The Best Promo Man Ever!

[blackhart07]

The best Cornette shoot was on Raw when he ripped into Phil Mushnick. Phil Mushnick was some guy at the time that hated pro wrestling. He wrote colums for the NY post. He would say stupid stuff like "wrestling is stupid" blah blah pointless stuff. Then one time I guess he said how wrestling was responsible for Brian Pillmans death. Cornette then went NUTS and at the end telling Phil Mushnick to go to hell. Classic stuff, its on youtube.

 

[Evan Snow-Wolf]

I am not sure if there was any one best promo guy. I've seen some that were good at one thing, but not good at another.

The Rock seems like a popular choice. His comedy was gold, but I never felt his promos ever convinced me he was going to kick anyone's ass. Shining things, turning them sideways and sticking it up one maybe, but not really beat someone.

Roddy Piper did that, but as Piper kind of only had one mode. Thankfully he was really really good at that one mode. The Hart(s) promos were boring for the most part. HHH has done some good ones. Austin got old the second the whole "WHAT!?" thing started.

Edge is terrible. Just terrible. It makes me wish I still had my DVR to fast forward through them.

If I had to pick one today, it might Kennedy. He's gotten a lot better lately. I especially like the fake legends of HBK's past promo he did.

 

[rockofhysteria]

While it is true that people like Hogan HHH, Flair, Rhodes, Ventura, Savage, Steamboat and The Rock are some of the greatest Promo men in wrestling history. My vote goes for the one man whom without him paving the way with his promos those individuals wouldn't have been as good and that is Superstar Billy Graham he paved the way in so many ways for the stars of today not the least bit is in promos without him to learn from in my opinion Rick Flair. Rhodes, Hogan HHH and The Rock wouldn't be as good .

 

[8thwotwATG]

A guy who always got my attention when he was on the mic was, believe it or not, Jimmy Snuka. When he cut a promo, even though a good chunk of the time it didn't make a lot of sense, he always had that nut job look in his eyes, and made you believe that somebody was gonna get a serious beating when they stepped into the ring with him. look at some of the stuff he did when he feuded w/ Piper back in the early eighties, it's absolutely classic.

 

[grifdog44]

"The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes must be included especially if you watch old tapes from Georgia, Florida, and all parts in between. With this question, you have to look at the "old-schoolers", Terry Funk, Superstar Billy Graham, Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Road Warriors/Precious Paul, and Jimmy Hart from Memphis/Georgia. Gotta look beyond obvious people like the Rock, Stone Cold, etc.

 

[samus500]

To me, its gotta be Jim Cornette. I mean check out some of these shoot promos he did on RAW in 1997:

Raw 10-06-97 Treatment of Wrestlers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8U8PnNDT1B8

Raw 10-13-97 Phil Mushnick
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rb9sfvvsSA

Raw 10-20-97 Phil Mushnick (Part 2)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxmtj5qSwPs

Raw 10-27-97 "Icon"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMIonbMYhjE

Then they stopped, but there are a few more he did outside of the WWF. I honestly dont know why. Maybe they were too controversial, but if so it only makes alot of green in the end. He gives great analogys whenever he gives his promos, and backs them up with damning statements. Now that TNA has Cornette, I also don't know why they are not utilizing him more in this fashon, giving shoots or basically alot of speaking roles, as whenever the stick is in front of his mouth, pure gold always comes out of it. Plain and simple. Stupid TNA

 

[G-Cartel]

one thing that is missing is the visual energy. Nowadays when wrestlers stand on the mic they all stand still. They stand and work there lines. Look at Attitude Era videos and you see Austin and Rock and Jericho pacing around. Even if theyre talking or listening theyre pacing around adding that extra energy. Everyone did it. HHH paced around, Angle paced around. Jericho paced around. Thats one key element which i feel is missing, movement.

 

[No Count Pup]

This is a tough question. If we are talking about those in non-wrestling roles, I would say it's a tie between Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan. But I'm sure it would make more sense to name wrestlers.

If we're talking about wrestlers, I would give the nod to Stone Cold Steve Austin. His promos on Bret Hart, Vince McMahon, Mike Tyson, and The Rock were stuff of legend. And then there was his famous King of the Ring promo. He was the top promo guy during WWE's greatest boom. He deserves the distinction of being the best.

 

[gleamx]

i'll have to go with piper, he laid the groundwork for so many heels in the business. if you didn't pay attention to piper's promos then you must've lost it. anytime piper got on the mic was golden, he definetly knew how to draw on the crowd. my actual first choice was james hellwig(rofl).

 

[klunderbunker]

I'd go with Jericho. Some of the stuff he'd say was just great. He turn Stephanie into one of the most hated women in WWE. His promos in the invasion were great, with he and the Rock taking turns insulting Booker and Steph. His timing was great and he could trade insults with anyone.

 

[crazy88]

Best promo man ever? To be honest, I feel this is to much of an open ended question. I cannot, in good conscience, name 1 guy the best b\c their have been to many who have done it so well. So, in deference to David Letterman, I will list my 10 favorite promos I've ever seen. Here they are:
10. Steve Austin's ECW rants against WCW and Eric Bischoff. Not only were they hysterical, bit Austin's intensity and anger were palpable. A sure sign of the greatness to come.
9. Hollywood Hogan\ Roddy Piper "Icon" promo at Halloween Havoc '96. You could feel the antimosity between these two. And the way they fed off of each other is a lesson in how to give a powerful promo.
8. Shane Douglas' "ECW Title" promo. A rebelious, incendiary moment made classic by the Franchise. One of many great Franchise moments.
7. DX's "Thank you" promo to Vince and Shane. Every wrestling fan remembers the great DX reunion of '06. For a while, every DX promo was pure comedy, including their "McMahon" promo( BTW, Trips impersenation of Vince's power walk alone was worth it.) But this promo, shot after a few weeks of the McMahon's having DX beat to holy high hell, put the intensity back into DX. It was Triple H's intensity that made it. When he said " Thank you for reminding us just who the hell we are!" the hair on my arms stood. Powerful.
6. Edge and Christian doing Kurt Angle's theme on the KAZOO! Honetly, I remember almost choking on my beer the 1st time I saw it. The 1st sign of greatness from 2 remarkable guys on the mic.
5. Macho Man's promo on the Nitro after Bash at the Beach '96. When he says " Take the worse thing you can think of, and multiply it by 10 million, then you can start to think of the things I'm gonna do to you!" I almost felt sorry for Hogan. The genius, intensity, and sheer insanity of Savage. An off the charts promo worker.
4. Shawn Michaels on Piper's Pit, August '05. A true show of The Rowdy One's mastery of the mic. Perfectly set up the Hogan\Michaels showdown. Piper runs the show, wanting answers as to why HBK gave Hulk Sweet Chin Music. The end has Michaels superkicking Piper. With 1 interview, with Michaels nary saying a word & Hogan not even there, Piper gets HBK the heat he needs.
3. "This is your Life, Rock!" probably don't even need to give commentary on this one. Will live forever just simply for the phrase "Poontang Pie." And Mankind's response: "I didn't do to well in biology, Rock, but I don't think I have a poontang pie!" Classic.
2. Cactus Jack's "Anti- Hardcore" promos. The deep thoughts, passion, intensity, and thought provoking nature of these promos were off the page. Foley simply at his best. Every wrestler should be forced to watch at least 2 of these promos as a tutorial.
1. Jim Cornette's "Phil Mushnick" promo. Wow! My buddies and I couldn't stop talking about it for days. Of course, 1 of my friends happened to be in the crowd. In 1 fell swoop, Cornette verbally castrates Mushnick, a jackass who hated wrestling and wrote a nasty article saying that Brian Pillman's death should end wrestling, stands up for the business, and defends Pillman. This promo irrefutably proves that the best promos are the best when they're real.
Well, that's my list. Some may agree, some might not. If you don't, maybe you can share your opinio..... IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOUR OPINIONS ARE!

 

[Kliq]

I pretty much just skimmed through the last few pages, but I am pretty sure I'm accurate when I say that no one mentioned Big Sexy Kevin Nash!? I think one of the guys who reviewed an episode of TNA Impact said it best "Kevin Nash has more charisma on a couch then most do in the ring or anywhere else". He is a mic God and I love everything he does.

 

[blackhart07]

I forgot Austin and his promos on Bret Hart i think the one he did before SS 1996 where they had him just standing in a dark ally and the picture was black and white was just so good. I loved his promos with Bret and i think they only got better when his feud with The Rock came. Austin is very underated on the mic.

 

[Afro-Ameri-Spawn]

Hands down, the best promo man ever was..... Jimmy "Mouth of The South" Hart!

Think about it. Jimmy used to put over anybody and everybody from The Honky Tonk Man to Greg The Hammer Valentine to Dino Bravo to Adorable Adrian Adonis to The One Man Gang to Kamala to anybody else who may have been in the Hart Family and the Dungeon of Doom. He hyped wrestlers who were heels and then hyped for Hulk Hogan as a face. He even hyped for the man who he turned on Hogan for in The Giant. This man was very versatile and had one of the most distinguishable voices to ever be heard in sports entertainment. His promos are some of the most memorable and annoying at the same time. But you always remembered them and knew that whatever guy he was hyping was going to be the man to watch. I know alot of people won't agree with me on this one, but you gotta admit that managers are a long lost commodity that should return one day and Jimmy Hart was one of the best.

 

[matty]

It does suck to see such good in ring talent with not much going on with the mic. Bobby Lashley is just not up to par there, nor is Jeff Hardy or a bunch of other big names. The Rock and Austin are definitely top ten. Bret Hart was great especially when he was bad. HBK of course. Vince is incredible. Hogan no matter who he was or when he was. Jimmy Hart for sure. There are so many greats. Ric Flair is very charismatic. Undertaker back in the day. I miss the good promos, the ones that actually mattered back in the day.

 

[JasonSensation]

Ummm... how is it that we haven't seen Hot Rod mentioned yet? Roddy Piper was amazing. The man could fill an entire segment, easily. He could work magic with anyone he was given a mic with. Piper was a pioneer for many mic greats and has definitely influenced some of the new talent springing up. Anyone here seen Larry Sweeney cut a promo? Youtube it. The man is amazing as well. And if you want some seriously entertaining stuff, pick up ROH's 100th Show DVD and check out Jim Cornette ripping apart John Zandig. Long, satisfying segment that saw some great stuff from him. It's reminiscent of his glory days, and IMO better in some ways.

 

[gunslinger72]

I just don't understand all the praise for The Rock. His promos are very similar to a Hulk Hogan match...pretty much the same few things. Know your roll, candy ass, if ya smell....its all the same.
I have always thought Arn Anderson was one of the top mic men in history. Foley is pure genius. Raven had some great ones in his time. And of course never forget Bobby Heenan!

 

[SergioGel]

THE ROCK

The only man who could be billed as a heel and have everyone in the arena "singin' along with the Great One", and when he returned after going "Hollywood" he cut some of the best heel promos to date. Simply Amazing

 

[rockofhysteria]

THE ROCK

The only man who could be billed as a heel and have everyone in the arena "singin' along with the Great One", and when he returned after going "Hollywood" he cut some of the best heel promos to date. Simply Amazing

Dude I totally agree with you about the Rock when he came back as a heel in 03 his promos were funny as heel do you remember Backlas 03 when he was calling Terri Runnels Lemon Panties and Giggle Panties lol. then he said that we could wipe a cockatoo ass with what we think about Goldberg lol he was good on the mic in that last run with wwe.

 

[Bammbammbrody]

If I were to look back in history and pull out a few names the two that completely destroy all other comers are Michael PS Hayes and Roddy Piper.

In my mind Michael Hayes is probably the most engaging and passionate talker in the biz and brings forth an intensity and conviction I don't believe has ever been matched while spewing out incredibly original promos.

Roddy Piper is in my opinion the fastest thinking man in the business and is probably the most unpredicible while still coherant(most of the time) as well as being a fabulous comedian. Heel or face, Hot Rod can work a crowd better than all!

I'm a ****e for Bret Hart's 1997 heel mic skills and I think that era of his outside the ring entertainment work is sincerely underrated.

Mick Foley is always top of the list because of his intensity and realism and I think that he's far more articulate and thoughtful than about 99% of all others on the still. I'd like to compare him to Nash or somebody like that, but Foley has much more than JUST CHARISMA, he's a very well spoken man.

Brian Pillman is "DUH" probably my favourite "out there" promo men, because he combined the unpredictability of say Piper with the intellect of Foley and the passion and conviction of PS Hayes. His mic work during his brief ECW run and WWF was off the charts and I consider his heeling the ECW crowd to be one of my favourite promos of all time. He just thought one step ahead and I respect that.

Finally, Jake Roberts' work was unbelievable and I really love how he reached through the TV and I believe his promos are what got him over more than the DDT and Damien combined! As a face, he scared you like a heel and he just had this underlying hate and vindictivity(sp?) which just made him so effing compelling. I truly loved his work during his first WWF run and his feud with Sting had some stellar promos as well, too bad it was old Bill Watts' WCW.

One guy who's promos are to me WAY OVERRATED is Ric Flair's. IMO, they're fairly stale after a while, and he really hasn't deviated all too much over the years. He woooos, takes off his jacket, talks about sex, talks about his money, talks sex again, Space mountain, calls some guy in the audience "FATBOY" and his eyes bug out. To be the man, you've got to BEAT THE MAN! Rather it's Ricky Morton or Ricky Steamboat or Sting or Hogan or Savage or any guy working today, it basically comes off with an identical tone and I believe his mic skills are rather easy to achieve. He has TONNES of charisma, but his promos are not something I would deem as thoughtful or specificly memorable. They all kinda melt together into the CLICHED Flair promo. Meh.

1. Michael Hayes
2. Roddy Piper
3. Jake Roberts
4. TIE- Brian Pillman and Mick Foley

 

[RikRaines]

The Best Promo Man EVER wasn't even a wrestler. There is one man that could draw heat better then no other and still have the crowd love him, cause of things he said. Oh and not to mention he had Team 3 errrrrrr The Dudley Boyz backing him. That's right, I mean Joel "Your girlfriend keeps me on speed dial, cause she loves the way I Star 69 her" Gertner!!!

 

[TheOneBigWill]

Raven: There are several Superstars who can cut great promos, but honestly.. noone has ever had the skills, or poetic-like effect that Raven has had. The man uses a vast vocabulary, & an even deeper "misery" to set forth his promos. I loved every promo he ever had in W.C.W.

Well, almost. I suppose his time during that whole Kanyon "What about me?" storyline, where he left & they showed Raven's mother & how he secretly was rich & loaded.. that kinda hurt him, in my opinion.. but outside of that, the promos he'd cut with the Flock, how he'd make it seem like their pain, was his misery. How he cared when noone else would.. yet he'd hurt them just as much as everyone else, & they still "loved" him for it.

This was just one of the many you can find on youtube..

[youtube]MqnKA4Y2BWM[/youtube]

 

[hardyisgod]

If ya smell.....what the rock is cooking, Finally the Rock has come back... to wherever, the rock says........ it goes on and on.
as soon as the crowed even thought that the rock was gonna belt one of these classics out the whole crowed would scream along with him. The rock had more charisma then most men in the business put together.
Will there ever be a man like the rock again, i beleive we are seeing it happen right in front of our eyes in Mr. Kennedy and MVP.

 

[Undercurrent]

Jake The Snake Roberts

Jake The Snake Roberts had the ability to send chills down my spine every time he picked up a microphone. He sucked me in and made me listen closely to his every word. If there was anything I remembered about those early shows I tuned into..it was Jake. His promo's were always so haunting and poetic and have left quite the impression of myself. I'll never forget any of them. Do you trust me?????

Here are a few of my favourite quotes from Jake.

"It's more shameful to deny fear than it is to run from danger."

"The blind leading the blind? Even a fool knows that a man only has five senses. But a snake? He has six. We always do it better in the dark."

"He who imitates evil always goes beyond the example that is set. On the contrary, he who imitates good always falls a little bit short."

Other Favourites
Brian Pillman
Bret Hart
The Rock
Steve Austin
Chris Jericho
Mick Foley
Hulk Hogan
Raven

 

[IrishCanadian25]

To me, its gotta be Jim Cornette. I mean check out some of these shoot promos he did on RAW in 1997:
Then they stopped, but there are a few more he did outside of the WWF. I honestly dont know why. Maybe they were too controversial, but if so it only makes alot of green in the end. He gives great analogys whenever he gives his promos, and backs them up with damning statements. Now that TNA has Cornette, I also don't know why they are not utilizing him more in this fashon, giving shoots or basically alot of speaking roles, as whenever the stick is in front of his mouth, pure gold always comes out of it. Plain and simple. Stupid TNA

I agree with samus500 completely. I am totally in favor of Jim Cornette as the best promo guy ever. If you go to samus's original post, a lot of the clips he posts are of shoot interviews from the 90's. I also want to focus on the non-shoot, less controversial mic work he did as a manager.

In the 1990's, Cornette was the final breath of the Smokey Mountain Wrestling territory. In an effort to generate interest, he co-branded with Vince McMahon and brought the Heavenly Bodies to WWF. Since Pritchard and DelRay were not particularly great on the mic, Cornette and his trademark tennis racket took center stage and turned The Bodies into tag champions.

Then, the greatest heel of all time, Yokozuna. Yoko didn't speak English, and Mr. Fuji didn't do it well. The only thing missing was Cornette as Yoko's "American Spokesperson." The promos Jim cut on the likes of Luger, Hart, and Undertaker were legendary. People in the US who hated Yoko for his anti-american sentiments also hated him because of Cornette's arrogance and annoyance factor. Also, cut from the same mold as Jimmy Hart, Cornette was a constant outside presence, shouting orders at wrestlers and creating new dimensions in matches.