Promos: The lost art of the WWE? Why aren't they used as frequently?

[Suneeboy]

What hooked me into wrestling wasn’t necessarily the matches, but it was the ability to tell a story. The match was the payoff, but I was always interested in the build up to the match. How much do these guys hate each other? How badly do they want to win? What type of crazy things will they do or better yet SAY to make me want to follow their feud up until they actually fight?

This appreciation escalated to levels I couldn’t have imagined during the IWC’s beloved Attitude Era which also included the great Monday Night Wars. Weekly matches were not the focus of the shows as I dig in the archives and review those classic shows. However the focus was on the wrestlers building towards some sort of confrontation down the line, or if there were matches they were preceded by some sort of a build which was relevant to both participants.

This leads me into what I feel has been a lost art in the WWE and what I would like to see more of. Promos. Promos lead to incidents, and incidents lead to matches. Promos develop characters, and promos draw interest into feuds. It is a core piece of feud building for as long as I can remember watching wrestling. Without promos we would not have “Cuz Stone Cold said so!” or “To be the man WHOOOO you gotta beat the man!”. We would just have guys who come out with an assigned look who came out to wrestle.

Promos are my favorite part of wrestling. I look at them as the foundation of all feuds. The match is the huge antenna on the top of the Empire State Building. The spectacle that everyone appreciates, but I choose to appreciate the strong foundation that the beauty sits on that had to be in place for the workers to go up that high. That is the promo. Promos have no boundaries. You can talk about anything. Say whatever you must (within the confines of what’s allowable on TV of course) to get heat, and do whatever you must. Say whatever you must to get a pop as well. Talk about a person’s lifestyle, ring wear, win/loss history, move set, voice, wife, children, talk about their house, then this leads in to what wrestlers do to each other to give the promos validity. Do anything to them….kidnap them, chase them with cars, ambush them, rob them, cry, beg, form alliances, break alliances, so on and so forth. Then reinforce ALL of this by having the announcers comment on and put over their actions and promos.

Here is an awesome Rock heel promo and should be studied by today's generation. Nothing was out of bounds in his attempt to draw heat.

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Or look at this older promo with The Mountie vs. Bret Hart. Now this is a mid card feud over the IC title! But look how both guys put their self over, and at the same time put each other over. What happened to these?

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This is done on very rare occasions now, and it has made for boring television.

Why do wrestlers no longer cut promos? I haven’t seen a legit promo from Evan Bourne, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, MVP, Primo, Chris Masters, and so many others. If there have been some, I don’t remember them. Why are there so few promos in WWE feuds? Why are there no promo interruptions? Do you think the WWE needs MORE promos? How can the WWE reincorporate the promo into their programming which I feel is a lost art without it looking or coming across as forced?

I think what they should do is loosen up the collars that they have around the necks of the guys who can really benefit from cutting a good promo. Guys who are generally over with the crowd, but are stuck in the mid card with reactions getting weaker and weaker each week. Instead of scripts, wrestlers can be given basic talking points that they go over with the creative team, and if reasonable, maybe have some input on their personal and character development. There does not seem to be a method to the madness of who gets pushed, or who gets television time. I think they are all for the most part competent workers, but I would appreciate some character growth on screen. Start that growth by incorporating more promos.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Great thread idea. I think that promos are even more important than in-ring ability because they give you a reason to care about someone's character and feud.

Why do wrestlers no longer cut promos?

Well they do, it's just mainly the main eventers who do now. The midcarders either don't get to, or they get interrupted. Perhaps WWE wants only their main eventers to do long promos? Bad idea on their part.

I haven’t seen a legit promo from Evan Bourne, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, MVP, Primo, Chris Masters, and so many others. If there have been some, I don’t remember them.

I only remember one from Bourne and it was awful. They could have given him a chance to improve though. Put him on a talking segment backstage, or have him go on the Abe Washington show. Swagger's are fine, so are Kofi's, MVP is average, Primo's almost as bad as his brother though and Masters had his chance 3+ years ago. The newer guys need mic time whether they are good or not. The less gifted ones have to have a chance to improve their mic skills. If not, we will end up with another Jeff Hardy when it comes to mic skills, and none of us want THAT. Let them practice mic skills more, WWE! Someone can't improve if they don't get a chance to try more.

Why are there so few promos in WWE feuds?

Not sure. WWE really needs to have more promos by EVERYONE, not just the main eventers. The midcarders are tomorrow's main eventers, tag teams are tomorrow's single's stars, and even the divas deserve mic time. Whoever decided to cut out most of the promos made a bad decision in my book. Everyone who is being pushed should get at least some time on the mic unless they have a silent character.

Why are there no promo interruptions?

They still do some in the backstage interviews, Sheamus interrupted Cena last night. Doing more interruptions of in-ring promos by having someone else come out and cut a promo of their own, is something I would like to see done more often.

Do you think the WWE needs MORE promos?

Yes! A thousand times, YES!

How can the WWE reincorporate the promo into their programming which I feel is a lost art without it looking or coming across as forced?

Simply by cutting a little time off of their main eventer promos to give time to the midcarders, tag teams, and divas. Everyone being pushed deserves mic time because it is a chance at giving their future fans a reason to care about them or not.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

The last set of promos I really enjoyed was between Triple H and Orton leading up to their Mania 25 match. It wasn't that the mic work was so great, it was just because the feud had such a "personal" deep seeded hatred feel to it. I think MVP can cut some pretty decent promos every now and then, but his overall his mic work isn't all that good. The same goes for some of the other names you mentioned.

Yeah the scripted promos do kill the flow of the promos because they sometimes come off as forced. I think the problem is that you really just don't have that many guys that are great on the mic in WWE. I know there will be plenty of people who say The Miz is great, but besides him and Christian, there's really nobody else that makes you say, " man I can't wait for him to get on the mic!". I mean look at who's in your videos....The Rock! WWE doesn't have a Rock now a days. They might have someone whop comes close, but still, they're not The Rock.

I enjoyed HBK and Vince's segment in the ring last night, but again it wasn't really both men were doing great mic work, it was more so the situation with Bret Hart that added that tension, and made it entertaining.

 

[BladeRunner]

Yeah promos are absolutely crucial. They're the reason for each match happening. Sure some matches can be thrown together here and there. But if you only put on random matches with no point to them other than them just being matches, then why should I care?

WWE does only seem to give it's main eventers promos, and the others are lucky to get a promo once a month. CM Punk does great promos. I've liked the ones he's done on Smackdown. I bet a lot more midcarders could too if they were given a chance.

The best matches are those where there's a meaning to them. A reason why THIS guy wants to kick THAT guy's ass. The best PPVs are the ones who have matches, where the people have been built up with promos in such a way that you can't miss a match.

I know different people expect different things from wrestling, but I expect equal parts promo and wrestling, so that everything has a good reason for it.

 

[Trill Co$by]

I'm going to say this one time, and one time only... If you want to believe something in wrestling is real, then stay off of the internet wrestling sites.

Seriously, I get sick and tired of these rant threads with people saying "Oh I miss how it used to seem real" and to be honest, if you wouldn't be so caught up into being a Smark then you'd be able to watch the show without wondering if the two people really hate each other.

 

[Suneeboy]

I'm going to say this one time, and one time only... If you want to believe something in wrestling is real, then stay off of the internet wrestling sites.

Seriously, I get sick and tired of these rant threads with people saying "Oh I miss how it used to seem real" and to be honest, if you wouldn't be so caught up into being a Smark then you'd be able to watch the show without wondering if the two people really hate each other.

Its hard resisting not responding to you to so I’m going to cave and entertain you here, and hopefully turn it into a positive.

If you think that there are people most particularly on this board who think that wrestling is real and not worked you need to go to your local shrink and get your head examined. What we are discussing here is the art of delivering a promo, and how the WWE used them less in building feuds and character development. Where you have gotten your statement from is completely off base and doesn’t even respond to what anyone has mentioned in the thread.

The question here is, “Why aren’t promos used as frequently as they were in the past when developing characters and feuds?” Or it can be in disagreement with you saying that the WWE currently uses promos well and the promo isn’t a lost art in the WWE. Can you contribute to that or was that not clear enough for you to comprehend the direction this discussion is supposed to go?

 

[Judgeman03]

The art of promo cutting actually goes to a much deeper issue. The fact is that WWE doesn;t cater to live crowds. WWE heavily scripts their promos because they are writing for the TV audience. Wrestlers aren't allowed to play towards the live audience and gauge their reactions so they can cut based on them. That's why you don;t get promos like back in the day, because back in the day there was less emphasis on working the people at home, and more on working the fans in attendance. That's why promos by guys like Flair and Rock sounded so much more natural than anything said by Cena or Orton, because they cut based on fan reactions, instead of cutting so that they can get the TV viewers to feel the way they want them to feel.

Now I don;t fault WWE too much for this business-wise, because the reaction of the live audience really doesn't mean anything. What the fans see on TV is what brings fans to show and buys their crap and shows and online. And if the fans react poor to the live show, they can edit it so that the TV audience doesn;t see it. Go on YouTube, there's a vid of them using the same cheer sound-byte over and over at different spots. They actually use canned cheers. Who's to say they don;t do that for boos and other reactions?

The point is that WWE's promos don't sound like they used to because WWE has a formula to the way they present what their wrestlers say. And it's been working just fine for business. Besides, as long as they have control over that, they can control who gets over and who doesn't. Wouldn't want someone Vince hates to get more over than GoldenBoy Cena.

 

[Billie Jean]

Great Thread.

I'm going to say this one time, and one time only... If you want to believe something in wrestling is real, then stay off of the internet wrestling sites.

Yeah. This is it. Because staying off this site is going to make the WWE more realistic.(Sarcasm) Realism is part of the story. You would not watch Coronation Street to watch something that you are so sure is fake would you? For the most part it is people fighting and of course we, as fans, want it to be as high a quality as possible.

Yeah promos are absolutely crucial. They're the reason for each match happening. Sure some matches can be thrown together here and there. But if you only put on random matches with no point to them other than them just being matches, then why should I care?

WWE does only seem to give it's main eventers promos, and the others are lucky to get a promo once a month. CM Punk does great promos. I've liked the ones he's done on Smackdown. I bet a lot more midcarders could too if they were given a chance.

The best matches are those where there's a meaning to them. A reason why THIS guy wants to kick THAT guy's ass. The best PPVs are the ones who have matches, where the people have been built up with promos in such a way that you can't miss a match.

I know different people expect different things from wrestling, but I expect equal parts promo and wrestling, so that everything has a good reason for it.

^^^This is a fantastic way to round it up.

Anyone can just throw a match together. But if a match has meaning and a little character development which we would get from the mic, then the rivalry's would be better. Which would make the matches better, because there is more of a feeling in it rather than just two random guys. An example, Rock and Stone Cold, Lot's of mic and promo time, people cared, the rest is history. One of the greatest rivalry's ever. Now to a more recent feud. Drew McIntyre against John Morrison. I know it is not a great example but it is the bet one I can think of on the spot. People just are not caring about this rivalry what so ever. Their match at TLC was actually better that it looks, but the fans are not interested because to them it's just two random guys( well, maybe not Morrison). It's about giving expousour to the mid card.

Do you think the WWE needs MORE promos?

One hundred percent yes! Promos make wrestling very interesting and not just plain and boring. Again, it is a fake sport, just like a Sope Oprah, it is there to be entertained. Not to be taken seriously. And promos help get some of the little guys get some TV time and it lets the fan here the superstars personality.

How can the WWE reincorporate the promo into their programming which I feel is a lost art without it looking or coming across as forced?

Digger Dias just took the words out of my mouth. All that would have to be done is take a little time of the Main Event. With WWE now a days people usually just end up appearing on any brand anyway, so it would not just have to be RAW. I am sure if they needed some one in the mid card to get some mic exposure they could put them on SmackDown or ECW just for a while.

 

[Mr_billy]

Promos need a comeback. Without promo's in a feud, why should we care? If a wrestler is good in the ring and can't cut a promo, bring back managers. Really would 50k or so kill vince to make his wrestlers better heels or faces because people will care about characters.

 

[KKarvox]

I remember reading something Mark Madden wrote a couple of weeks ago about how bad promos are now because they are over-scripted, and i couldn't agree more. If there is one solid reason that the main-event scene is stale, it is because characters are not given any real freedom with their promos to get over or gain heat. The PG rating is probably the reason that promos are over-scripted, because they don't want any slips that could get they in trouble with the FCC. Unfortunatly, the effect that has is bland promos. Even though their are talented and over stars, they aren't allowed to develop their characters and connect with the audience because of this.

 

[CardiffCam]

I agree, promos really add to matches IMO, and it shouldn't just be main eventers who do the promos, it should be midcarders.

Kofi can talk. Kofi can talk great. So why did he go 2 years without a single promo, with a Jamaican accent that hindered any chance he would have had of cutting a good promo, then show his amazing promo skills with an amazing one against Orton, destroying his car, then going back to being silent?

Bourne can't talk. He sounds like a pre-pubescant kid that wants a cookie. If only they could get some-one else to talk for him. Some sort of role, that involves them being his mouthpiece, while he does all the in-ring work? You know, some sort of manager? Oh wait..

I think managers could make any midcarder fine for talking, and could help anyone develop. It seems that they don't let anyone without some level of charisma into the main event scene- say what you want about Jeff and Batista, when tehy talk they get a reaction. So it doesn't need to be a particularly charismatic manager. For instance, in TNA Don West is managing Amazing Red, and is doing a great job. Though Red isn't on tv as much, thats through no fault of his or Wests. And no, WWE, eye candy is not what a manager should be.

Teddy Long would be better served as a manager for a superstar than as a GM. Put him with Evan Bourne, and have him put over his athleticism and high flying, and say he could put anyone out with the SSP. Hart could obviously manage the Hart Dynasty, though Natalya's doing a fine job of that atm. The possibilities are endless!

So, in conclusion, they should have more promos. Everyone should have more promos. Only a minute or so for the midcarders, nothing special, but it'll make a huge difference.

 

[Freddy4190]

Definitely need to bring them back. Everyone used to be able to cut a promo, even if they sucked.

It's the same people cutting the same promo about the same bullshit every week. Chris Jericho comes out and calls everyone a hypocrite, then calls their mother a parasite. DX comes out and asks everyone a question, makes a cheesy joke and says they're the best. John Cena comes out and says he will not back down. Who cares anymore? I mute it half the time. Jack Swagger was cutting some badass promos on ECW. He worked on his lisp and everything and was killin' the mic. Then he just... stopped. What the fuck?!

Usually they just throw a feud together and say "Oh, well.. I want your belt. So. Let's fight at [insert PPV here]" There's no build-up. No promos. No nothing. Quite lazy in my opinion. John Morrison used to cut some of the best fucking promos i've seen in a long time, then he just stopped..

 

[varney]

i would love to hear the arugment against me but i easily believe that CM Punk's promo from night of champions was the best promo in 09 and possibly the last few years, it seemed spur of the moment, it was done practically in the crowd, and it had a lot of crowd interaction. the art of the promo has been almost lost, and i doubt it will come back till the art of the mouthpieces (managers) comes back as well