Mic Skills: Overrated or Underrated

[BWEEZY2009]

The majority of us here will agree that World Wrestling Entertainment is the number one wrestling/sports entertainment promotion today. Some here will disagree, but for the sake of the thread.. keep that argument for another thread.

With that being said

Mic Skills gets brought up in the majority of superstar threads. They usually bring up a debate and some posters here think other posters pay to much attention to promos/interviews/etc

The latest example being Shelton Benjamin. When Shelton was released some of you were outraged, and some of you couldn't wait to see him go (for the sake that he was never going to cross over to the main event status due to mic skills)

Another current example being David Otunga. Some posters on here were furious at the fact Otunga made it so far simply on charisma. Some posters bring up the argument of well the WWE took a chance on a green Mike Mizanin... and look how thats turned out.

So where I'm heading with this.. I want to see a percentage of how many on here really think mic skills are overrated/underrated.

Feel free to give examples of superstars that support your opinion.

 

[Goliath Uterus]

Im gonna go with overrated, not that they arent extremely important but some guys have gotten held back their whole career because they lack mic skills. I think that if a guy has a good look, great wrestling skills, and good in ring charisma (the way the move, facial expressions, selling) then they should be pushed regardless of their mic skills. Some guys dont have a good look, mic skills or in ring charisma and they thrive in the indys, and thats great. But to be the total package, you have to have mic skills.

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

I think mic skills is very important though, when it comes to cutting a promo, it matters, i mean if your at the top of the business...the face of the company...and a world champion, you have to have mic skills, its what moves the feud forward...without the skill, you will have to always fight every week, with no point in the feud...all world champions, well 95% of them have all had great mic skills...its compulsary...

 

[Chargersfan1901]

Mic skills matter, but wrestling is of course the number one factor. Think about it. You can't have a good lookin guy, amazing wrestler, excellent skills, and him not be able to cut a promo for shit. In order to have that 'guy', you need someone who's got a bit of everything. That's how it will always be, hence the E.

 

[Goliath Uterus]

Mic skills matter, but wrestling is of course the number one factor. Think about it. You can't have a good lookin guy, amazing wrestler, excellent skills, and him not be able to cut a promo for shit. In order to have that 'guy', you need someone who's got a bit of everything. That's how it will always be, hence the E.

I have to disagree, Chris Benoit couldnt cut a promo "for shit" and he was world champion. Brock Lesnar is another guy who was helpless behind the mic but yet he was slated to be a top guy in the WWE. I think it definitley matters, but all in all other things can overcome a lack of mic skills. So im still goin w/overrated.

 

[goldbergiswrestling]

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I have to disagree, Chris Benoit couldnt cut a promo "for shit" and he was world champion. Brock Lesnar is another guy who was helpless behind the mic but yet he was slated to be a top guy in the WWE. I think it definitley matters, but all in all other things can overcome a lack of mic skills. So im still goin w/overrated.

I didnt vote simply because I dont think they are overrated or underrated, I think the importance is right where it should be. as u said Benoit couldnt cut a promo for shit. and when he was champion I couldnt wait for him to lose it, yea his matches were pretty good but he was soo damn boring. I didnt think brock was to bad, he wasnt amazing or anything, but not bad. I think if u want to be the next big star, uneed to be able to perform in the ring and have have mic skills.

 

[GUN]

It's a tit-for-tat deal in WWE; if you ain't got the voice, you better have something to get over with the crowd and the company you are working for. Benoit had the skills, but not the voice. Hell I would go so far and say Jeff Hardy wasn't that great a speaker and neither was Bret Hart. My opinion anyways.

As for mic skills being either overrated or underrated, I have to go with underrated. It's crucial to be able to talk to your fans and not sound like a degenerate moron. The charisma factor multiplies if the guy in question can carry his voice around ex. Sheamus or Big Show. Two big guys that haven't always been known for their speech capabilities, but sure can get the crowd on their side or against them if they desire just by the words they say.

Kane is practically the only exception, but hell he went years without talking.

But this day and age you need to be able to speak; that's what the audience expects from you if you want to make it big. So does the WWE. Pulling off sick spots in the ring can only get you so far. SEE Shelton Benjamin. Personality goes a long way.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Mic skills are important. Cutting promos is about allowing the wrestler to create a character, a persona that the fans can rally behind. Way back in the day when professional wrestling was all about skill, that's all people cared about. They'd pay, watch guys roll around on the mat, do side headlocks that lasted 10 minutes at a time, etc. and that'd be pretty much it.

Most wrestlers simply can't get over if they don't have mic skills in America. Being able to actually work in the ring is important as well, don't get me wrong on that. Being able to cut a promo can be every bit as important in getting over as being good inside the ring. Sometimes, maybe even more if you think about it. The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin are a perfect example of guys that were pretty good in the ring, but were ultimately made into true superstars via their promo segments. Some of the promos those two cut 12-13 years ago are still remembered and talked about today.

Now, you'll have your occassional wrestler that comes along and is able to get over with the crowd without hardly ever saying a word. Chris Benoit and Rey Mysterio are a good example of that. The Undertaker was never heavy on promos but he's good on the mic whenever the situation calls for it. If you don't have an interesting character or personality, however, it's extremely hard to get over. Fans can't know what your character or personality is really about if you can't work the stick. Those in that field, such as Shelton Benjamin or Matt Hardy, are often labled as having bland personalities with little or no charisma.

 

[The Man Of 1004 Holds]

mic skills matter alot. dont get me wrong you can make it without them as you can work a gimmick around not talking much like goldberg or get yourself an over the top manager, but for the most part mic skills are very important. the main reason they are important is they are used to hype a match or event wenever the rock cut a promo i instantly wanted to see the match as i could feel the electricity and intesity from him. if you find a guy who can cut a good promo you can teach them to be a good wrestler (not great but good a bit like john cena) but you cant teach the natural born charisma you need to cut a good promo so they are underrated

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

Mic skills are not as important as in ring ability, but I believe they are essential if you want to be a top guy, and stay on top.

In the 80's, it was a promo fest. You didn't have a ton of dialogue, but you had guys giving 1, 2, or 3 minute promo's, pumping themselves up to the crowd (Hogan, Warrior, Savage, Piper, etc.). In the mid to late 90's, the ability to carry on dialogue with other wrestlers became very important (Rock, Austin, HHH, Bret Hart, Undertaker, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, etc.).

Having great mic skills with no wrestling ability doesn't get you very far. But, there have been plenty of guys without great mic skills who have gone straight to the top (Warrior, Yokozuna, Jeff Hardy, AJ Styles, Batista (until his recent heel turn), etc.). But on the other hand, every guy I just named is at servicable on the mic. Guys who have been absolute shit on the mic, like Shelton Benjamin, are really hurt by not being able to talk.

I think mic skills are less important than in-ring ability, but they are important. This is sports entertainment, not a sport. Guys in the NFL have no need to be charismatic, or having any acting talent, because it's a real competition. In the fake world of pro wrestling, there has to be more than just fake competition. And mic skills keep a show going. Without those guys who can talk, it would get really stale, really quick.

 

[EliteDiva]

My only statement is that while some wrestlers can have great charisma they usually can improve their in-ring skills over time.

But some wrestlers have the talent, but not the charisma. In most cases harder to improve rather than wrestling abilities.

 

[Prophecy of Darkness]

I think they're overrated.

Mic skills are important yes,but you need more than that to make it in the wrestling business.You should have talent above all else,as well as an identifiable personality.These days though,it seems as if you can't even have just decentmic skills,now it's like everyone has to have a 5 star promo.

 

[TheBestThereNevaWas]

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I have to disagree, Chris Benoit couldnt cut a promo "for shit" and he was world champion. Brock Lesnar is another guy who was helpless behind the mic but yet he was slated to be a top guy in the WWE. I think it definitley matters, but all in all other things can overcome a lack of mic skills. So im still goin w/overrated.

Didn't you read the rest of what Chargersfan said? If you have a non-mic worker as champion, typically you will need someone with some mic skills to counter that and promote the feud. I wouldn't call Benoit's reign stellar either, and it seems once it was done so were his chances at being the top guy again.

 

[MelodicLullaby]

The ability to cut a proper promo and produce yourself in the way that you can form a believable character to the audience is extremely important for those wrestlers that intend to make it to main event status. People can tell when you're into your role - they can also tell if you're just doing this because it's your job, and not because you enjoy it. The way I see it, people who do excellent in both their wrestling skills and their microphone presentations are the people who really wanted to make it big in the business, and were willing to go that extra mile to get there.

If you get someone on the mic, and they're bland and obviously uninteresting, then no one is going to want to hear them talking. Sure, they may be impressive in the ring, but every time someone gets onto the mic that I just can't stand the voice of, I switch the channel. You'll also get little to no reaction from the crowd, if the performer has no charisma in what he's doing. If you only rely on your wrestling abilities in the ring, and you don't rely on getting the audience to enjoy you - to really understand your character through language - then you're not going to get to that main event status.

However, I don't think skills on the mic are so important for people who want to stay at the mid-card range. The way I see it, people who get stuck at the mid-card range are missing something major about their presentation that McMahon wants them to have - most of the time, it's because the crowd doesn't react to them when they come out or cut a promo (sometimes it's also because they just suck in the ring).

TL;DR
If you want to get to that main event status, then you need those mic skills as best as you can get them. If not, then expect to stay in in the mid-cards for some time.

 

[Xemmy]

Mic skills are not over rated, you simply have to have them if you want to be at the top for an extended period of time. Mic skills are generally what get the most ratings. Hell, you can be successful in the business with no wrestling talent what so ever if you have mic skills. e_e Look at Vickie, she's the most over heel in the business.

 

[itbewilly]

Mic skills domt mean crap if you cannot put on an entertaining wrestling match.There are always alternatives to a talent who isnt as well recieved doing promo's.They can give him a quiet monster character like Kane and Abyss had when i personally think their characters where at their best.THey can put them with a manager like Jimmy Hart ot Bill Alfonzo.Two of the most annoying managers we ever seen.

Bottom line there is a way around someone without mic ability.If they are boring as hell and cant put on a decent match in the ring but have Mic skills like the Rock they suck nuts and shouldnt be in the ring.

End statement...Mic Skills are overrated!

 

[Vega]

I can't really say they're over- or underrated, they're an important factor.

There are a lot of wrestlers who are or were great with a lack of mic skills, even though I agree some of them could've went farther. Undertaker, Bret, Hogan (matter of taste), Race, Andre, Rey, AJ, Benoit, Goldberg, Big Show, Lesnar, Hardy, ... . There are different things you can rely on and other factors which can help out like look (Undertaker, Hogan, Andre, Big Show, Hardy), strength (Race, Goldberg, Lesnar) or ring skills (Bret, Rey, AJ, Benoit) (I know some of them belong to other categories, too). Mic skills help, but they're not that important. They're needed to a small extent, afterwards you can come far with other attributes.

 

[Kurt Angle]

Definetely Underrated.I cannot see how anyone can think that mic skills are overrated.

You can look at all the main eventers and all the never been mid carders.Shelton Benjamin never made it anywhere with just wrestling,You can make it everywhere with only mic skills.Look at Hulk Hogan,he can't wrestle for shit but he is a legend,same wiht The Rock,it is really underrated.The abilty to talk people into the arena is a freakish abilty and in the end you need the charisma and mic skills to make it,you don't neccesarily need the bets wrestling skills to tell a story in and out side the ring,that's what's most important about wrestling.Story Telling.You can go out their and have a stunning match but if their is no story behind it,who cares?

 

[macksstream]

Ok, well i just want to start by saying that people class mic skills as how scripted the wrestler sounds when talking on the mic, or the amount of heat/pop they can draw from the words they say. Eg a bad heel would draw little-no heat and sound like a bit of a robot. Correct?

Now IF that is correct, and im correct in saying that wrestlers start with scripted segments before being allowed to improvise, then maybe its just some people. I mean, if Shelton was always handed scripts for his segments, then he could never have shown if he had potential to improvise. you know, something like "just go out there and say something about how you're better than christian and you'll beat him in the ladder match". Wouldnt that help a wrestler to stop sounding scripted if they're thinking of this stuff on the spot? of course the two wrestlers would have to work out some guidelines beforehand but you get what i mean.

Now, onto the actual subject, i think mic skills arent either under or overrated. They're just kind of where they need to be. They're classed as important, because they are for entertainment reasons, and they're also not as important as wrestling. So yeah... thats just my 2 cents worth.

 

[Vanderhook]

Underrated

I know this isn't the popular opinion with most of the IWC and "smarks", but the "wrestling" matches are probably what interests me the least about pro wrestling. I'm more interested in the promos, the interviews, the characters, the storylines etc. Why? Because thats what separates pro wrestling from similar entertainment (namely sports). I'm sorry but fake fighting is not all that interesting to me. If I wanted to watch fighting I'd watch some UFC, Boxing, K-1, real wrestling (not realyl fighting I know) or any other sort of martial arts.

This isn't to say I don't have an appreciation for a wrestler's in-ring ability. I have been completely enthralled in a match before (Undertaker/HBK for example) but unless its really, really, really good I just can't maintain that much interest.


Shame about Shelton Benjamin though. He actually was one of those guys who had the rare ability to keep me pretty entertained in the ring... he WAS boring as fuck outside it though =/.

 

[airvar]

I know its not "technically " an answer , but Neither.. It really depends on the person, the character the current storyline..

It is not about how good you are on the Mic , its about how well you portray your character to an auidence, and you can do that so many different ways. Kane played a demented monster from hell come to wreck havoc on his half-brother the Undertaker.. He didn't say a word for over a year and got completely over. It's about the character, if you are playing a Miz or a jericho type character , yea you NEED to be good on the mic, you NEED to be able to play that cocky and brash young guy. By being a good mic worker you open your character up to so many more avenues, it gives you options. Being good on the mic helps you develop your character, but weather or not those skills are over-rated or underrated depends mostly on the character that the person is trying to portray. People get over with the crowd in so many ways its unbeliveable, the bottom line is you have to be the most entertaining man out there. You have to make people care about you, and you have to put the time in.

I guess what I'm saying is mic skills have a varying amount of importance depending on the person's character, you can't say for certain in less you are talking about a specific person.

If your a seven foot tall 500 lb monster you obviously don't need to be able to talk as much as a 5'-10" 180lb guy might have to, and if your someone like a Jeff hardy, or a Chris Benoit you might be able to get over based on what you bring to the table inside the squared circle.

 

[WWE Manster03]

I voted underrated, because in all honesty you can still get over these days with JUST mic skills. Maybe not enough to get a world title push, but enough that people like you enough to keep you around..Look at Santino..That guy will honestly probably have a job forever because of how good he is on the mic. But you can't say the same for people that can't talk. Benoit/Lesnar/Kane and a few others are rare examples of people who got over without talking. You can't really even count Lesnar in that because Heyman did his talking for him. Since sports entertainment was created, Hogan/Savage/Warrior/Rock/Austin/Shawn Michaels/HHH/John Cena all made it to the top of the business because of their promo work....Granted, except for Hogan and Warrior all of them could also wrestle technical matches if they had to, but that point doesn't matter.

 

[MelodicLullaby]

Since sports entertainment was created, Hogan/Savage/Warrior/Rock/Austin/Shawn Michaels/HHH/John Cena all made it to the top of the business because of their promo work....Granted, except for Hogan and Warrior all of them could also wrestle technical matches if they had to, but that point doesn't matter.

Fucking laughed at the last part.

But I do agree with you. How often do you see people get over with the crowd who have horrid mic skills? Not a lot, as you've named. For McMahon, the crowd is (mostly) everything - if they're not on your side, then you're not selling product, and you're going back down the ladder.

People argue that it's the skill of the wrestler in the ring that counts more than how they present themselves on the mic - that's mostly for the older fans, if you think about it. We can manage to put up with people who are vocally vicious on the mic (Vickie Guerrero), because we respect the wrestlers' skills in the ring (but thank God Vickie doesn't wrestle).

But the product is mostly intended for little kids nowadays. What's the thing that attracts children most to something? If it's a good character that they find amusing and/or intriguing. If WWE was just flat-out wrestling and no one took the time to learn proper phone skills, then even the most hardcore wrestling fan will find themselves changing the channel repeatedly when someone comes up to speak. WWE wrestling is more like telling a story; the physical confrontations is more like reading the words on the page, but their skills on speaking to us is what gives them their character and tone in our heads - it's what gives them the interest that attracts the fans and the kids to them.

TL;DR
Skills on the microphone and skills in the ring go hand-in-hand. It's almost impossible to succeed with just one and not the other.

 

[TheAnimal]

I see there importance in terms of needing to sell a PPV etc but ways around it are feuding with a superior mic guy to carry the segments, having a manager or pre-recorded promos.

If you cant go in the ring though the mic skills wont count for anything so nobody will pay to see future matches. Mic skills wont make Great Khali into the next surefire main eventer because he cant wrestle. The same point could be made that the ring skills of Shelton didnt get him into the main event, but other problems with his attitude apparently hindered him.

A guy like The Rock has many memorable promos because he was good at the comedy and the catchphrases so mic skills have great importance, but i think they shouldnt be as important as they are because ultimately, you dont order a PPV to see promos, you order it to see matches and the matches last longer than the promos in the memory.

 

[Tastycles]

Mic skills and their importance are vastly misunderstood by the IWC as a whole. Generally speaking anyone who cracks a funny is seen as having good mic skills, and frankly that sort of thing is not the making of a great wrestler. People like Abraham Washington and Santino don't really have enough of anything to be big wrestling stars, as demonstrated by their position on the card.

However, mic skills can be a huge asset when coupled with charisma, indeed they can be enough to get a wrestler over with the audience to an extent that they don't need everything else. Being a good talker isn't enough, but coupling that with a naturally charismatic wrestler, and you have the makings of an all time great. The difference is subtle, but think about how you feel watching a Rock match, and how it's different to a Mr. Kennedy match and the difference should be apparent.