Nick Bockwinkel Elevated the Art of the Pro Wrestling Promo

No one did promos like Nick Bockwinkel; he was an orator of the highest order, a raconteur with complete control of his audience, a slick-tongued trash-talker who changed the game of wrestling interviews.  

The WWE Hall of Famer and former AWA world champ wielded a robust lexicon like a sword, deftly slicing through his opponents verbally before his matches even began.

That master of the microphone is no longer with us. As Dave Meltzer reported on F4WOnline, Bockwinkel died over the weekend.

Memories of his time as the king atop the AWA mountain during the '70s and '80s, his alliance with Ray Stevens and his crisp, captivating mat work are sure to emerge with this news. It was his time with a microphone in hand, though, that was most special.

In many cases, the wrestling promo is often a bravado-rich, loud, one-note speech. Many a powerhouse and bruiser simply look into the camera and talk about wanting to beat up the next opponent with a gruff voice and run-of-the-mill threats. Rather than the hit-you-over-the-head approach, Bockwinkel's take on the medium leaned more on refinement.

The sly-grinning heel talked down to the audience and his opponents.

He was disgusted at the common man. He recoiled at the perceived lack of intelligence in the wrestling world. And in an industry with a fanbase filled with the working class, that irritated the crowd to no end.

Bockwinkel called The Fabulous Ones "stupid, ignorant fools" just as he did most of his opposition and those who tuned in to watch him.

And he did so with a high-level vocabulary that is rare in wrestling. He amplified his arrogance this way. His promos often featured words more befitting of literature than the squared circle.

That was by design.

In The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Heels, Greg Oliver wrote that Bockwinkel "had a little notebook in which he jotted interesting words." Bockwinkel studied these words and carried out a dictionary with him. That studious method paid off.

As noted in Oliver's book, Bockwinkel said, "I would always be perusing. I had it with me all the time. Automatically, some of these words just start coming to me in my interviews because I was familiar with them." 

He had fans searching for their own dictionary when he would talk about "obdurate recalcitrance." He would throw in"consternation" rather than saying "anxiety" or use "skullduggery" to a fanbase unlikely to be familiar that term.

In that way, he made the wrestling promo a higher art, a more literary endeavor. 

Bockwinkel's interviews stood out thanks to his demeanor, too. He relied more on testosterone than eloquence. He verbally attacked his foes in a suave, more measured voice than his peers. 

There was something chilling about this method, a supervillain calmly laying out his plans.

It's an act that stuck with many fans and influenced wrestlers after him, as well. One can see a touch of Bockwinkel in Jake Roberts' work in terms of pulling in more heady words. Although Ric Flair was far more boisterous, he shared that "I'm classier than you" tone that Bockwinkel perfected.

Damien Sandow credited the Hall of Famer for influencing his initial WWE character:

"

Thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Nick Bockwinkel. He was a huge inspiration to Sandow version 1.

— Damien Sandow (@TheDamienSandow) November 15, 2015"

Chris Jericho borrowed from the Bockwinkel playbook more than anyone. In 2008, Jericho adopted a muted promo style. He began wearing suits and speaking to fans with his nose high in the air.

And like Bockwinkel, he utilized a snooty word-stock that played up the divide between the braggart and the commoners he thought were below him.

Jericho noted that influence, writing on Instagram, "One of the alltime greats and a HUGE influence on my 2008-2009 character. Thanks for everything Mr Bockwinkel...we will be lugubrious over your passing."

Like any great artist, though, Bockwinkel left behind a collection of excellent works for us to admire.

His masterpieces await wrestling devotees in clips of his AWA days. And in those videos, some grainier than others, one can relive his verbal takedowns of Verne Gagne, Mad Dog Vachon, Curt Hennig and any other "cretinous, numb individuals" who got in his way.