Bad Promo, Great Charisma

[funkdoc]

hello, figured i'd try my hand at a normal wrestling thread for once!

 

this one occurred to me because of how often i see guys like steamboat get bashed for having "no charisma" by people raised on WWF/E. that sounds obviously silly to those who've seen his crowd reactions at his peak & heard how those within the business viewed him, but he really wasn't a good WWF-style promo and that's what most fans seem to think that term means anymore. so, PWO, who else would you point to as interesting examples?

 

i think tito is similar to steamboat in this regard. he gave fine fired-up babyface promos earlier in the 80s, but hulkamania killed that entire style and he was a fish out of water when he had to do the more cartoony promos.

 

jimmy snuka might be the all-time champ from available footage though. just a downright brutal talker, far worse than the others mentioned, but you can see how electric he was in an era when not every wrestler was expected to talk.

 

i expect you guys will come up with better examples, though!

[Jimmy Redman]

Jeff Hardy is the first guy who comes to mind.

[Karl]

I think the Steiners had a boat load of natural charisma, but by god they were a promo train wreck.

[MojoJsyn]

Goldberg.

[MFoy]

The Ultimate Warrior, although I guess his promos were effective in their way.

[jcmmnx]

Sting in his first baby face run. I heard he got better in TNA, and he was pretty good in WWE.

[S.L.L.]

I've talked a lot about how I think it's more important for a promo to across as sincere than as verbally coherent. The example I always cited was Owen Hart's "I kicked your leg out of your leg" heel turn promo - infamously malformed, but I stand by it to this day as a great promo because the emotion was so palpable. Kerry and Kevin are pretty good examples of this, too. They were usually too high to form complete sentences, but you generally got what they were trying to say, and usually believed what they were saying.

[Death From Above]

The Rock's jokes are the shittiest juvenile shit that ever shat.

 

He's really, really, really great at delivering them though. Maybe better than anyone ever.

[topropepodcast]

Benoit was the first person to come to mind. Just a wretched promo but his physical charisma was definitely there.

[BlueGuy]

The Benoit example reminded me that a heel Orndorff could also qualify.

[El McKell]

Rey Mysterio

[Jimmy James]

Sid, to me, had basically nothing going for him except charisma.

[C.S.]

I may be in the minority, but I never thought Kevin Nash was a good promo. Probably the most overrated promo guy of all time. You can't deny his charisma though.

[Eegah]

Id say Martel is a good canidate. The accent definitely hurt him but he had all time charisma as a babyface.

[Bierschwale]

Sid, to me, had basically nothing going for him except charisma.

 

I think that Sid's pure magnetism is unparalleled. He couldn't sustain it, though MAYBE he could have with a long-term face push, but whenever Sid has debuted, people just always turn their heads.

[The Russian Daydream]

Sid, to me, had basically nothing going for him except charisma.

 

I actually quite enjoyed Sid's promos. They were often quite confused, but that along with his half whispering, half shouting delivery worked well with his deranged character.

[dedhemingway]

I think Sabu would be the perfect example of this. It's quite clear he's charismatic, but never talked. Tajiri, in the US, at least, would be another example.

[Slasher]

 

 

Sid, to me, had basically nothing going for him except charisma.

I think that Sid's pure magnetism is unparalleled. He couldn't sustain it, though MAYBE he could have with a long-term face push, but whenever Sid has debuted, people just always turn their heads.

I understand the general point but I think Sid had more going for himself than just charisma. He had size that ensured he'd be taken seriously and he had presence, although that might be tied to his charisma. But yeah Sid was the living embodiment of the best that the pro wrestler stereotype offered. Dumb as rocks but looked like million bucks.

[thebrainfollower]

Lita had great charisma but I can't recall a decent promo in her.

 

Rick Martel had good charisma but was a lousy promo, especially as a babyface.

[Petey]

RVD in ECW and early WWF oozed charisma but was never a great promo.

[artDDP]

The Rock's jokes are the shittiest juvenile shit that ever shat.

 

He's really, really, really great at delivering them though. Maybe better than anyone ever.

 

Agreed. Rock came across as a juvenile bully. He portrays himself as "Mr. Nice Guy" on social media and his fans eat it up. Then he returns to WWE and it's right back in the role of high school QB dick. I never understood the appeal of the character.

[Al]

I never understood why the high school QB dick was popular either.

[RyanClingman]

Jeff Hardy is the obvious example. Brock Lesnar most definitely. Styles can be good on the mic at times, but is generally far more charismatic than he is a great promo -- Chris Benoit is also a good example, I think.

[funkdoc]

rock was popular because he was seen as "being real" in an era when that was highly valued. the guy who said all the stuff pro athletes would say if they didn't have to care about the media, basically.

 

also i actually think brock is a really good interview, but not a good "promo".

[joeg]

RVD first one that comes to mind. He just oozed that cool confidence. He might have been the only guy in ECW who wasn't a good promo.

 

Also the Von Erichs. They were tall, hansom, hometown heros. Also stuttering train wrecks on promos.