demolition were horrendous on the mic...extremely popular though.

Yokozuna...

Animal from the L.O.D was awful...all he said "was tell em hawk"

 

[XXJJ]

Brock Lesnar- Didn't even speak for a while. Heyman doesn't get enough credit for Brock. He really carried a lot of Brock's feuds and made him a star.

Chris Benoit- Horrible on the mic, but eventually got over with the intensity of his wrestling.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Mic skills were actually pretty rare back in the day, to the level where we would consider people being excellent in promos... It was a hangover from the territories where generic promos would be enough, many guys hadn't grasped the need for them yet. But still got promoted

Earthquake was pretty bad, I emember him looking like a giant baby at Wrestlemania, in one of those door bouncer things talking about aftershocks...but thats what Jimmy Hart was for...

Kevin Nash sucked on the mic as Diesel, Davey Boy was not fantastic, Savage did the same Rumble promo every year and Owen Hart was notorious for botching promos...(That's why I kicked your leg out of your leg....) and Tatanka, without one decent promo got a 2 year unbeaten streak.

In reality there were not many great mic guys in the late 80's-early 90's WWE... Jake, DiBiase, Perfect and Rude are the 4 that come to mind. Most of the others had managers or were very repetitive and dull in their promos... but they were over big time cos of look...

WCW the same, Flair of course, Sting and Arn were the main guys who could talk... Vader had really bad mic skills but Harley Race picked up the slack to make him credible as champion.

Once the mid 90's hit, suddenly more people could talk... Regal, Pillman, Jericho, Razor and Goldust... The importance of promos and learning to do them had dawned on the biz...

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

Who the hell said Ultimate Warrior?

There was a man who could cut a great promo. He had emotion and vague symbolism that was just outta this world. JUST LIKE HIS GIMMICK. He did great promos and wasn't bland at all. His promos maybe in retrospect sound like mindless blabber but his emotions and expressions carried him then and I would still prefer him over a Miz. Look at his burial DVD and while the older gen dismisses him the likes of Jericho and Christian remind us why exactly he was great at what he did. Warrior has to be one of the most over-the-top promo cutters and certainly not the worst.

That honor should go to Bret 'The Hitman' Hart.

The man had literally no expression. He could deliver his lines ok and all but if he didn't come out and be good in the ring (frankly I found his just ok) and give away free sunglasses I dunno how far he could've gotten based on charisma alone. Coz I saw none. And to this day it perplexes me how over he got sans of that.

 

[agentmichaelscarn]

Who the hell said Ultimate Warrior?

There was a man who could cut a great promo. He had emotion and vague symbolism that was just outta this world. JUST LIKE HIS GIMMICK. He did great promos and wasn't bland at all. His promos maybe in retrospect sound like mindless blabber but his emotions and expressions carried him then and I would still prefer him over a Miz. Look at his burial DVD and while the older gen dismisses him the likes of Jericho and Christian remind us why exactly he was great at what he did. Warrior has to be one of the most over-the-top promo cutters and certainly not the worst.

That honor should go to Bret 'The Hitman' Hart.

The man had literally no expression. He could deliver his lines ok and all but if he didn't come out and be good in the ring (frankly I found his just ok) and give away free sunglasses I dunno how far he could've gotten based on charisma alone. Coz I saw none. And to this day it perplexes me how over he got sans of that.

I agree with you about Warrior but I think you are selling Hart short. Now he may not have been charismatic like an HBK or funny like The Rock but he could advance a feud or make a match seem more meaningful/intense with his promos. His whole gimmick was kinda an underdog story and the best "technical wrestler" in the world. And when you heard his promos you started to believe that. Also his promos made you think that he genuinely hated his opponent and that he really was gonna take him out, which is why I think they helped elevate his feuds. I think that's all you can really ask for. I thought his promos fit his character perfectly. But again he definitely wasn't a Jericho or Hogan but I thought his mic skills were solid for his character and were definitely passable.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

I agree with you about Warrior but I think you are selling Hart short. Now he may not have been charismatic like an HBK or funny like The Rock but he could advance a feud or make a match seem more meaningful/intense with his promos. His whole gimmick was kinda an underdog story and the best "technical wrestler" in the world. And when you heard his promos you started to believe that. Also his promos made you think that he genuinely hated his opponent and that he really was gonna take him out, which is why I think they helped elevate his feuds. I think that's all you can really ask for. I thought his promos fit his character perfectly. But again he definitely wasn't a Jericho or Hogan but I thought his mic skills were solid for his character and were definitely passable.

I get that. He cut passable promo and as a 12 year old I believed that he hated the people he said he hated. But his delivery makes me cringe. Look up the promo he cut during the ME of WM 11 I think between Sid and Taker. His shoot on HBK is the best part, as it is shoots make even the bland sound interesting, apart from that him telling Taker that he was his friend made me go 'Oooh yikes'. But ye, as a young lad, I'd buy it and I did.

Hogan did some over the top promos as well. His contant use of the words 'It Turns Me On' made me laugh but the promos he cut in his feud with Orndorf were really good.

 

[RKOrob]

Surprised it hasn't been said yet, but The Hardy Boys, particularly Jeff. When Jeff was WWE Champion he was arguably the biggest, most talked about superstar in the company and was so over with everybody, yet I don't think he's ever been able to make a feud seem convincing enough with his mic skills, even when he was feuding with his own brother!

 

[theBec2101]

You got to go with Kane. He didnt talk when he first arrived for awhile. And he was over. I mean I'm not saying he doesnt have mic skills but he didnt talk at all.

 

[BaconBits]

Goldberg and Lesnar became massively over without saying a word. Once they finally spoke, it was beyond underwhelming. Didn't matter much, though. People were still behind em like mad, until, of course, errbody found out they was leaving.

 

[Dmbfantomas]

Rey Mysterio Jr. Love the guy to death, but holy lord...

Bret Hart. Best wrestler of all time, not so good at the whole talking thing.

Ricky Steamboat. Brilliant in the ring, tied with Dean Malenko, Jeremy Irons, and my mother as the most boring to listen to human beings on the planet.

 

[Last Outlaw]

Chris Benoit - Definitely not great on the mic but a tremendous wrestler and over with the crowd. You just couldn't help but love the intensity and passion he wrestled with, how great of a worker he was in all aspects of wrestling. The crowd at WM 20 was totally behind him and popped hard when HHH tapped.

Kane - Very over with the crowd which is a testatment to how great his character is. Bearer sold him as a bad ass monster.

Brock Lesnar - Lesnar was very over since they built up him very well as a dominant powerhouse. Heyman did a great job early in his career building and hyping him up.

Jeff Hardy - Over with the crowd mainly because he's a high flying spot monkey. People loved him for it and so did I. He never had much mic time in the early 2000s when he was in tag team matches but you could see he was pretty bland on the mic in his feuds in the late 2000s as a singles competitor.