[crowd sourcing] Favourite ever promos

[JerryvonKramer]

Was it just that writer who was allowed to do this?

 

In April, I want to do a one-off show breaking down what makes a great promo. I want to look at some of the great talkers and think about what they do well and what they don't. I want to go super in-depth and even try to categorise different varieties of promo. Different styles. I want to do about 90 minutes of the most in-depth thinking about the art of the promo ever recorded. But I need your help.

 

In research for this, I would like people in this thread to provide examples of what they see as the greatest promos ever delivered, any promotion, any era.

 

What would be especially great is promos that are "off the beaten path". We all know about Hard Times or Austin 3:16. I'm looking for more obscure examples if possible. Ideally in this format:

 

Name of worker:

Promotion (and year):

Link to promo:

Why you think it's great:

 

If someone else nominates a promo you definitely think deserves recognition, then please "second" or "third" it or whatever.

[iamthedoctor]

Name of worker: Jake the snake Roberts
Promotion (and year): WWF 1990
Link to promo:
Why you think it's great: Jake was playing some great mind games with Dibiase saying about they could go in the bad and it wouldnt be a Python.

 

Sadly I couldnt find a link to the promo but Jake basically showed diff snakes like a cobra or a rattlesnake. It was awesome stuff.

[funkdoc]

the WM6 jake promo is the one i always show to non-wrestling fans if they're interested in trying to "get" it.

 

on the other end, one i often show people to represent the corny side of wrestling is the legion of doom WM7 promo. the one that goes "Power & Glory...that's your name before the match. After the match, it'll be SOUR.........and GORY."

 

you also need to look at the stomper's famous promo on bad news allen, considering how often scott keith & other canadian fans cite that as the greatest ever. that's about all i've got.

[khawk20]

Name of worker: Mad Dog Vachon
Promotion (and year): AWA 1983
Link to promo:

 

Everything I love about the Mad Dog (and Mean Gene's interview style, for that matter) is encapsulated in this promo.

[Johnny Guitar]

I know its not a very original pick and he's already been mentioned, but anything by Jake Roberts.

 

The stereotypical non wrestling fan's view of wrestlers interviews is some ripped to the gills steroid monster screaming and shouting. Wether heel or face, Jake is always very cool, calm and collected and comes across as a guy you could meet in real life in a pub/bar. Albeit absolutely terrifying regardless.

 

I think his best stuff is the 1991 heel run. In or out wrestling, its one of the best personifications of evil I've ever seen. They always say that reality makes the best angle and to this day part of me thinks that Jake Roberts may be legit evil.

 

To tie in to that feud/angle. It also featured the one of the most spectacular mental breakdowns/promos ever caught on camera as Randy Savage ( a man who's grip on reality was tenuous at best) finally waves goodbye to the goodship sanity at Tuesday in Texas.

 

 

You mentioned Austin 3:16, but I think Austins best mic work was in ECW

Name of worker: Steve Austin

 

Promotion (and year): ECW 1995
Link to promo:
Why you think it's great: Austin had a legit reason reason to be pissed. No one could have forseen how big he would end up being, but it was clear that he has earned and deserved a main event run/spot by 1995.

 

Any Bret Hart promo. I know he's not considered a top mic guy compared to others, but as Loss and Pete F3 have noted all his promos came across as a shoot because he believed in himself and came across as a real person in an unrealistic world.

 

Any Ric Flair interview. Flair crossed the spectrum in his promos, from humble babyface to arrogant heel and all points in between. Regardless i don't think I've seen any wrestler portray that level of confidence that Flair exuded, regardless of which role he was portraying.

[Benbeeach]

CM Punk
ROH 2003

Because the best ones are 75% real. Did it ever get this good in the WWE? Something tells me nope

[Gregor]

Sting

1996 WCW

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhGWrHGI6jo#t=3m34s

 

There isn't anything cool or badass about sticking up for the little kids who watch WCW, but Sting sounds so genuine with everything that he says. He really did see himself as a hero of the children. Sting comes off as a guy who believes in what he says and is truly hurt by the fact that Hogan never actually did. It's hard to deliver a promo like this without sounding cheesy, and he still nails it. Good for him for not letting Okerlund cut him off, either.

[Strand Peanut]

Name of worker: Archie Gouldie

Promotion (and year): Stampede 1983

Link to promo: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2qcDVn3qyyA

 

Why you think it's great:

 

A powerful, direct promo. I'm not sure Archie ever quite gets to yelling, but there is no doubt that every vessel of blood in his body has reached a menacing boil. He leaves no doubt as to why, and no doubt as to what's coming for Bad News.

 

Plain spoken, but very effective. I'm ready to pay before he's even done.

[Fando]

Cactus Jack
IWA Japan, January 8, 1995
pre match

post match: looks like it was removed

 

The most intense and believable promos Foley ever cut, completely in character. Pre-match sets up Cactus breaking away to surpass his mentor and it's the looniest shit imaginable. Funk is what the sport is all about and Cactus is going to prove the world he's at that level. Foley was great at drifting away into seemingly nonsense and the bringing it back in circle 8 fashion later during his ECW run, but this is more direct. Funk was his friend but tonight fire and barbed wire are his friends. Uses not just weapons but his injuries as a kind of prop to show he has nothing more to lose. Starts speaking in broken English for the Japanese. Just nutty and every other sentence he's just dropping bombs.

 

"You can't take my heart because it's too big for you to carry."

 

Post-match Cactus is back in the locker room with blood puddling on the floor. He collapses and smears it with his hands. Cactus looks up and tells the camera he only knows two words in Japanese: Itsu Demo (Anytime). When he points to the press taking pictures the tape hanging off his fingers looks like shredded flesh. The entire scene is absurd. Tells everyone he can be beaten but never stopped and smiles at the camera. There's no other feud you currently want to see more of before and after. And he's wearing a Funk shirt the whole time.

 

 

 

[concrete1992]

Name of worker: Eddie Kingston
Promotion (and year): Chikara 2011
Link to promo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1AGjIQKxNE
Why you think it's great: Not an original pick...but no one has mentioned it yet. I'm a younger fan and I was interested in CHIKARA's first iPPV. Was debating if I wanted to see feedback for it before I bought it or watch it live but was sorta leaning to no since I wasn't falling in love with the card. Then I saw this promo. There was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to see this. It was the first time I had personally been TALKED into buying something. Based on such real emotion that he had and then the match itself delivered in every possible way and for me might be that promotion's best match ever. Yeah, this promo still gives me chills.

[Steenalized]

Name of worker: Jackie Fargo, with Bill Dundee and Jerry Lawler
Promotion (and year): Memphis, 1979
Link to promo:

Why you think it's great: It's subdued. It's not full of emotion, no voice raising, not even a lot of emotion, but it's not Jake Roberts-type either. It's three wrestlers sitting on a couch, talking, explaining what's happened and what's going to happen. A basic layout of who is involved, what the fans should expect, and why they should show up. It's not the best promo ever but it's an excellent example of how to promote a match.

[Smack2k]

Name of worker: Road Warriors / Paul Ellering

Promotion (and year): AWA - 1985

Link to promo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuKJbamEODc - Go to 5:49

 

Why you think it's great: ITs the Warriors at their heel best in early 85 after they beat the hell outta Curt Hennig and caused a riot in the building. Hawk is phenominal in his delivery..its one of my top 3 or 4 EVER...You can see how bad they were and that NO ONE could stop them and they knew it...They are AMAZING here..Hawk snapping his neck collar off if awesome to...Ellering's opening lines are great and Animal takes it home...but FUCK is Hawk amazing here.....Just a great promo.

[Dooley]

Name of worker: Bob Backlund
Promotion (and year): WWF 1994
Link to promo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVEyE9F-fGQ

Why you think it's great: Backlund is firing all cylinders here. Drunk with power after winning the title and still on a moral crusade. He convincingly portrays someone who has righted a 10+ year wrong and considers it validation for all his actions. This is zealot Backlund at his finest as he hits the highs and lows of the promo perfectly and shows how you can create something absolutely spellbinding despite being only 90 seconds.

[thebrainfollower]

Ric Flair's 1992 post match promo with the Brain and Perfect though I don't recall Perfect saying anything. You want to celebrate with them even though they are heels.

[ohtani's jacket]

Name of worker: Rick Martel
Promotion (and year): WWF 1990
Link to promo: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2ck63h_wwf-royal-rumble-1990-superstars-royal-rumble-promos_sport
Why you think it's great: Because it's the best promo, and the fittest promo, of them all.

[Smack2k]

Name of worker: Randy Savage (IC Champ)

 

Promotion (and year): WWF 1987 (Mania 3)

 

Link to promo: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6keg2_ricky-steamboat-vs-randy-savage-wre_sport - The first thing on the video

 

Why you think it's great: Shocked this hasn't been mentioned yet - NO explanation needed….in all of Savage's excellence, this is his peak interview…short / sweet and man is it amazing…"History Beckons The Macho Man - YEAH!!"

[Steenalized]

Name of worker: Randy Savage (IC Champ)

 

Promotion (and year): WWF 1987 (Mania 3)

 

Link to promo: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6keg2_ricky-steamboat-vs-randy-savage-wre_sport - The first thing on the video

 

Why you think it's great: Shocked this hasn't been mentioned yet - NO explanation needed….in all of Savage's excellence, this is his peak interview…short / sweet and man is it amazing…"History Beckons The Macho Man - YEAH!!"

And an all time great robe.

[khawk20]

Name of Workers: Nick Bockwinkel and Bobby Heenan

Promotion/Year: AWA, late 1980/early 1981

Why it's great: The eloquence of Bockwinkel paired with the wit of Bobby Heenan and the perfect straight man in Okerlund. Bockwinkel works hard not to laugh out loud here. there is so much Bock/Heenan goodness out there, but this one is in their top half at least:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW3oJXqxTJU

 

 

(Hey Parv, this opens with an early Steve Regal promo. My apologies.)

 

 

 

[cheapshot]

Name of worker: Terry Funk

Promotion (and year): ECW Night The Line Was Crossed (1994)

Link to promo:

Why you think it's great: Joey Styles interviewed a very emotional, crying, Terry Funk, who talked about his love of wrestling, stating that WCW wasn't "worth a damn", and was killing the profession because people with no respect for wrestling were running that company and WWF. Funk talked about his pride in ECW and the wrestling they provided, and paid compliments to Sabu and Shane Douglas, saying he respected both men. Funk was great here as the aging veteran that was trying to explain to Shane Douglas not to disrespect him and call him and old man. It ended with a brawl between the two. Great stuff.

[MJH]

#1:

Dusty Rhodes

NWA Mid-Atlantic, 10/85

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9py4aMK3aIU

 

An obvious pick - I figure no explanation needed.

 

And for a less obvious one...

 

#2:

Bret Hart

WWF SummerSlam 1994

(I can't find a YouTube/Daily Motion link, obviously it's on the Network)

 

Well-spoken - albeit with his tendency to ramble and repeat himself - but totally believable, and gets his/the point across perfectly. This might not be correct, but I recall this promo being included on the Cage Match for whichever DVD of Bret's had it on, and there's a reason for that.

[WingedEagle]

Shame on all of us for "hard times" not appearing until now. I actually had the opportunity to meet Dusty a few months back and asked him about this one. He said he went out there without a script and nothing planned other than to talk about Flair and build Starrcade. He went backstage and said something to the effect of "let me know if there are any tickets left."

 

That Bockwinkel/Heenan promo was also great. Looked like something straight out of SNL with Bockwinkel having trouble trying not to laugh.

[Lust Hogan]

Name of worker: Ric Flair

 

Name of promotion: WCW 1994

 

Link: None. This was at a house show.

 

Why I think it was great:

 

My friends and I went to a house show at the Township Auditorium in Columbia, SC and got to see Ric Flair with Sensational Sherri defend the WCW Heavyweight Championship against Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. Ric and Sherri came out and although they were heels the crowd went absolutely NUTS for them and gave them a HUGE standing ovation. Ric got the house mic and thanked the crowd and told them how happy he was to be back in South Carolina wrestling in front of all of the great fans which again popped the crowd. Ric then stopped and said that there was one fan in particular he had something to say to and her name was "Olive Oil" (Vermelle Holland).

 

Now Olive Oil was one of the old ladies that came to ALL of the wrestling shows and sat in the front row heckling all of the heels. She was around 6 feet tall and couldn't have weighed more than 115 pounds. That Saturday (The day of the event) The State Newspaper actually ran an article about how much of a super fan she was and how much she loved wrestling. Anyway, Ric told the crowd that she had been coming to the Township for over 20 years. She had been there when he fought Dusty Rhodes, Wahoo McDaniel, Roddy Piper, Sting, Ron Garvin, Barry Windham. As Ric rattled off all of the names the ENTIRE arena stood and gave her a standing ovation which brought her to tears. As the crowd sat down Ric reminded the crowd that she had been there for all those matches and he had waited 20 years to tell her something.......

 

All of a sudden RIC FLAIR can't speak because HE'S overcome with emotion!! He stepped back and kicked the bottom rope and then put his head on the top rope and buried his head in his arms as Sherri rubbed his back to try to stabilize him. The crowd gives them ANOTHER standing ovation as we felt privileged to be witnessing that moment. The crowd sat down, Olive Oil was standing front row with tears in her eyes looking up at Ric, and Ric finally got his composure together so he could speak.

 

 

Flair: "I waited 20 years..........to tell you..........................TO SIT DOWN......AND SHUT UP!!!!"

 

MY FRIENDS AND I LOST IT!!!!

 

As soon as Ric said "Sit down" my friends and I leaped out of our seats and starting SCREAMING our approval at Ric and Sherri with stuff like:

 

HELL YEAH RIC!

 

TELL THAT OLD LADY WHAT TIME IT IS BROTHER!

 

WHOO!!!

 

The crowd gasped and the ENTIRE ARENA (minus us 3, no kidding) booed but what made it so funny was that not only were we loud but we started yelling RIGHT as he finished "SHUT UP" so we sounded like an extension of his promo. Add the fact that we were 3 black teenagers heckling an older white woman and needless to say it didn't go over well. We were PELTED with soda and popcorn but what was cool about it was that Sherri tapped Ric and he looked over at us and gave us "The Nod" as we were getting hammered in his honor.

 

Ric then continued:

 

"You cheered for GARVIN, you cheered for WAHOO, you cheered for DUSTY.....AND I BEAT THEM ALL!!! And when STEAMBOAT comes out here.......I'LL BEAT HIM TOO!!! WHOOO!!!!"

 

The crowd was absolutely LIVID! Ric then threw in a "Sit down FAT BOY" and a pelvic thrust and when Ricky Steamboat came out the crowd went INSANE.

 

This was EASILY the best promo I ever heard. Flair took the crowd on a roller-coaster of emotions and then the match the two had was the best match I've ever seen. Flair always says he and Steamboat had matches better than their epic trilogy and I'm here to tell you I was at one of those matches. I was 16 and knew how wrestling worked and towards the end of the match I would have bet you ANYTHING that Steamboat was winning and they would announce the title change on Worldwide. That's how awesome the match was.

 

People always talk about Steamboat selling. Flair hit him with brass knuckles to retain the belt and Steamboat didn't move to get up from the knockout blow until HALF THE ARENA emptied. That's dedication!

 

 

[C.S.]

"The View Never Changes"

 

Name of worker: Dusty Rhodes

Promotion (and year): WCW (1994)

Why you think it's great: Pure passion. It felt real. It was real. Amazing!

 

 

Good Ol' J.R. Heel Turn

 

Name of worker: Jim Ross

Promotion (and year): WWF (1996)

Why you think it's great: It went nowhere and led to a horrendous angle, but the promo itself is a masterpiece. Not only is it one of the first of its kind in the WWF, it also "outed" Vince as the owner and was a precursor to the Attitude Era.

 

[C.S.]

Who Are You to Doubt El Dandy?!?!

Name of worker: Bret Hart

Promotion (and year): WCW (1999)

Why you think it's great: Because El Dandy is a jam-up guy! Seriously, this promo is dismissed as meaningless comedy. While it's true that it never led to anything, it shows that Bret Hart was really underrated on the mic - especially in terms of comedy. He does so many little things right here, like making fun of Booker's pronunciation of ask (kind of racist, but still). Overall, he's loose, having fun, and kind of making himself laugh. We rarely saw Bret this happy and relaxed in WCW.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rygKxk3Svg4

[Smack2k]

Name of worker: Hulk Hogan

Name of promotion: WWF 1986 - SNME October 1986

Link: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1ukjx_hulk-hogan-vs-paul-orndorff-wwf-tit_sport

Why I think it was great: Hogan at his best....God damn is he good here...at his largest...and this is a GREAT promo he cuts on Orndorff before their first SNME match in October 1986...his delivery is spot on and you believe it when he says BIG DEAL about Orndorff and there's no way Orndorff can beat him...To me, the best Hogan match promo EVER....