Promo Skills vs Wrestling Skills

[Pay Per Ghost]

To kill a little bit of the IWC's recent orgasm over the Ryder, DBD wins I pose a question that we see has many layers but eventually and maybe will give us a solution as to how people become successful in WWE.

The Miz: Not the best or even great talker in the world, but the key factor here is 'Better than Morrison'. That's why he is where he is and Morrison is, well healing at home. Morrison can easily wipe the floor with Miz when it comes to putting on a high octane match, not cozza all the funky spots but he is just damn well exciting. But The Mi, he can actually deliver a stern promo where he comes of as someone credibly holding a grudge or just impresses us with his dialogue delivery.


Brock Lesnar Ye, I'm comparing these two, I know right. When Brock was getting cheered it was not the fact that he was delivering a John 3:16 of a promo but because he was someone steamrolling over opposition with great intesity and brute force. People like brute force and int6esity, people like Brock. First time Brock spoke was at KOTR 02 and I remember the crowd popping for that as soon as he took the mic from Heyman. But his going over was solely based on his wrestling and presence.


So tell me in this tectonic little world of the internet what have you deduced is a great way to go over? I will throw in the fact that Punk is a better talker than a wrestler, as in I look forward to his promos, his matches if I skip, doesn't feel so bad.

 

[slice_of_life]

I have always felt that it is better for a wrestler to have more promo skills than wrestling skills. If you can't build a match, then the match suffers. If you cut good promos and create good heat for the match, then the mood can make up for abilities.

Look at Stone Cold Steve Austin. A dynamite wrestler? No. Could hold his own and got over on his promo work. And because of his mic skills, we talk about him as the most polarizing wrestler of the 90's.

It's my biggest worry about Dolph Ziggler. Phenomenal wrestler -- I think, the best in the WWE. He has the persona to go with it, but his mic work has been so limited with mixed results. We havent seen him cut a real promo yet. I just hope he can cut a decent one.

 

[sanefan_har]

In my opinion, a good mix of both promo and wrestling skills can turn a man into THE GUY that the WWE needs. People like Shawn Micheals and CM Punk showed everyone just that. Win or lose , they can always put up a good match to back up their awesome promos.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Both are important, although I lean in favor of promo skills being more important. If you push someone who can talk but can't wrestle, you end up with David Otunga. He sucks in the ring, but will be able to get you to care about the match and know that you're supposed to boo him as a heel. If you push someone who can wrestle but can't talk, then you risk the fans either losing interest or being confused. If this happens then questions will begin entering people's minds. Who are fans meant to root for? Why should they even care about the match? Promos are extremely important in generating interest in a match, whether it is a high profile PPV match, or a random match on tv and promo skills are just as important if not more important than in-ring abilities for a wrestler because without promos there will be far less interest generated for the match.

 

[CDR]

I think 30 or 40 years ago, my answer would be this: To be the best, most complete, ideal superstar, one needs to have both great mic skills and great in-ring ability. However, I think that between the previously mentioned time period and today, the product has changed so much that the necessity for both isn't present anymore. These days, I think promo skills have more importance because, especially lately, the wrestling business has kind of been turned into the entertainment business. It's almost as if entertaining the crowd is most important, followed by putting on a good match. If you can entertain the crowd without putting on a wonderful match, then you are OK. But there's nothing wrong with putting a great match on, either.

First example, Hulk Hogan. This man is easily the most popular product of the WWE (or WCW; or just pro wrestling in general) beside The Rock, maybe. I think we all know how the Hulkster fared in the ring. He wasn't the best wrestler, and wasn't close to it. In fact, one could make the case that, similar to John Cena, he "can't wrestle." But that's a discussion for a different thread. The point is, Hogan was a great talker. His interviews with Mean Gene were classic, his catchphrases are unmistakable, and his ability to entertain the live and TV crowd with a good back-and-forth promo is perfect. The man became the most popular among wrestlers, ever. I think he proved that perfect in-ring skills aren't needed to become the most popular.

Simply put, promo skills are more important than in-ring skills. They entertain the live crowd today just as good, if not sometimes more than a standard wrestling match. For that reason, if you can cut a beautiful promo, you can be successful in the wrestling business, or the "entertainment" business.