Best Wrestler On The Mic

Degag

Just an idea i got from a thread i was reading: So who, both current day and overall do you think were the best on the mic? After only thinking of the thread now, i must have a proper think about yesteryears but current day i'd say...

JBL
Orton
HHH
Santino
Jericho
Edge
Vince

ShawnRaven

Out of that list, I would put Edge on top, with Orton coming in close second.

D.Q

i dunno...id probably put jericho above orton..

overall, for me, the best person I have ever heard on the mic was The Rock.
He always seemed to have complete control of the crowd, and really knew how to work a promo. Also he was a rare, genuinely funny promo cutter. Alot of the "Funny" segments these days seem very forced.

ShawnRaven

DieselQueen wrote: »

i dunno...id probably put jericho above orton..

overall, for me, the best person I have ever heard on the mic was The Rock.
He always seemed to have complete control of the crowd, and really knew how to work a promo. Also he was a rare, genuinely funny promo cutter. Alot of the "Funny" segments these days seem very forced.

Jericho is the same stuff week in and week out though. There's no long term value there.

And Rock was good for comedy on the mic, but precious little else. Best mic guy of all time has to go to Flair.

Dr_MaSoN

clearly the ultimate warrior!

michael.etc...

Personally, i think all of those guys are really great on the mic...

Jericho stands out for me because he's completely done a 180 and reinvented himself, and he's completely convinving. He's had the best material of anyone for months.
With Orton, and HHH (at his best mind), they're both super-believable and have a real grasp of their characters, so when they've something interesting to say, it can be brilliant.
Edge can basically be relied on to deliver on the mic no matter what, and he's always awesome. Out of everyone, i think his stuff is money.
Santino's comedy is great, but he's hard to compare to these other guys.
Vince is great on the mic but he's so repetitive and overfamiliar, and when he does talk, his need for it to be a three-day segment kills the value of it. JBL's ****ing marvellous too, but likewise, we're all wise to the substandard results of all his good mic work.. poor matches.

D.Q

ShawnRaven wrote: »

Jericho is the same stuff week in and week out though. There's no long term value there.

And Rock was good for comedy on the mic, but precious little else. Best mic guy of all time has to go to Flair.

I think jericho's brilliant on the mic week in, week out. The monotonous drawl, the sophisiticated language. It really adds to his character, and he can also pull off face promos quite well too.

You really think the rock was only good for comedy? Hmm.. maybe, but it was comedy in context like. He was quite good in serious feuds i always thought.

Flair?! I cannot stand that man on the microphone. His promos are ridiculous. He just turns a dangerous shade of red and shouts a bit as far as i can see.

ShawnRaven

Dr_MaSoN wrote: »

clearly the ultimate warrior!

If Umaga, Yokozuna, *insert a list of fat talentless Samoans here*, are his only competition.

Rjd2

Edge
Jericho
Orton
JBL
HBK

callaway92

why isnt Cena on the OPs list..Hed be one of the best..THE best for me though is Jericho or Edge

ShawnRaven

callaway92 wrote: »

why isnt Cena on the OPs list..Hed be one of the best..THE best for me though is Jericho or Edge

I think the "JBL is poopy" statement disqualified him for life last year.

callaway92

ShawnRaven wrote: »

I think the "JBL is poopy" statement disqualified him for life last year.

That wasnt on the mic though..He wrote that on his car

ShawnRaven

callaway92 wrote: »

That wasnt on the mic though..He wrote that on his car

This is true, however his promos from that same period of time really were quite dire too.

Rjd2

callaway92 wrote: »

why isnt Cena on the OPs list..Hed be one of the best..THE best for me though is Jericho or Edge

Yeah I thought about Cena as well, but he has delivered some cringeworthy ones which is basically him roaring and bigging up the WWE unniverse which is not fun to listen to. He can rock the mic no doubt, its just the material that he works with can be dismal. He has been more consistent recently as well I noticed which is good.

chopperbyrne

During the American Badass phase I thought Taker got to show just how good he can be on the mic. The decade of destruction promo springs to mind.

Foley is brilliant on the mic, as is Austin.

The Rock is probably the best person ever on the mic. The way he could work a crowd is a very special skill - "Finally The Rock has come back to Toron, Toron, to run his mouth on all your candy asses!" Brilliant stuff.

Angle has always been very good on the mic.

Shawn can be very good too.

Hogan always had the crowd eating out of his hand.

Fozzy

Punk's great. His WWE material hasn't always been that good, but he's still as good on the delivery as he ever was. He was the best in the MVP lounge segment on ECW that I just watched

Flair was the best ever

Jim Cornette would have to be mentioned if it weren't only wrestlers here

ShawnRaven

Fozzy wrote: »

Jim Cornette would have to be mentioned if it weren't only wrestlers here

Ten thousand words a minute. He still probably is, what I consider to be the best shoot interview ever too.

chopperbyrne

Well if we're including managers and announcers then Heenan, Ventura and Monsoon are head and shoulders above everyone else.

Watched Bret Vs Shawn from Survivor Series '92 last night and Heenan is priceless during it.

Royal Rumble '92 is the best commentary performance of all time.

Bubs101

Fozzy wrote: »

Flair was the best ever

I'd agree with ChopperByrne. The Rock is the best by quite a mile IMO. He's on his own plain when it comes to mic skills

ShawnRaven

Bubs101 wrote: »

I'd agree with ChopperByrne. The Rock is the best by quite a mile IMO. He's on his own plain when it comes to mic skills

I honestly can't agree there. All he does is comedy, comedy, comedy. Flair could do a lot more and was quite convincing of it.

Rock's most serious promo, quote from 2001:
"Tick tock.... tick tock!"

Thanks Rock :rolleyes:

michael.etc...

ShawnRaven wrote: »

I honestly can't agree there. All he does is comedy, comedy, comedy. Flair could do a lot more and was quite convincing of it.
Rock's most serious promo, quote from 2001:
"Tick tock.... tick tock!"
Thanks Rock :rolleyes:

Though i don't agree that he was better than Flair necessarily, i can't say i agree all he does is comedy. His stuff was always entertaining sure,(until he made his returns and did those exaggerated, forced promos) but he cut some good, serious promos against Triple H, and the McMahon-Helmsley regime. If i remember correctly, his challenge to Hogan wasn't comedy either, and he did some really good, more intense stuff with Jericho in 2001, and Rikishi the year before. He cut money promos when it mattered, regardless of how "serious" they were.
The Rock had it all on the mic as far as I'm concerned.

ShawnRaven

I must go back to watching some 2000-2001 WWE again. It's been a few years since I watched some. I know i was watching RAW 2000 last year, but i got bored due to 30 minutes of each RAW opening with 4 McMahons bitching at each other.

I enjoyed Rock on the mic, i really did, as he was better on it than he ever was in the ring in that promotion. But I don't think he was the best. In fact, i'd rate Jerry Lawler over him, and i'm not talking post 1993 perving commentary muck. I'm talking about his Memphis work.

Of course, if it didn't happen in WWE, then it clearly didn't happen. :rolleyes:

michael.etc...

ShawnRaven wrote: »

I enjoyed Rock on the mic, i really did, as he was better on it than he ever was in the ring in that promotion. But I don't think he was the best. In fact, i'd rate Jerry Lawler over him, and i'm not talking post 1993 perving commentary muck. I'm talking about his Memphis work.

Lawler was undoubtedly amazing on the mic. Even in the WWE, his work was great (aside from the commentary you mention).
I don't really see the point in listing people as better-than-such-and-such anyway..... all these guys were/are great in their own right.

ShawnRaven

michael.etc... wrote: »

I don't really see the point in listing people as better-than-such-and-such anyway..... all these guys were/are great in their own right.

I'd tend to agree here. Stick work has one vital dependency, the viewers personal taste. Comedy is good once in a while, but overuse of it tends to kill interest, and to me, that's where Rock fell down, and it's where Santino got very boring, very quickly.

But hey, my poison is gonna be someone elses pleasure.

Hyndsy85

For me it's got to be Edge.

He was great on the comedy side back when he was in E & C. He plays a good coward and i remember last year when he went psycho when vicki forced him to fight undertaker. He staged undertaker attacking every member of la familia and vicki turning to edge to stop the undertaker only to find out it was edge who had attacked everyone. His facial expressions and mic skills were superb.

rossie1977

this is a very broad question, most consider rock to be the best because he was funny but as shaun mentions it was comedy, comedy, comedy all the way

for me the best on the mic from times gone by include piper, flair, cornette, foley, austin, rock. today the best are jericho and cena.

its all about the material you are given to work with as well, in tna cornette is given some of the worst rubbish to recite, but don't be fooled into believing cornette has lost it because of this, he is still a master on the mic, his stuff during the roh/csw feud was gold

cena is the same despite having to recite PG BS, he wipes the floor with 95% of the wwe guys on the mic and delivers his stuff with such ease (this is only really noticeable when he has the stuttering dave batista next to him or undertaker forgetting his lines)

Bobby Lashley

No explanation needed

Jolt2007

Nick Bockwinkel certainly deserves a mention, great to watch, especially when so many just shout and raise their voice.

Best at the moment I'd say is Orton now Jericho's monotone delivery has become so boring.

thebeanz

Orton has been brilliant the last few months. If he hadn't developed his skills so well the hhh orton feud would have died long ago. He was landed with some terrible writing and deliver on excuses like i had to let you beat me shane, but made the excuses believable.

I like MVPs chances for the future, his mic work sounds natural.

ShawnRaven

Jolt2007 wrote: »

Nick Bockwinkel certainly deserves a mention, great to watch, especially when so many just shout and raise their voice.

Best at the moment I'd say is Orton now Jericho's monotone delivery has become so boring.

I'm actually surprised it took so long for him to be mentioned. And Jake Roberts for that matter, for the same reasons. The whole psychology of not having to raise your voice to be able to talk louder was always great for promos.

And i'm sure there a few others along those lines that are missing from the list too.

Rock can take his Finally.... spiel and shove it up his own candy ass

cena

stone cold

krudler

ShawnRaven wrote: »

I'm actually surprised it took so long for him to be mentioned. And Jake Roberts for that matter, for the same reasons. The whole psychology of not having to raise your voice to be able to talk louder was always great for promos.

And i'm sure there a few others along those lines that are missing from the list too.

Rock can take his Finally.... spiel and shove it up his own candy ass

I loved Jake's promos, rarely ever shouted in interviews yet were so much more intense than the standard "i'm gonna kick your ass!!!" style promos in the 80s and 90s

ShawnRaven

krudler wrote: »

I loved Jake's promos, rarely ever shouted in interviews yet were so much more intense than the standard "i'm gonna kick your ass!!!" style promos in the 80s and 90s

The fact that even when he turned face, he still gave the chilling heel promos afterwards. Truly awesome stuff.

Rjd2

No love for Eddie in this thread yet

JP Liz

For me i would pick The Rock and Jericho overall

Currently HHH, Orton, Edge, Cena and Jericho are all doing well on the mic

ShawnRaven

Rjd2 wrote: »

No love for Eddie in this thread yet

He wasn't THAT spectacular to be honest. Not in the sense of originality or anything, he didn't do anything that hadn't been done before. And as much as i loved Eddie on the mic, an innovator he wasn't. Entertaining he was, but so was Honky Tonk Man :P

bigeasyeah

Austin 'I cant hear a damn you re saying Vince because there s 25000 people here calling you an asshole' Great idea for a thread aswell!

flahavaj

Have to agree with those who have mentioned Flair (whos old school NWA promos stand alone as some of the finest ever) and Jake Roberts (those understated, menacing promos were so compelling).

Two guys who haven't been mentioned are:

1. Arn Anderson. Never had the chance to shine as a Horseman due to his being overshadowed by Flair, but man oh man, when Arn cut his passionate, growling, from the heart promos, it made for absolutely riveting TV. Most underrated promo guy ever.

2. Dusty Rhodes. Shocked he hasn't been brought up yet. Absolutely sensational guy on the mic. Long before rap music was fashionable he was able to reel of line after line of sheer amazing stuff with seemingly effortless ease. "Living on the end of a lightening bolt." Current wrestlers can only dream of having even 1 per cent of his ability on the mic.

As Fozzy said CM Punk will someday turn heel in WWE and if hes given the chace to do his stuff he'll blow eveyone else on the WWE roster clean away.

Jazzy

The Rock
between him and austin they took promos to another level

Ruu_Old

"The blind leading the blind? Even a fool knows that a man only has five senses. But a snake? He has six. We always do it better..in the dark." -Jake Roberts promo before blindfold match with The Model.

Dancor

Flair is the best ever, The Rock is a close second. I always found Savage and Foley solid on the mic too.

ShawnRaven

Another one who deserves a mention, maybe not so much for best on the mic, but pretty damn good on the mic, would be none other than Curt Hennig.

Been watching a lot of stuff from 88-91 and he really was convincing on the mic, he convinced everyone that he was better than them.
And while Ruu is quoting Wrestlemania VII

Hennig: "I am what I say I am, and I say...."
Heenan: "They're saying it, they're saying it!"

Cactus Col

As for Wrestlers, certainly SCSA, Rock and Foley were amongst the best.

Edge and Christian (I get nostalgic when I write their names together), JBL, and Y2J can do wonders when on form. Cena as well, when let off the leash, has give some fantastic promos.

A bit OT here, but when did WWE start relying soley on pre written promos?

Am I mistaken in thinking that during the attitude era stars like Rock, Austin, and Foley had a much larger input in what they were saying? To the degree that they pretty much came up with their own promos?

Whereas now pretty much all the promos (at least in WWE) are pre-written?

Jolt2007

I never watched WCW during the time he was on but last night I saw some of Mike Sanders on the mic and that guy was top class. Didn't see any of his matches yet so don't know what he was like in the ring but really enjoyed him on the stick, would make a great manager at least if he got back into wrestling.

ec18

not really on the mic but one of my favourite parts of the attitude era was edge and christian especially the reeking of awesomeness and 5 second poses

OrtonViper

flahavaj wrote: »

.As Fozzy said CM Punk will someday turn heel in WWE and if hes given the chace to do his stuff he'll blow eveyone else on the WWE roster clean away.

Ah Yes! His work in ROH was phenonamel. His heel work against Raven was some of the finest heel work I've seen in ages

DM_7

The Hot Rod? "Just when you think you know the answer....I change the question!"

Jericho would have to be up there, comedy or serious he is class.

Rjd2

OrtonViper wrote: »

Ah Yes! His work in ROH was phenonamel. His heel work against Raven was some of the finest heel work I've seen in ages

Take a trip to the videos thread at the top of the page.

DM_7

Or on you tube check out cm punk makes fun of a fan. Funny, from the show he did while part of ovw and a fan said he sold out, oops

Professey Chin

I gotta go with The Rock. Especially with Hogan before WMX8.
"You talk about headlining wrestlemania, after wrestlemania after wrestlemania.Well how do you feel about headlining one more wrestlemania with The Rock!"
I think i messed myself a ickle at that moment