You say that the shoot style is an unfair advantage, but isn't cussing, dick jokes, and catchphrases also an unfair advantage? Take the vulgarity out of Rock's promos and they go from already corny to unbelievably corny. You say Flair is annoying, but isn't Rock basically doing the SAME goddamn thing every promo annoying too?
Obviously it's all a matter of opinion, my point is, as good as Rock is, he's not as good as his biggest marks think. They (you) act like he's the greatest mic worker of all time. Rock was not flawless on the mic. Nothing he said ever had any substance and it was all pretty contrived and corny. It worked, and he did it with a lot of energy, but he's not hands down the greatest mic worker ever.
"You say that the shoot style is an unfair advantage, but isn't cussing, dick jokes, and catchphrases also an unfair advantage?"
In this era? Yes, but the shoot style is a whole different story. mostly, superstars go shoot when they have no response(As kayfabe) for insults he's gettin from the other superstar. HHH, HBK, Vince McMahon, Bret Hart, are great examples. Hell even taker during his transition to the ABA gimmick, back in late 1999, used to do the same(Jericho incident, when he told y2J that he have more shower time than jericho's TV time, or something like that..). The bottom line is, they shoot because they don't have enough mic skills to respond. ANYONE is capeable of cutting a shoot promo and get a good response from the crowd, ANYONE. Do you remember X-Pac when he made his return back in 1998? When he grabbed the mic and start cutting a shoot promo on WCW, and the crowd went absolutly crazy? That's another example, x-pac is not known for being a good mic worker, but breaking kayfabe made it seems other wise.
"Take the vulgarity out of Rock's promos and they go from already corny to unbelievably corny."
It depends on which form of Rock you'tr talking about. If you're talking about the current rock(PG Rock), then I'm the first one to tell you that I'm really not a big fan of his mic work.
"You say Flair is annoying, but isn't Rock basically doing the SAME goddamn thing every promo annoying too?"
Sometimes, yes, but atleast I understand the words that's coming out of his mouth.
"Rock was not flawless on the mic"
No one's flawless.
"Nothing he said ever had any substance and it was all pretty contrived and corny. It worked, and he did it with a lot of energy"
That's what the character "The Rock" is all about. It's about entertaining the fans, giving them what they want, and saying what they want to hear, which is the trash talk and the phrases that you been complaining about. That doesn't mean don't know how to cut a promo without using those phrases. His hollywood gimmick is a great example. He barely use any of his phrases, why? because he's a heel and he's not supposed to give the people what they want. His days with the nation is another example. I don't know about the energy, I mean 90's Rock was alot more calm, so energy is not a factor, but it is a factor with Mr.Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect, though
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Like I said, it's not like he really need those catchphrases to cut a decent promo.