first off, it's not WRESTLING, that's just what it was marketed as. It's been generally known to be a "fake" combat-entertainment for a long time.
People need to realize that it's a business and it's ALWAYS been ran as a business. back in the day, you needed more legit bad assery to be successful because if some asshole shot on you and you lost your company's title, you're screwed.
Then as people found out it was "fake", they stopped giving a shit about whether or not you were a legit badass because they assumed everyone was a pussy. So what became more important was making them believe in your character in other ways.
The believability is what it's all about. In the 1950s, if people believed you could kick someone's ass, you were over. In 2011, if people believe you walk around with a headband and spiked hair and say "bro" every 5 seconds, you are over.
Mic skills are important because....people talk. So if you can't talk and can't convey your character, you lose believability. If people don't believe in your character, you can do a million moves and it won't matter.
Also, it seems a lot of people on here seem to think a good wrestler is someone with a big moveset who doesn't botch. Raven, who knows more about wrestling than anyone on here, once said "to an extent, we can all do all the moves, it's the other stuff that gets you over". I think this is very true. Is Mark Henry a bad wrestler because he doesn't exchange wristlocks? No, in fact, doing so would make him bad because it doesn't make sense. Wrestling is and has always been about believability. Mark Henry as the worlds strongest man monster mauler type exchanging wristlocks doesn't make sense for the character and people will lose their supsension of belief. Ted Dibiase Jr is horrible at carrying his character. He looks good and does all the moves, but he always looks like a guy trying to play a character or a guy thinking of what to do next, it's why the people don't get behind him. Cody Rhodes walks, talks, and wrestles in character, people believe in him.
You said John Morrison deserves a title run. Why? I've heard pro wrestlers say he's shitty. Flips don't make you good. Telling a story in the ring do. Flips and a nonsense match structure, from what I've seen, drive veteran guys absolutely fuckin crazy. You KILL believability. It's why Austin "I'm not going to sell at all for the finishing stretch" Aries has never been more than a TNA midcarder and CM Punk is a WWE Champion. Aries insults the audience. He doesn't sell and it makes the whole thing look fake, they lose their suspension of belief. CM Punk sold his arm on his entrance the night AFTER hell in a cell. People are invested in Punk emotionally and he never lets them go. He stays in character.
Thinking that pro wrestling is all about moves is really REALLY stupid. It has never been about that. It's ALWAYS been about the emotional connection. Harley Race and Jerry Lawler once went an hour in Memphis and maybe performed 12 different moves, most of them fairly basic, but the crowd was shitting it's pants the whole time because they were emotionally invested.
Another quote from Al Snow, who used to train guys for the WWE and also knows more about wrestling than anyone on here said "it's still the same thing it's always been. It's still storytelling and making them believe. It's like the wheel. You can't reinvent the wheel. You can make it more sophisticated. You can put rims on it or whatever, but at the end of the day, it's still the wheel".
In other words, whether you get an emotional reaction by swindling locals at a carnival into thinking the hometown boy (plant) lost to this jerk, whether you're Bruno Sammartino making italians in the tristate area believe you're a badass fighting for them, or whether you're Hulk Hogan making people believe you're a superhero, it's not "Hogan didn't do as many moves and wasn't as technical" it's "just like the others, Hogan knew his audience and created emotion".
Mic skills aren't really what you should look at. You should look at "how does this guy carry his character". Wrestlers aren't "5/5 in the ring, 4/5 on the mic". That's bogus. If you talk loud and fast, but then get in the ring and shit the bed, you won't get over. If you do a million moves, but can't convey emotion on the mic, you won't get over.
ANY guy you look at who's gotten over have gotten over because they bring their characters to life. I don't know why the IWC likes to ignore this. Ask anyone off the street what makes a good pro wrestler, they'll basically say "he's a good actor". Look at the WWE corporate site on employment, they look for people who can "bring their characters to life". That's what it's all about. Making people believe that you are the character.
Look at Randy Orton, everything he does is at a deliberate pace. It's because he's a badass and doesn't have to move for anyone. People on here say he doesn't have charisma, obviously he does. Charisma isn't talking loud and fast. People believe in Randy Orton.
I guess you could say that the purpose of mic skills are, just like in ring skill, just like the type of boots you wear, is to help flesh out your character and make it believable.
I've seen a lot of "good match this, good match that" comments. A good match is subjective. an over match is objective. Either it is or it isn't. If your match isn't over, it isn't a good match. I don't give a shit how many complex sequences or whatever you think makes a good match it has. People wonder why Morrison was never that over and wasn't really pushed. He wasn't pushed because anytime he was, he didn't get more over. he didn't get more over because people didn't believe in him. I absolutely despise this idea that more moves makes your match better. If that were the case, Jack Evans would be a millionaire.
