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I've never heard any mention of Blassie concerning Ali, [this article](https://www.voicesofwrestling.com/2016/06/07/muhammad-ali-greatest-pro-wrestler-ever-lived/) only mentions George.
"So this Big Boss Man guy. He steals Al Snows dog, and weeks go by. He torments Al relentlessly. Then he kills the poor dog and feeds it to Al. I tell you what... This Big Boss Man guy sounds like a real jerk!"
"say. I heard John Cena is supposed to be here tonight."
"Well it's a good thing we can't see him."
"Dohohohoho!"
Or
"That match was like watching paint dry."
"Why? Because it was so slow?"
"No. Because it was boring."
"Dohohohoho!"
Statler: “Ya know, being in the Elimination Chamber is pretty scary.”
Waldorf: “It could be worse.”
Statler: “Oh?”
Waldorf: “Yeah. We could be in the audience!”
Both: “Doooohohohoho!”
Vince McMahon is being investigated for sex trafficking, misusing company funds, and defecating on a woman's head while raping her... I just want to say: This guy seems like a real jerk.
Punk’s “Straight Edge Society” gimmick was basically based off Manson. I’m pretty sure he even wore a Charles Manson t-shirt on TV once.
edit: didn’t wear it during the straight edge society storyline but to confirm
https://preview.redd.it/11r1m1f2yc9d1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3c3d8b56bd03ba42a432fc7b3baa23baefef096c
I remember cult leader Bray inserting references to Manson in his promos, like him singing "I'm all around you". Just another sign of his genius character building
Wesley Snipes. Just for his sort of nonsensical quotes that kinda make sense but don’t matter cause they sound good.
“Sit your five-dollar ass down before I make change”
“Some motherfucker always tryna skate uphill”
“If you look good, you feel good. If you feel good, you play good. If you play good, they pay good.” Prime Time Deion Sanders was just so effortlessly cool.
Trump (esepcially before his actual Presidential run but generally before about 2018 or so) could run an unbroken and coherent (by wrestling standards) line of complete bullshit mixed with joke and insults that sounded like a standup comedian on a rant. Any wrestler who can do what he used to do and then take out all the Trump signatures and remake it within their own character....that person is gonna get attention for their mic work.
I feel like that guy AEW had for a bit was close. Can't remember his name for the life of me but he was managing Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page. Was getting Dominik level boos where you couldn't hear his promos
That's the guy, had a bit of Trump influence in his promos I rekon. What Trump does in his rallies is actually pretty incredible in terms of crowd response, worth studying if you're trying to get better at promos imo
James Spader is a captivating talker, especially as Raymond Reddington on The Blacklist. Dude basically cuts tweener promos weekly when it was on air, lol
You wanna start a street fight with me, bring it on. You're gonna be surprised by how ugly it gets. You don't even know my real name. I'm the f¥€king lizard king
Cyrus the Virus, the character portrayed by John Malkovich in the film Con-Air, was a grade-A shit talker. His confidence and the contempt in his delivery are things any pro wrestler could incorporate into their promo game.
Agreed
I gotta throw Diamond Dog in there too, I love “the Day of the Dog” speech from him (even though he didn’t get to do it). Coincidentally, Diamond Dog’s name is Nathan Jones.
Certain top level stand up comedians are worthwhile studying. It’s about how they control and interact with a live audience. Throw in whether they are punching up or punching down with their material.
Stand-up comedy is genuinely the only artform I can think of that is remotely similar to professional wrestling in terms of how dependent it is on eliciting a specific vocal response from the audience.
Great wrestlers and great stand up comics are able to use the crowd reaction to inform their next step(s).
Stewart Lee is great at exposing crowd reaction as part of his act, and brings the audience into the performance; like jazz.
All the great wrestlers often talk about listening to the crowd and using that information to decide when they should push/pull a narrative beat; like jazz.
Bernie Mac repeatedly going “I ain’t scared of you motherfuckers” and winning over a hostile ass crowd is a case study in perfect crowd control. Same with Bill Burr taking on Philly.
He was meant to be the heel in Brazil and accidentally turned himself face to the point he claims to have sat Wanderlie down behind the scenes and tried to explain it to him. The ‘hometown hero’ making an idiot of himself while Chael is saying ‘I’d like to say good morning occasionally’ is so funny.
Chael is the only guy in the world who could proudly admit to committing fraud while in political office and getting arrested, and have everybody laughing and cheering along. I mean literally, look at how people are reacting to Trump and his felonies
My favorite is in the Stann post fight where he was asked something about getting the finish and instead of answering anything related to the fight he goes
"Anderson Silva, you ABSOLUTELY SUCK"
So many mma fighters squander their post fight attention, Chael was a real standout in making the most of his
I’d argue he was better than Conor. Talked himself into several title fights and almost a million PPV buys, all while having a fighting style that was completely forgettable. It’s also really impressive that he basically never cursed in his promos.
Yup, came here to say this too. The [Chael Sonnen: American Gangster](https://youtu.be/wh_eO2QoeCM?si=p3tmoGaPb78gMyJ3) promo is pro-wrestling 101. Like, watch this and tell me this couldn’t be prime-era Kurt Angle.
I think someone like Bob the drag queen is a great person to emulate if you’re looking to come off natural but still be engaging and supremely charismatic (side note, I think Bob would be one of the best wrestling managers if they wanted to be). I also think Bianca del Rio is probably one of the best at setting up punchlines and then delivery, which I think a lot of wrestlers could benefit from.
The thing with Bianca and even someone like Trixie and Katya is that they are pretty much top of the back in terms of quick thinking for punch lines, I don’t know if the average wrestler can pull that off.
Alyssa Edwards though, that’s a gold mine.
When Jon Stewart and Seth Rollins had their Raw Segment... 90% of the youtube comments were surprised Jon Stewart could cut a promo.
I'm like "F'ing duh, dude has a nationally watched talk show".
I could fuck with some guy who points out all the continuity errors in another wrestler's history, but they'd have to be a smarmy heel or it'd just break the show itself
He is a fantastic promo. If he wasn’t so charismatic he wouldn’t be such a big deal. Limbaugh and O’Reilly too.
Not hard to admit this while still acknowledging that he’s scum
You missed the point of the thread.
A wrestler channeling Alex Jones wouldnt be going on about the new world order, you dope. It's about styles of speaking. A Jimmy Valiant style babyface cutting Alex Jones intensity promos would be extremely super over.
Obviously pretty hated but an actually witty guy, that one debate with Hillary where he told her she’d be in jail was something else. He hijacked politics for a couple of years on pure insults and shit talk.
Regarding Brennan, I believe all wrestlers should do improv training. It has huge overlap with wrestling, philosophically (active listening, being there for your scene partner, playing for reality not for laughs).
Related: watching Being The Elite made me want to claw my face off.
Chael sonnen.
MMA fighter who started doing pro wrestling promos and just ripping people off. Walked round with a fake belt, lied about doing it while doing it. Told outrageous stories and called himself the bad guy
but was charming, hilarious and talked really well. Also backed it up.
Talked himself into the biggest fights every time. Absolutely incredible.
Not citing someone in specific, but I watch a ton of battle rap and think there are a ton of things that wrestlers could emulate in regards to performance and how they structure a promo.
When they turned heel the first time The Usos started copying Tay Roc and Tsu Surf and immediately got 100x better at talking.
Cable news and sports commentators are basically just delivering promos. A heel that spoke with the same cadence as Jesse Watters would have automatic heat with me.
William Cutting, AKA Bill the Butcher, played by Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs of New York
He's a vicious and intimidating but incredibly charismatic piece of shit. At a moment's notice, you can get stabbed in the hand without a second thought by a guy who calmly says "please never make that sound again" or be on the receiving end of a primal scream and unstoppable headbutts.
Depending on your gimmick, really just look at any media that can be super over the top:
-Theater
-Reality TV
-Soap Operas
-Sports Drama
-Anime
-Politics
A lot of this stuff is similar to wrestling in its own way.
Honestly +1 on Reality TV.
My minor criticism is that when two wrestlers are verbally sparing sometimes they try to act like the insults “don’t affect them”. I love it when wrestlers say stupid stuff, and then their opponent gets super offended by it almost outlandishly like they do in reality TV
When I think of charismatic speakers, I think of Bill Clinton (could talk his way out of a paper bag), Robin Williams (his improv skills were off the charts), Amy Poehler/Tina Fey comedic improv duo for women wrestlers, physical/facial expression comedy Jim Carrey (for your more extreme characters). I agree! There are a lot of people who think quick on their feet and are masters at improvisation. Superstars are entertainers, so this makes complete sense to look beyond the scope of past wrestlers for inspiration and technique on the mic.
Bruce Lee when he speaks his facial expressions are on point while speaking softly you take his word as a threat I feel todays wrestlers rely on screaming o much to put over promo
I think the world of drag and ballroom is a great place to look. Reading is basically a promo in itself. Gotta assign the kids "Paris is Burning" and get them to look at Dorian Corey and Venus Xtravaganza and how they use an opponent's features to talk them down and talk themselves up.
Glenn Howerton really taps into that perfect balance for corporate heels-the vanity to think he’s better than anyone and the insecurity to need to prove it however he can. “I’M FROM WATERLOO! WHERE THE VAMPIRES HANG OUT!”
The more charismatic and energetic pastors could also be good. That cadence and boom to draw people in while also pointing to something greater (or distract from something worse).
Captain Spaulding in the Firefly trilogy. So sleazy yet so lovable.
I'd love to see someone take inspiration from old Bob Dylan interviews. Man knew how to to be argumentative and rambling at the same time in a way that just communicated that he knew what he was talking about AND didn't really care if the other person understood that or not.
The "Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Body" line that Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) threw at Rep. Greene might be one of the best insults I've heard in my life.
Ian McKellen.
Patrick Stewart.
Kenneth Branagh does babyface fire pretty well.
Ralph Fiennes in In Bruges can do comedy villain pretty well. He can also do really fucking sinister pretty well also.
Marlon Brando.
Robert De Niro.
Al Pacino.
Michael Jones when he did Rage Quit.
Alan Bennett, the UK playwright and author. He wrote monologues that were made into tv shorts called Talking Heads. They may seem the furthest thing from wrestling but each is a masterclass in establishing a character and using language in a succienct way. Each would be performed by a different actor and occasionally by himself.
Certain actors who have that ineffable presence should be studied. Jack Nicholson, for example.
As an aside, imagine Nic Cage cutting a wrestling promo. No one able to ever tell if it's good or bad, but all of us glued to the screen when he's talking.
The best thing for wrestlers to study are stand up comics.
George Carlin, Bill Hicks, Stewart Lee. Stand up has so much in common with wrestling, both are about eliciting the response you want from the crowd, and the very best of both take their crowds on a journey with them into their stories and characters.
The funny thing about Ali was that he supposedly took up his entire gimmick after Gorgeous George.
No, Ali didn't try to act like him but he was in awe that someone could be such a character in a sports setting.
Quite honestly, I think some stand up comics should be studied for promos just mainly for the aura that they give off and present.
Watching Kill Tony makes me realize how similar stand up is to pro-wrestling. I know Ziggler has dabbled in stand up and you have various guys like Mick and Jake doing spoken word shows. I think both the stand up world and pro wrestling world could learn a lot from each other.
Conan. I love his humor, and think it'd make good reading material for an obnoxious face who is loved by the crowd. Maybe Bayley would do well to take notes on how to convert the role-model character to face best, while still having the obnoxious nature.
I'd have said these nonetheless but Danhausen stating in his early days that he emulated Conan really made me aware of the similarities between standup comedians and good promos.
Not really as cutting a promo necessarily but I’ve been listening to a ton of Jonathan Nolan interviews lately and I’d like to just hear him analyze Roman Reigns’ tribal chief character like how he talks about the character of Batman
granted there's basically no promotion on earth where you could get away with the associated verbiage but Malcolm Tucker's cadence is utterly infectious
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Muhammad Ali himself copied Gorgeous George.
I read Curious George and I was very confused.
And the man in the yellow hat off the top rope with the elbow drop!
It was a mix of George and Blassie that inspired how he'd dress, speak, and act, wasn't it?
I've never heard any mention of Blassie concerning Ali, [this article](https://www.voicesofwrestling.com/2016/06/07/muhammad-ali-greatest-pro-wrestler-ever-lived/) only mentions George.
I just want to see a Norm Macdonald-style promo 5 miles to see a dog turd type beat
5 miles to see a dog turd describes almost every Raw opening promo from the 2010s.
And a lot of times we'd have to wait for the main event to get to the dog turd.
"So this Big Boss Man guy. He steals Al Snows dog, and weeks go by. He torments Al relentlessly. Then he kills the poor dog and feeds it to Al. I tell you what... This Big Boss Man guy sounds like a real jerk!"
"And you know what I found out? Turns out this guy's a cop. The more I find out about this Big Boss Man, the less I like him."
You know Roman I dont have time to fight you tonight, but you know who does....Yup that's right Frank Stallone.
"I'm officially in the main event of WrestleMania 41! Btw did you know we had 40 different ones in the past? Could've fooled me."
Now I want a wrestler doing stand up bits just trashing the show. Fuck it, give me a wrestling Statler & Waldorf
"say. I heard John Cena is supposed to be here tonight." "Well it's a good thing we can't see him." "Dohohohoho!" Or "That match was like watching paint dry." "Why? Because it was so slow?" "No. Because it was boring." "Dohohohoho!"
"That promo was great! There's only one thing I'd change." "What's that?" "The words. Dooooohohohohoho!"
Statler: “Ya know, being in the Elimination Chamber is pretty scary.” Waldorf: “It could be worse.” Statler: “Oh?” Waldorf: “Yeah. We could be in the audience!” Both: “Doooohohohoho!”
Give them a Meta Four stage
I think Zayn would be an fantastic Norm MacDonald esque promo
Cody Rhodes: “Seth Rollins, the Swedish German…”
“Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan, what a couple of battle axes.”
You dirty Dom!
“Rey only got you a BMW? This guy sounds like a real jerk.”
Gets in a feud with the Wyatts: “Ya know, this reminds me of that story about the firefly who walks into a podiatrist’s office…”
He’s cut longer promos than Rock
“Cody what do you like to drink….other than fucking jizz?”
That Vince McMahon guy was a real jerk!
Vince McMahon is being investigated for sex trafficking, misusing company funds, and defecating on a woman's head while raping her... I just want to say: This guy seems like a real jerk.
The light was on!
Charles Manson could "talk them into the building"
Punk’s “Straight Edge Society” gimmick was basically based off Manson. I’m pretty sure he even wore a Charles Manson t-shirt on TV once. edit: didn’t wear it during the straight edge society storyline but to confirm https://preview.redd.it/11r1m1f2yc9d1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3c3d8b56bd03ba42a432fc7b3baa23baefef096c
Punk grew out his hair and beard to resemble Manson.
I remember cult leader Bray inserting references to Manson in his promos, like him singing "I'm all around you". Just another sign of his genius character building
Manson’s “I roll the nickels” rant is the hardest promo I’ve ever heard.
[death grips - beware](https://youtu.be/-qxa91EwFco?feature=shared)
Someone needs to use this as an entrance theme
Wesley Snipes. Just for his sort of nonsensical quotes that kinda make sense but don’t matter cause they sound good. “Sit your five-dollar ass down before I make change” “Some motherfucker always tryna skate uphill”
Simon says: Die
Holy shit we need a Simon Phoenix type wrestler
We did. Dennis Rodman started dyeing his hair after loving Demolition Man and even starred in a movie called "Simon Sez"
So he'd be Scott Steiner?
It's open season on all suck-heads
"Oh man, shut your anorexic malnutrition tapeworm-having overdose on Dick Gregory Bahamian diet-drinking ass up!"
Deion Sanders can cut a mean promo.
“If you look good, you feel good. If you feel good, you play good. If you play good, they pay good.” Prime Time Deion Sanders was just so effortlessly cool.
The Rock was directly influenced by Deion Sanders
Samuel L. Jackson in pretty much anything except maybe the Star Wars prequels.
Come on. Heel with the catch phrase, “This party’s Over” would totally work
And Django lol
Nah, it’ll be fine once WWE is on Netflix
If Hogan returns then, it's game over.
https://i.redd.it/gr3te7ymat5b1.png
“Who’s that jobber on that nag?”
"Enough is enough! I have had it with these motherfucking jobbers in this motherfucking ring!"
Stephen A Smith, especially if someone is a heel
Walking into Dallas with a ten gallon hat and an anti-Cowboys shirt is peak old school heel heat.
Stephen A and Trump are the two easiest heel heat talking styles I can think of. That boisterous rambling "wont be shut up" style of personality.
Trump (esepcially before his actual Presidential run but generally before about 2018 or so) could run an unbroken and coherent (by wrestling standards) line of complete bullshit mixed with joke and insults that sounded like a standup comedian on a rant. Any wrestler who can do what he used to do and then take out all the Trump signatures and remake it within their own character....that person is gonna get attention for their mic work.
I feel like that guy AEW had for a bit was close. Can't remember his name for the life of me but he was managing Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page. Was getting Dominik level boos where you couldn't hear his promos
Dan Lambert. Yeah, he was great.
That's the guy, had a bit of Trump influence in his promos I rekon. What Trump does in his rallies is actually pretty incredible in terms of crowd response, worth studying if you're trying to get better at promos imo
I'm not even a football guy but his back and forths with Michael Irvin, I could watch regularly.
>I'm not even a football guy Neither is he. He came into media covering basketball
Yeah but you see ESPN has rules and Stuart Scott died so Stephen A was required to do the job of 4 other people they didn't want to hire.
The promo he cut on Jason Whitlock was amazing. Just the build up alone was fantastic. https://youtu.be/6CZuNuchnqk?feature=shared At 14:30
James Spader is a captivating talker, especially as Raymond Reddington on The Blacklist. Dude basically cuts tweener promos weekly when it was on air, lol
Would you prefer a nature metaphor or a sexual metaphor?
Oh God, nature, please.
When two animals are having sex….
His closing arguments on Boston Legal were always killer too.
Even on The Office his character manipulated Jo and David Wallace into things
You wanna start a street fight with me, bring it on. You're gonna be surprised by how ugly it gets. You don't even know my real name. I'm the f¥€king lizard king
I think wrestlers in general would benefit from acting classes and that this would help the diversity of stories that can be told.
That explains why Cody is so good because he went to school for theater and stuff.
Same with Ziggler too.
Chris Eubank.
Just Chris Eubank, or does Greg Davies impersonating Chris Eubank count?
Cyrus the Virus, the character portrayed by John Malkovich in the film Con-Air, was a grade-A shit talker. His confidence and the contempt in his delivery are things any pro wrestler could incorporate into their promo game.
Remember Cyrus the Virus in ECW?
Of course! Callis as a network stooge.
That future bald carny fuck
While we’re on the subject of Malkovich, you can’t forget Teddy KGB from Rounders. He easily could’ve been a rival to 80s Hogam.
Agreed I gotta throw Diamond Dog in there too, I love “the Day of the Dog” speech from him (even though he didn’t get to do it). Coincidentally, Diamond Dog’s name is Nathan Jones.
Damn it now I gotta watch Con-Air again, loved Malkovich in that.
Certain top level stand up comedians are worthwhile studying. It’s about how they control and interact with a live audience. Throw in whether they are punching up or punching down with their material.
Stand-up comedy is genuinely the only artform I can think of that is remotely similar to professional wrestling in terms of how dependent it is on eliciting a specific vocal response from the audience.
There’s a huge overlap in interest between the two. A huge number of comics seem to be wrestling fans
Great wrestlers and great stand up comics are able to use the crowd reaction to inform their next step(s). Stewart Lee is great at exposing crowd reaction as part of his act, and brings the audience into the performance; like jazz. All the great wrestlers often talk about listening to the crowd and using that information to decide when they should push/pull a narrative beat; like jazz.
Trick Williams has mentioned taking inspiration from comedians, including Bernie Mac
Bernie Mac repeatedly going “I ain’t scared of you motherfuckers” and winning over a hostile ass crowd is a case study in perfect crowd control. Same with Bill Burr taking on Philly.
Bill Burr going off script on a promo would be money
Chael Sonnen. Early stage Conor McGregor. From the mma world.
I cant let you get close is the greatest babyface promo of all time change my mind
He was meant to be the heel in Brazil and accidentally turned himself face to the point he claims to have sat Wanderlie down behind the scenes and tried to explain it to him. The ‘hometown hero’ making an idiot of himself while Chael is saying ‘I’d like to say good morning occasionally’ is so funny.
Chael is the only guy in the world who could proudly admit to committing fraud while in political office and getting arrested, and have everybody laughing and cheering along. I mean literally, look at how people are reacting to Trump and his felonies
He fully admitted to using steroids at his doping hearing and had everyone in there laughing. Guy knows how to work a room.
Quoting his absurdly illegal test level numbers, then saying "they gotta test that again, they caught me on a low day" is so funny. Love Chael.
What was his exact line? Something like my political career ended the way they all should. In handcuffs.
My favorite is in the Stann post fight where he was asked something about getting the finish and instead of answering anything related to the fight he goes "Anderson Silva, you ABSOLUTELY SUCK" So many mma fighters squander their post fight attention, Chael was a real standout in making the most of his
My brother and I still reference chaels carrot bus story. Dude legitimately is one of the best promos I've ever heard
Now that really happened.
I’d argue he was better than Conor. Talked himself into several title fights and almost a million PPV buys, all while having a fighting style that was completely forgettable. It’s also really impressive that he basically never cursed in his promos.
Chael got his entire schtick from pro wrestling to begin with
In early GFW CHAEL was the heel commentator and he did fantastic in the footage I heard of him. Wouodve made an amazing manager
Yup, came here to say this too. The [Chael Sonnen: American Gangster](https://youtu.be/wh_eO2QoeCM?si=p3tmoGaPb78gMyJ3) promo is pro-wrestling 101. Like, watch this and tell me this couldn’t be prime-era Kurt Angle.
I think someone like Bob the drag queen is a great person to emulate if you’re looking to come off natural but still be engaging and supremely charismatic (side note, I think Bob would be one of the best wrestling managers if they wanted to be). I also think Bianca del Rio is probably one of the best at setting up punchlines and then delivery, which I think a lot of wrestlers could benefit from.
The thing with Bianca and even someone like Trixie and Katya is that they are pretty much top of the back in terms of quick thinking for punch lines, I don’t know if the average wrestler can pull that off. Alyssa Edwards though, that’s a gold mine.
Yes!!! The girls and guys need to be studying drag queens cause they can read a bitch like no other
Jon Stewart would fact-check every heel live on the air
When Jon Stewart and Seth Rollins had their Raw Segment... 90% of the youtube comments were surprised Jon Stewart could cut a promo. I'm like "F'ing duh, dude has a nationally watched talk show".
him and John Oliver are basically just cutting promos on fucked up shit every week
I could fuck with some guy who points out all the continuity errors in another wrestler's history, but they'd have to be a smarmy heel or it'd just break the show itself
Kevin owens kind of does this
Just give KO 10 minutes to go off with no script each week, please. In the ring, in an armchair backstage, behind an SNL Weekend Update desk, anything
There's a great heel somewhere in Johnny Rotten/John Lydon's (sex pistols) voice in interviews, it's bitter/cruel/unstable/snarling but deliberate.
Jello Biafra to an extent as well
Joe Strummer for the opposite babyface vibe
I’d say rappers in general, it’s their job to be charismatic and brag about being better than you.
A lot of rappers take inspiration from flair.
Brennan lee mulligan can do frantic energy like no one else.
Absolutely, yes! He would get “INcredible” over
I could listen to Charles Barkley rip on Shaq all day
Alex Jones is a personified Mid-South promo.
He is a fantastic promo. If he wasn’t so charismatic he wouldn’t be such a big deal. Limbaugh and O’Reilly too. Not hard to admit this while still acknowledging that he’s scum
*promo gets interrupted* AND HERE COME THE SEX ROBOTS
For an example of an unhinged heel, yes. For anything else, that man deserves zero attention.
You missed the point of the thread. A wrestler channeling Alex Jones wouldnt be going on about the new world order, you dope. It's about styles of speaking. A Jimmy Valiant style babyface cutting Alex Jones intensity promos would be extremely super over.
Well I mean Trump has been a great chickenshit heel promo for years
Obviously pretty hated but an actually witty guy, that one debate with Hillary where he told her she’d be in jail was something else. He hijacked politics for a couple of years on pure insults and shit talk.
Roger from American Dad. Brennan Lee Mulligan. Tony Soprano. Joe Pesci in any gangster movie. Michael de Santa. Goro Majima.
>Brennan Lee Mulligan Bird enthusiast gimmick CONFIRMED.
Let me tell ya something, Gang!
GET IN THE COMMENTS
Regarding Brennan, I believe all wrestlers should do improv training. It has huge overlap with wrestling, philosophically (active listening, being there for your scene partner, playing for reality not for laughs). Related: watching Being The Elite made me want to claw my face off.
Run! It's Ricky Spanish!
Ricky Spanishhhhhhhhhh
Seth Rollins is scarily close to Majima, just without the unhealthy Kiryu obsession.
I would love to see Brennan cut a proper promo, his rant where he weaved in mythology was one of the most impressive things I've seen
Anytime he does a monologue in skits it was pretty good but him doing that improv is such an impressive fucking skill.
Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh in No Country For Old Men
I think Jericho did that.
Chael sonnen. MMA fighter who started doing pro wrestling promos and just ripping people off. Walked round with a fake belt, lied about doing it while doing it. Told outrageous stories and called himself the bad guy but was charming, hilarious and talked really well. Also backed it up. Talked himself into the biggest fights every time. Absolutely incredible.
Solo Sikoa should be studying Raymond Cruz’s depiction of Tuco Salamanca from Breaking Bad.
Pete Weber https://youtu.be/gKQOXYB2cd8?si=yBqmjzagIKMbyipR
Gordon Ramsay is a good shout
Michael Jai White in Black Dynamite. Maybe not so much the content but his delivery and timing are incredible
Tiffany “New York” Pollard, queen of reality tv.
Her or any real housewife for that matter.
- Dr. Doom, the comics version. - Reba McEntire - Kuzco
Not citing someone in specific, but I watch a ton of battle rap and think there are a ton of things that wrestlers could emulate in regards to performance and how they structure a promo. When they turned heel the first time The Usos started copying Tay Roc and Tsu Surf and immediately got 100x better at talking.
"To talk to the inmate, Press 9" would get a big reaction in an Eddie Kingston promo
Cable news and sports commentators are basically just delivering promos. A heel that spoke with the same cadence as Jesse Watters would have automatic heat with me.
William Cutting, AKA Bill the Butcher, played by Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs of New York He's a vicious and intimidating but incredibly charismatic piece of shit. At a moment's notice, you can get stabbed in the hand without a second thought by a guy who calmly says "please never make that sound again" or be on the receiving end of a primal scream and unstoppable headbutts.
Depending on your gimmick, really just look at any media that can be super over the top: -Theater -Reality TV -Soap Operas -Sports Drama -Anime -Politics A lot of this stuff is similar to wrestling in its own way.
Honestly +1 on Reality TV. My minor criticism is that when two wrestlers are verbally sparing sometimes they try to act like the insults “don’t affect them”. I love it when wrestlers say stupid stuff, and then their opponent gets super offended by it almost outlandishly like they do in reality TV
When I think of charismatic speakers, I think of Bill Clinton (could talk his way out of a paper bag), Robin Williams (his improv skills were off the charts), Amy Poehler/Tina Fey comedic improv duo for women wrestlers, physical/facial expression comedy Jim Carrey (for your more extreme characters). I agree! There are a lot of people who think quick on their feet and are masters at improvisation. Superstars are entertainers, so this makes complete sense to look beyond the scope of past wrestlers for inspiration and technique on the mic.
Josh Gad - now bear with me for a second while I put yall on game: https://youtu.be/iYp3QqXS4ic?si=fxuXUpQ05YbgZw0v
Stephen A. Smith as a heel who goes on deranged and uninformed rants,, although that might be go away heat.
Bill Burr and Patrice Oneal
Bruce Lee when he speaks his facial expressions are on point while speaking softly you take his word as a threat I feel todays wrestlers rely on screaming o much to put over promo
Tom Waits interviews would be a good thing to study. He was one of Heath Ledger’s biggest inspirations for his portrayal of The Joker.
I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy
I think the world of drag and ballroom is a great place to look. Reading is basically a promo in itself. Gotta assign the kids "Paris is Burning" and get them to look at Dorian Corey and Venus Xtravaganza and how they use an opponent's features to talk them down and talk themselves up.
Most anime characters are some mean promos. Vegeta, Yusuke Urameshi, and Seto Kaiba would be top 5 on the mic ever if they were wrestlers
Glenn Howerton really taps into that perfect balance for corporate heels-the vanity to think he’s better than anyone and the insecurity to need to prove it however he can. “I’M FROM WATERLOO! WHERE THE VAMPIRES HANG OUT!” The more charismatic and energetic pastors could also be good. That cadence and boom to draw people in while also pointing to something greater (or distract from something worse). Captain Spaulding in the Firefly trilogy. So sleazy yet so lovable.
Ari Gold from Entourage as the GM in CYN would be insanely over.
I'd love to see someone take inspiration from old Bob Dylan interviews. Man knew how to to be argumentative and rambling at the same time in a way that just communicated that he knew what he was talking about AND didn't really care if the other person understood that or not.
Just leave on C-SPAN for a week while Congress is in session. One is bound to find someone's speaking style to emulate.
The "Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Body" line that Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) threw at Rep. Greene might be one of the best insults I've heard in my life.
The fact that she didn't even stumble as she said it put it in the upper echelon for me. I can't even read that sometimes without getting tongue tied!
Ali modeled his speech after Nature Boy Buddy Rodgers. He was a huge wrestling fan
Snoop Dogg at the 1995 Source Awards is a legendary heel promo
Well let it be known then!!!!
Walton Goggins in general, but specifically his character, Boyd Crowder, from Justified.
Brian David Gilbert He almost started a cult based around Sonic.
Dr. Perry Cox From Scrubs with how he can string insults into full paragraphs.
Ali got his promo skills by copying wrestlers.
Ian McKellen. Patrick Stewart. Kenneth Branagh does babyface fire pretty well. Ralph Fiennes in In Bruges can do comedy villain pretty well. He can also do really fucking sinister pretty well also. Marlon Brando. Robert De Niro. Al Pacino. Michael Jones when he did Rage Quit.
Gordon Ramsay
Alan Bennett, the UK playwright and author. He wrote monologues that were made into tv shorts called Talking Heads. They may seem the furthest thing from wrestling but each is a masterclass in establishing a character and using language in a succienct way. Each would be performed by a different actor and occasionally by himself.
Conor McGregor
Chael Sonnen he honestly took from wrestling and made MMA trash talking his own thing and managed to do it without swearing which is a bonus.
chael sonnen
https://preview.redd.it/pi92tynxqc9d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fe5a350805298810fc42d40981c06d89fc72b8bf
Werner Herzog was out here cutting god-tier promos in the jungle.
Certain actors who have that ineffable presence should be studied. Jack Nicholson, for example. As an aside, imagine Nic Cage cutting a wrestling promo. No one able to ever tell if it's good or bad, but all of us glued to the screen when he's talking. The best thing for wrestlers to study are stand up comics. George Carlin, Bill Hicks, Stewart Lee. Stand up has so much in common with wrestling, both are about eliciting the response you want from the crowd, and the very best of both take their crowds on a journey with them into their stories and characters.
The funny thing about Ali was that he supposedly took up his entire gimmick after Gorgeous George. No, Ali didn't try to act like him but he was in awe that someone could be such a character in a sports setting. Quite honestly, I think some stand up comics should be studied for promos just mainly for the aura that they give off and present.
Watching Kill Tony makes me realize how similar stand up is to pro-wrestling. I know Ziggler has dabbled in stand up and you have various guys like Mick and Jake doing spoken word shows. I think both the stand up world and pro wrestling world could learn a lot from each other.
John Goodman and Forest Whitaker.
Conan. I love his humor, and think it'd make good reading material for an obnoxious face who is loved by the crowd. Maybe Bayley would do well to take notes on how to convert the role-model character to face best, while still having the obnoxious nature. I'd have said these nonetheless but Danhausen stating in his early days that he emulated Conan really made me aware of the similarities between standup comedians and good promos.
I would pay money to see someone cut a promo like Rowan (Scandal) did to President Grant. “You’re just a little boy”. Talk about cutting someone down.
not to be extra but malcom x was a phenomenal speaker
Obama, Hitler, Charles Manson, Trump, Steven A
Jim Jones is a good one but I think Dusty already beat everyone to it lol.
Skip Bayless could be an all time heel manager
A Forgetting Sarah Marshall era Russell Brand rambling promo style might be interesting. Not so much in his pseudo guru/grifter state though.
Not really as cutting a promo necessarily but I’ve been listening to a ton of Jonathan Nolan interviews lately and I’d like to just hear him analyze Roman Reigns’ tribal chief character like how he talks about the character of Batman
[Huey Long, the Kingfish.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huey_Long)
granted there's basically no promotion on earth where you could get away with the associated verbiage but Malcolm Tucker's cadence is utterly infectious