Promo class?!

[RowdyEddyPiper]

Great idea, some of these guys really need it bad. I'm reminded of Michael Henning's (sorry bro, you're a Henning in my eyes) NXT send off speech..."Starting this moment..from now.....From this moment on....This will be the moment.........starting now". Easily one of the most embarrassing promos ever. I think you need an all-natural seasoned veteran to whip these kiddos into shape. Me thinks someone along the lines of Roddy Piper. If you ask me, Santino and possibly Alberto Del Rio are currently two of the best on the mic.

..and the Miz of course.

 

[Loveless]

Frankly I'm amazed that this hasn't been happening all along. It's a brilliant idea by Vince, who has no doubt recognised that his company has plenty of wrestling talent but is sorely lacking people who can talk.

 

[flocker]

Vince does a great promo.

Getting to know the people he has can only help the talent and the Vince.

That said, it might start to get a bit homogenized (that means the same) if they are all getting trained exactly the same way. This seems like a great opportunity to get some of the great talking old timers in. Especially FACES. VKM cuts an awesome heel promo- but a face promo? Hard to tell its been so long.

 

[Serious Mozzarella]

Wait a second. According to WZ, Vince is holding promo classes for newly called-up talent and low-carders, and these classes are weekly and mandatory. Methinks this reeks of bad idea. You can't teach these guys to be truly good on the mic. Sure you can teach 'em words and delivery and timing, but it takes a true natural to put these three together into a promo that make the crowd pop (or boo however the case may be). Natural talent can NOT be manufactured IMO.

So. What do you think? Are these classes a good idea or not? Share your thoughts

...Actually, no, Vince seems to be pretty much spot on. You really can learn how to cut a good promo. You can't really learn how to be an Oscar-worthy actor, but I'm sure cutting a promo good enough for TV is easily teachable. Personally, I think the guys who are real crappy on the mic are the ones who aren't putting any effort into cutting a good promo.

Then again, words aren't 100% necessary in order to tell a good story. Rey Mysterio is a good example of someone who can tell an entire story without words. But that's a difficult thing to learn. Sometimes you need words, and you need to be able to deliver it well.

I'm an actor myself, and believe me, most of these guys aren't actors. You can tell people like Cena and Triple H have taken acting classes. Other guys have just taken speech classes. Natural talent isn't required. It's just a matter of moving your voice up and down naturally so that people aren't falling asleep trying to grasp what you're trying to say.

 

[LSN80]

If you havent read Chris Jericho's book(Around the World In Spandex: A Lions Tale), Id highly recommend it.

Jericho talks about his time in WCW, and how he was an AWFUL promo guy. I think most would agree that he's among the best in the business today. So how did Jericho get to be so good? Practice.

Jericho sat in, week in and week out, on a WCW portable studio called the Box. It was where all their promos were filmed for Nitro. Anyway, Jericho filled in one week when Lex Luger no-showed because he went tanning. According to Jericho, he SUCKED at first. But he sat in, week in and week out, honing his skills. He practiced over and over. He called it his personal "boot camp", and credited it for how he became the promo guy he is now. That, and through watching the greats live, such as Flair, Anderson, Piper, Raven, Savage, and Scott Hall in The Box, Jericho honed his skills that made him the great he is today.

If Jericho's "acting classes" worked for him, professional acting classes would seemingly be even more effective. Granted, some charisma and promo skills are going to come naturally to some more then others. But I don't see the negative, as this can only help with the little things,such as inflection, facial expressions, and delivery. I think this is a good call by Vince.

 

[Funkydr79]

this is absolutely a GREAT idea. The only way for guys to get better at cutting promos is to practice. There's not enough TV time to get everyone on the roster time in front of a microphone and asking guys just to practice on their own in a mirror isn't enough.

I'm sure Vince is having them videotape their promos. Play them back and having everyone critique them. This is the only way guys are gonna get better.

The only issue I have with the classes is that you can learn this stuff in a produced environment where they can do multiple takes, but it doesn't help them in terms of learning how to read a crowd. Watch jericho, he knows when to raise his voice and when to lower it. He whispers to the point where the crowd has to quiet down so that they can hear him. That's something you can only learn in front of live audiences, not in the back.

 

[rondiesel2005]

not only this is a great idea, but this is something that TNA should have been doing in the first place. Teaching some of the guys how to deliver great promos because of of the guys in TNA can't seem to be doing that right. Practice makes things perfect but only for some of the guys. You don't want them wrestlers going out of the ring and make a fool out of themselves.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

I think this is a great idea. Do you think the best actors in the world didn't have classes? Acting is a lot of raw, natural ability, I agree with that. But it's a skill, a trade. What's the worst that happens? A really, really bad actor turn into just a really bad actor? Sounds good to me (too bad this wasn't around for the Hardy bros.).

 

[Karnuj]

I see this as an excellent idea for three major reasons. for the Guys and gals attending the class it gives them some insight on the power of their vocabulary how to use different descriptors to invoke different reactions out of the fans.
also for the attendees they get a chance to hear from the bossman himself what they need to improve on, and that right there is something that is awesome to have in any given profession.
the biggest benefit to vince would be he can see who can adapt to "the big leagues" and who still needs help.
personally id like them to tape the first sessions of this class because im super curious about how he would approach teaching it.

 

[Dave]

How can this possibly be viewed as a bad idea?

Seriously now, I know the OP said that you cannot manufacture a great star and to some extent, he is correct. However, what you can do is help develop some of the newer talent in the company to make sure that they have all the tools at their disposal when they do eventually cut a promo. Yu can give them the timing and delivery of a Champion and sooner or later, things will fall into place for them.

The only thing that you cannot teach is charisma but that will come naturally when classes like this take their toll. You can’t teach people how to be the next Rock or Mr Kennedy because they had a natural gift for talking but you can give people that push to get them close to that. It is a confidence game and when these classes have their desired effect, then you can bet that people will be more successful because of it.

I think it a wonderful idea and no one is losing anything from it. Vince gets guys who can talk for the company and the individual wrestlers get development like they need. Great idea.

 

[The Holy One]

Of course this is a great idea, promo classes can help avoid the ear cringing speeches that we usually here from debuting talent. Sure charisma comes naturally but the promo abilities can and should be improved upon before they are given actual camera time. This can be a perfect evaluation method for the E to see who's ready and who's not.

 

[HBKevin]

Sure, you need natural talent to excel on the mic, but unless you are taught how it works in the wrestling business specifically, you still won't do it right. It's not like doing a monologue on a non-wrestling TV show or a movie.

I'm sure The Rock knows the difference between talking on a microphone to an interviewer/opponent/crowd in wrestling, and saying his lines in a movie. Vince has tons of charisma and hopefully it rubs off on some of these jabronies reading their script in a monotone.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

i do think its a good idea though it remains to be seen how much the guys can actually improve on the mic.i dont think they'll go up to the rock/austin levels.but it is one area that does need to be paid attention too.it is also one of the reasons why wrestling is in a slump these days.wrestlers dont have captivating personalities anymore so why the fuck will an average fan care to know why two guys are fighting??

that being said wwe has some of the most awesome promo cutters in the business currently employed with them.guys like dusty rhodes,arn anderson as well as current wrestlers like jericho and punk are some of the best in the business.im sure that even austin can take a few classes if vince asks him too.plus you got vince himself.he's one of the best you got in the business.

i just think that this should not be restricted to the midcarders and lower midcarders only.even main event talent can benefit from these classes.(hi...mr stupid orange crap).though im sure the egos of these ME guys will come in the way

something like this could have saved shelton benjamin's career

 

[Calderownz]

This isn't the worst idea I've ever heard of. However, I'm curious as to how this is going to work. Who will instruct? How will the classes go? What methods will be implemented? Will all new talent be forced to "pass" the course before they are finally called up?

Nonetheless, it's genuinely not the worst idea. Guys with all the in-ring talent in the world but aren't great on the mic could actually have a better chance.

At this point, it sounds alright in principle.