I've heard from countless people on this forums that the wrestlers of today lack a character. It seems like they are blandless drones wandering around the ring for our amusement. We complain about how RAW is all about entertainment and features no wrestling while we praise Smackdown and ECW for the opposite. There have been great matches in 2009 but the problem is that there haven't been many great promos and that is what we need more of.
But why do we particularly connote being able to cut a great promo as having a character? Why have they been tied together in such a way? Bret Hart is one of the all time greats, yet I wouldnt say he was particularly good on the microphone. He was immensely popular simply due to the fact that people loved to watch him wrestle. Which is sort of what the wrestling business is all about entertaining people in a 4 (or 6 as the case may be) sided ring by offering yourself and all that you can do to the audience. But Im sure youll address this now.
Sure there have been wrestlers such as Chris Benoit and Brock Lesnar who were over mainly because of their matches and not necessarily their mic or promo skills. However, they are on the short list of those who can achieve that.
I wouldnt necessarily say they are on the shortlist. In ECW, CM Punk was mainly over because he was an entertaining wrestler, and hardly cut any promos at all, even during his title run. However it was still an immensely popular period for him. If you have the talent to achieve it, a wrestler can get over in this way, without being Ricky Steamboat in the ring. Speaking of which, he was another great non-promo reliant wrestler.
What is the main problem people have with Shelton Benjamin? He is bland and uncharismatic and can't cut a promo to save his life. He can have all the great matches he wants to, but if he can captivate the audience with his words then he cannot captivate the audience with his in-ring work.
But heres the thing. In the 2004 to 2006 period, he WAS loved by the fans. He hardly did any talking at all, but everyone was calling him a future world champion. He captivated people with his insane dives in Money in The Bank matches, or just on regular TV, after he was drafted to RAW in 2004. Every wrestling fan was swooning that he wasnt being utilised properly and he was so underrated when he stole the show every night such as the Gold Rush Tournament in 2005. The fact of the matter is, he COULD get over being uncharismatic and bored. The fact of the matter is that when given the ball he couldnt run with it. We might say had he been more confident he could have gone further.
But by the same token, would Bret Hart have gone further if he had charisma like Dwayne Johnson? I dont think so, which is why I dont necessarily think that skills on the stick would have helped Benjamin, as he could excel and could have succeeded without them, if not for other factors.
I will hear that it's what you do in the ring that counts and then you can make all the promos you want. When a new superstar debuts, you usually get a debut promo from him or her lasting a couple of weeks before their first match. I remember tuning in to Smackdown one night and I saw a promo about this new superstar Kizarny. It was strange and weird but it made me want to see what he is all about. When it came time to wrestle, he was awful and was released shortly thereafter. That goes to show that you can have great promos, but you are screwed if you can't have a good match.
This is pretty much another point in my pocket. All the great promos cant save a boring in ring worker. Everyone credits The Rock for the catchphrases and rants, but he was just as able in the ring as anyone. He could really go, which is why people cared about him, because he WASNT a failure in the ring, he wasnt just a one trick pony.
That was one of the best heel promos I've seen from HHH and it led to a great match between him and Randy Orton at the Royal Rumble. There need to be more heel or face promos like these to sell to the crowd so great matches can build from it.
But would the crowd have really been looking forward to it, had HHH and Orton not been good in the ring? If they had not seen them wrestle great matches on TV, would they have been as keen to purchase the PPV? Methinks not. Because although The Miz is very entertaining, and can create a brilliant feud out of nothing, the problem is that I would not look forward to a PPV match with him in it at all. The only reason people wanted to see The Miz vs Cena was to see him get thrashed.
Morrison (my poster child for this particular debate it seems) on the other hand is the reverse. He could cut no promos at all, and maybe even have sparing appearances on Smackdown!, but I know that at the PPV, I am going to be dazzled by his wrestling, and I will really enjoy the match. And that it seems is the main point Im arguing. If you are gearing all your TV time to building a PPV, dont you want to entice your audience to watch something brilliant, instead of another squash they may not be interested in, albeit a well built up one?
And if you are aiming to get TV ratings up, and sell more advertising space, wouldnt you be more enticed to put better matches on your show rather than promos, as they will almost always have better potential of being memorable and enjoyable?
Jericho and Punk cut great promos each and every week and the crowd buys into what they are saying and boo the hell out of them. If you can't do a good promo, then they are not going to care much about your matches.
But here is the flaw in your logic. This would be a great point, if only CM Punk and Jericho were awful in the ring. If they were boring and sluggish, but still managed to get over solely on promo skills, then you would have a point. But they arent. They have had great matches all year, not only on pay per view but also on TV. This only accentuates what theyre saying, proving they have every right to be obnoxious. They are not only two of the best promo cutters in the WWE right now, but also some of the finest in ring workers.
