What superstar was the greatest on the mic?

[Big Papa Santo]

Being good at delivering promos is one of the talents that every great WWE superstar needs to have, you need to know how to excite the audience and how to get a crowd behind you (Or against you) And we have had many great superstars bless us with some of the most unforgettable promos of all time, but who in your opinion do you think was the greatest on the mic in WWE history? My vote goes for the Brahma Bull, The Rock. He was as charismatic on a microphone as he was in a ring delivering some of the funniest promos in company history.
So once again, post your choice below

 

[johnnybbad78]

My vote is always for The Rock....I believe he is the all time best, but you left some great names off that list.

Randy "Macho Man" Savage: Sure, alot of the time you couldn't understand a thing he said, but the man gave epic promos.

Ultimate Warrior: His weren't so much about not being able to hear what he says, but understanding the content in which it was delievered, still though, gave some VERY memorable promos.

Hulk Hogan: He basically coined the phrase "Well ya know something Mean Gene." His promos in the mid to late 80's were probably the best in the business, and really set the standard for anyone else to come.

Chris Jericho: Quite possibly the only person that can give The Rock a run for his money. Very creative and can go many different directions.

CM Punk: I mean, come on, like him or not, wrestling is becoming fun again because of him. You never quite know what he's going to say. And making fun of the way John Larengitis holds his mic is priceless, because it's true.

 

[Azane]

Rocky had so much crowd control that his promos had a whole extra level to them that I've never seen another superstar truly reach.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Rowdy Roddy Piper, Chris Jericho and Nick Bockwinkel aren't featured in the poll therefore it negates the entire point of the thread.

Greatest person with the stick is and always will be Ric Flair. The Rock has the capacity to entertain people, hes been doing it every since he transitioned into The Rock from Rocky Maivia, but before he was even stepping into the ring there was a guy doing the exact same thing every week, he spoke about being a limosiune drivin', jet flyin', kiss stealin', wheelin' dealin' son of a gun and he lived the lifestyle too for everything he had it for and that man is still better than The Rock on a microphone. The Rock would say the same lines every week, "Finally The Rock has came back," "One on One with The Great One," "Know Your Role...," "If You Smell..." etc, etc.

Ric Flair used to say about four things consistently and come up with fresh material every week. Whether it be Space Mountain or else, the guy revolutionized microphone work in professional wrestling. Watch his DVD's, he was saying things years before they became cool to say. Ric Flair out shines The Rock on the microphone, Ric Flair out shines them all on a microphone.

 

[PeaceAndLove]

Im going to make this short and sweet....the winner is DEL RIO! not really god help us all but i would say what aspect were you looking for in the promo's? An all around promo is flair hands down. Charisma is rock. Intensity goes to my all time fave macho man. intelligence would be either jericho or punk im undecided on it. Comedy i might get shanked for this but im going to say y2j. Or deep angry voice with words that end in ugh you have triple h. C'mon i had to haha

 

[bluenoser11]

everyone seems to be forgetting road warrior hawk.once he got comfortable on the mic,he could cut a promo that would leave ric flair speechless.he delivered with such intensity it made you glad he wasn't talking about you.for those who are too young, go to youtube.

 

[DiscipleofWrestling]

The Rock is best on the list as far as mic skills are. Not just the things that he would say but the rapid fire response time he would have to anything impromptu. CM Punk is moving up the ranks right now in my eyes for his mic skills... or excuse me, pipe-bombs. His promo at the end of the Raw Roulette episode this year was phenomenal and showed what CM Punk is capable of on the mic. But for consistency and entertainment, I have to go with The Rock of the guys mentioned on this list.

HOWEVER, I agree with someone else on here who said someone forgot to mention one of the all-time greats on this list, a person whose mic skills are shockingly underrated. Jake Roberts was probably the greatest promo guy in wrestling period. Jake didn't scream, holler, or do clever catchphrases. Jake's deliberate delivery made his promos mesmerizing. Take this gem for example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzE9UgLGjWs

His words were great, but the delivery of it was excellent. He sold it with his eyes. So many people in wrestling say the words but they don't convey the belief that their character believes what they're saying. Roberts made you believe he felt exactly what he said. Sometimes, we think about mic skills as being just what someone says. Sometimes, it's all about delivery.

 

[JWGunslinger]

Rowdy Roddy Piper, Chris Jericho and Nick Bockwinkel aren't featured in the poll therefore it negates the entire point of the thread.

Damn straight, especially Jericho and Bockwinkel, those guys were incredible on the mic, and Arn Anderson's always got me fired up. But with these available choices I have to side with Rocky, nobody was as enthralling with the stick in his hand as The People's Champion. Not only was the content of what he was saying unique but the way he delivered his promos was unmatched. During his time in the WWE he gave us some of the most memorable moments in wrestling history, and could turn any subject into the best/funniest of the night. Flair is my second choice on here but he deserves recognition as well, the man was legendary back in the day.

 

[willross]

Clearly you know nothing about wrestling to not have Roddy Piper and Jake Roberts as a choice......they are easily the best 2 promo guys of all time....Rock ripped off alot of Pipers stuff, as did the "punch-line promo" guys that came after him...and every manipulative, dark promos were rip offs of Jake Roberts promos.

Honestly dude, go on youtube and educate yourself on the business lmao

 

[Pedigree1]

Greatest on the stick all time wow too many to choose from. Naitch The Rock Y2J punk.. Geez i can go on and on to pick one is not possible for me because so many personalities!! I love the way punk is going especially when he makes fun of Johnny Ace his stuff is priceless!! I cant pick one guy that stands out from the pack but from Hogan Piper Hell no one threw in the late Ravishing one Rick Rude!! His stuff is good too when he made fun of Jake the snake to the ultimate warrior and of course the inner city sweat hogs!!

 

[Chrome]

No Superstar Billy Graham on the list? the most influencial wrestler and first promo machine to so many? (hogan, flair, dusty, ventura, stiener, Rock etc etc) This whole list sucks without him, Macho Man & Roddy Piper in it. For all intensive purposes I'll vote the Rock based on the list provided.. he can command an audience like no other. But I was a HUGE Macho Man fan back in his hey day, everything he said just sounded do cool.. OH YEAH!!!.

Superstar Billy Graham.. he is one of the BEST even today. Just look at some of the videos below..those promos would STILL be over as hell now more than ever...

He is undoubtally the most raped man in pro wrestling.. I mean how many people ripped off his gimmick?? from Flair, to Hogan, to Austin Idol, to Ventura, to Scott Stiener, to The Rock (third person), etc etc

See why people idolized him on the mic.

One of the greatest promo's of all time...

"Say em now and say em fast cause those prayers will be your last."


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[youtube]7qMKaU0Z6tI[/youtube]

 

[trashboy]

My vote goes for Scott Hall. Seriously, how you can you not mark out like crazy everytime he grabs that mic and says the following, "Hey yo!" I looked forward to him every week on WCW tv just to hear what he had to say. Scott Hall's mic skills were just too sweet.

 

[RicoLen]

There is one guy, not mentioned, that was so good at garnering heat, he quit wrestling so that he could cut promos full-time on behalf of others who were not so talented.

He became a manager at a very young age, and soon he became known in the territories as a man who could get any heel over simply by association. He spent years and years cutting promos, and once in a long while having a joke match where he would put over a face and completely humiliate himself. As a matter of fact, for a face, beating up this manager became a very great way to get over as well, maybe even better than being a heel associated with him. This man spent decades as a manager and his stable became one of the, if not the very most well renowned stables ever.

When he retired from his career as a professional promo cutter on behalf of less talented heels on the mic, he became a full-time commentator, and he excelled here every bit as well as he did as a manager. He played color commentator for many of the WWF's best PPV events in history. The tandem team he was a part of, is widely considered the best commentating team of all time, even better than The King and Jim Ross. When he decided to retire from commentating, and take things easy, he was kayfabe fired and thrown out on his ass into the streets of New York and the fans cheered wildly to see him go so hated was he.

Years later he was inducted into WWE's Hall of Fame. The stable he created was known as The Heenan Family, that man, my pick as the greatest superstar on the mic of all-time, is Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.

 

[GameOver]

a toss up between Rock/Austin - Austin gets my nod

for me The Rock WHAT!!! gets the entertainment nod WHAT!!! for backstage stuff WHAT!!!, but Austin WHAT!!! had more impact on the crowd WHAT!!! imo WHAT!!!, when he talked WHAT!!! everyone WHAT!!! was going along WHAT!!! with WHAT!!! ever he said. WHAT!!!!

Speaks for itself, he's not even around and still that chant goes on. WHAT!!!!

Arguably the most popular superstar of all time atleast over the time he's been active/semi active in WWE. The Rock definately a close second.

Flair was great too, though that was then

Dark Promo's - Mick Foley/Jake The Snake
Entertaining Promo's - The Rock/Jericho
Crowd Participation - Austin
Rants - Ric Flair
Weird Promo's - Ultimate Warrior/Randy Savage
Heel Promo's Ted Dibiase/Triple H

 

[S.J. Maximus]

This list is garbage. How the hell are names like Edge, Michaels, and Orton on the list above guys like Jericho, Piper, and Hogan? I apologize for my tone, but I just can't believe that Michaels and his shaky promos were able to make the cut over Randy Savage's consistent greatness.

Chris Jericho gets my vote for this, showing in 2010 that he truly was the best in the world at what he did. Look at 2000, 2002, 2008 and 2010 and you'll see how different he was in each year, always evolving but maintaing his mic prowess.

 

[ae_wrestler123]

Gathering heat is easy. If that is a criteria then Vickie Guerrero should be on the list. The rock is the greatest cuz he mixes bad ass with comedy and smoothness. He jusn't just go out and start to yell and wild up and turn red and you can't understand what the hell he was saying. Who else could cut slick promos with lillian garcia? Its original shit. He comes up with catchy cath phrases and the guy got a word to be inducted in webster. That speaks for itself

 

[kokoBawesome]

It's the Rock. I've always kinda of been a hater but the guy is the greatest of all time.

Just for fun, and to break up the monotony of the Y2J/Rock debate, I gotta throw out my favorite in-ring moment on the mic. After getting a spear from Goldberg, Christian came back a week later and gave an interview telling the crowd that he wasn't holding his ribs because the spear hurt, he was holding his ribs because he was laughing so hard about how it didn't hurt. At that moment he became my personal fav on the mic.

 

[wewantchange]

ric flar yes a legend and a legend on the mic, cm punk is the best on the mic period today in wrestling no one can touch him even on commentary lol
The rock- most deff the best on the mic in the business as well but theres one guy who people dont appreciate who always did well on the mic was stone cold, if u watch his promos from 1996 and early 1997 back then they werent eeven aloud to say shit like damn, ass, shit etc but he did anyways cuz he was stone cold and thats why it turned into the attitude era! dhhhhh

 

[SmattyG]

There's a few already mentioned that are not in the poll like Hogan and Piper.

I'll throw two more in there from Old School - Bulldog Brower and Ox Baker. Brower was doing a Mankind type persona back in the 70s where you'd almost feel sorry for him because he's so deranged, just before he'd do something even more heelish than the last time.

Ox Baker was brilliant on the mic. When he teamed with Brute Bernard with JJ Dillon as manager, he used to just rubbish the opposition, saying it's because "we're organised"that they were such a good team, with a quick tweak of those famous eyebrows.

Then there was Piper. How magnificent was Piper? He could still teach today's guys a thing or two about promos. Just able to draw major heat every time he opened his mouth.

Hogan was great on the mic as well, and honestly I don't think he's ever really given a bad promo - irrelevant sometimes sure - but not straight out bad. Same with Flair.

From the modern era, it's impossible to go past The Rock and Stone Cold. I can't believe WHAT? has survived all this time. And The Rock was always gold - even if he is now tainting the memory.

Today? CM Punk first and daylight second.

 

[Junkfood34]

cena: reguardless of wat u think he gains everyones attention either loving or hating him

the rock: self explanitory

steve austin: he was always insulting ppl and the only way to beat him in a verbal war was to turn it physical

hogan: he did it for his generation of fans

roddy piper and flair: the best heel promos

the undertaker: never b4 has an arena been so quiet to listen

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

From what I have seen ... I would say Mick Foley. Compared to all the others no one's mic work really gets into your skin than Foley over the years he's been able to do a range of promos from the cerebral, serious, comedic, and sympathetic. What's also great about him is that his promos are never one note.

If you talk about guys like Triple H, The Rock, Hogan, or Flair they have great mic skills but their promos are always similar. They are good and exciting but they stick to their own style.

Foley knows how to mix things up one night he can do a "this is your life" like promo then the next he's going insane on Jim Ross.

 

[FlairFan2003]

Flair - the stuff he came up with in the 80s was unreal - there's a reason Shawn Michaels said publicly that most of his HeartBreak Character was just re-doing Flair's schtick, it was that good - The catch phrases were priceless, plus this was before scripted promos and TV writers, he created all that stuff, literally taking inspiration from newspapers, songs on he radio, etc - He benefited from being in the NWA where he did not have the Vince McMahon Cartoon Friendly Promotional Style of WWE holding him back. It's hard to imagine Flair o WWE TV in 1986 talking about how many women he was going to entertain in his hotel room after the night's big match, explaining exactly what 60 minute man really meant, etc. His stunts were priceless as well, throwing a training bra in the face of a younger opponenent because he hangs with "little girls", dressing a manequin up to look like his rival's wife, then proceeding to undress it to show exactly what he was going to do to said wife after beating his rival, his WWE "She Was Mine Before She Was Yours, She's Damaged Goods" promos were phenomenal as well, and he definately entertained during his Catered Ringside Buffett days on Nitro circa 96.

Flair sold his matches well playing other characters as well. Starrcade 93 was sucessful because Flair convincingly sold us as an ageing family man trying to grab one last championship,the ultimate underdog facing the scary bully in Vader, he was the elder statemen of wrestling in the early NWO days 96-97. He also did some great promos with HBK before WM 24, none of these involved his jet flying, lady killer bad guy image.

Flair, wether favorite or underdog, top star or ageing icon, family man or womanizer, fan fav or heel, he sold his matches well regardless of character and opponent.

 

[rocksaviour]

EDGE for me. In my opinion he was great all round on the mic. His ability to extract laughs and a smile from the audience, carrying lesser talents on the mic, the best heel on the mic this century and opposite someone like Cena or Micheals who could also go on the mic. He was never outdone on the mic and made the Rated R character part of his act one of the most connected stars of the past decade.

Likes of Punk may surpass Edge. Rock will always be of a high level. I feel someone even as good as Christian won't get up to the top of the mic leagues sadly, due to never being pushed for long enough amounts of time and not have the chatting away segments as much as someone of his talents has deserved.

 

[Davi323]

Being able to repeat the same 20 catchphrases every week is not "mic skills". Mic skills is being able to sell the match with your words, making me believe that the animosity towards your opponent was real, that you really hated him, and not simply aping the same crap every time. Nobody did that better than the Nature Boy. He made it personal without making it unrealistic. When he talked about the women, the cars, the money, it was because his status as champion afforded him those luxuries.

The thing is, once you get past the Rock's many, many catchphrases, his promos really didn't have much substance. He simply was not that great at thinking on his feet like some of the other notable talkers.

I think a lot of the younger posters, who automatically defer to the Rock as the answer to every question have no idea just how good Ric Flair was on the mic in the NWA. Many of them have only heard Flair from the last decade, when he is a shell of his former self. Ric Flair in his prime, was flat out better than anyone on a microphone. You probably also have no idea that Jake the Snake Roberts was as masterful at delivering maximum psychological impact through his words as anyone who has ever wrestled. Nobody ever talks about the Snake's mic skills, and yet, if you hear some his old stuff, it was downright chillingly intense.

Too many people simply don't understand that promos are supposed to sell matches, not just be a comedy routine. You want comedy? The Rock is your man. He will pander to the crowd by mentioning the city they are in, how he has finally come back there (even if he has never been there before) make some cracks about the colors you wear, call you a jabroni, and then take that sumbitch, shine it up, turn it sideways, and stick it up your ass, and then ask if you smell it. He seems to have a strange obsession with anally raping grown men with objects, it's actually kind of disturbing.

 

[DeniseDisturbia]

The Rock is the greatest on the mic. He always has the crowd in the palm of his hand, hanging on to every word. His mic work is second to none.

Even though I'd still pick the Rock, I would add CM Punk as a close second. He's definitely on the list of the greatest on the mic. He's the first guy since the Rock that has me hanging on every word.