WWE Reality Check Volume 6: The Best Promos of 2009-Present
As it stands, I have now been watching WWE programming for just over two years. I remember the very first episode I saw was of RAW, when Randy Orton punted Vince McMahon in the skull.
The intensity, characters and passion of the stars drew me in and got me addicted to this frantic and exciting phenomenon. Already I have seen numerous great matches but personally I find what really sells the story is the characters involved.
Their character development, reasons and thoughts really add a personal touch to their feuds which is why the best ones have both great matches and talking instead of just great matches.
Storylines such CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy and Undertaker vs. HBK both included tremendous mic work, which built up the fans excitement to a frenzy. So here are some of my personal favorite promos since I have been a WWE viewer. Enjoy.
Happy Birthday from Everybody's Favorite Cult Leader
1 of 7This promo epitomizes everything the IWC loves about CM Punk and why so many of the younger generation in particular hate him. The heat he gets here is tremendous and he feeds off it.
Aside from the verbal abuse of a top fan favorite, it is the subtle nuances which really makes this a truly memorable promo.
The deranged look in his eyes, the body movement such as when he kneels down and the varying change in his voice tone completely sells him as a diabolical cult leader and earns him his first of several spots in this slideshow.
Thuganomics: Take Two
2 of 7A more recent promo from a few weeks ago saw one of the most interesting character developments for quite a while when John Cena does a throwback to his early days as a rapper.
Despite being the face of the PG era, virtually all viewing fans were nicely surprised by this definitely not-PG retort to the Rock. Seeing how Rock had torn Cena apart on the mic the week before, this was the perfect comeback and certainly raised his profile in the eyes of many fans.
This can be prominently seen by the crowd's reaction; when he enters we can clearly hear both loud cheers and boos, yet throughout the rap and by the time he finishes the crowd is firmly behind him and showed us that PG Cena is not totally neutered by the age rating.
The Awesome Elbow
3 of 7Continuing the tradition of great promos during the Road to WrestleMania, the much overlooked WWE champion the Miz put himself in a prominent position leading into this Monday's RAW.
Having been pushed aside in lieu of the verbal back and forth between the Rock and John Cena, the Miz reminded us that he is still a force to be reckoned with and is underlooked at his opponent's peril as Cena finds out here.
The use of the Rock's People's Elbow was a great touch and showed that just like the other two men, he can bring something different as WrestleMania draws near. The intensity and desire for the spotlight is clear for all to see and no doubt a Miz-Rock showdown will be must see TV on Monday night.
Also if anybody could find Miz's Summerslam promo and send me a link, it would be much appreciated as it is one of the saving graces from that snoozefest of a PPV and would definitely be on a future version of this slideshow.
The Straight Edge Saviour
4 of 72009 was a terrific year in terms of the quality of Smackdown programming and saw the birth of one of the greatest heels in wrestling history.
Many have said that he is the most valuable wrestling commodity in the world today and each week Smackdown was his pulpit as he preached his straight-edge message.
Long respected for his values, CM Punk became a heat magnet as he turned on the crowd and used his values as proof of his moral grandeur, claiming to better than everyone and how he managed to keep the same old speech fresh each week is truly commendable.
He enlightened me to one of the greatest characters ever created, further enhanced by the fact that his character is based on his true beliefs, which infuriates the fans, as what he is saying is based in truth...no hypocrisy, just the incontrovertible truth.
Although I could randomly select any promo of Punk's from 2009 as pure gold, this one to me is so much more poignant as it is directed at 'the charismatic enabler' Jeff Hardy, as he put it who now faces drug charges.
2009 was the year of Punk for certain and I almost wish for him to have a social media war with the Hardy brothers just for the hard truth he would lay upon them.
Preach on.
The Great One Returns
5 of 7Although I could spend about a week praising the Rock's mic skills and promo work, I really don't need to, as his return speech reminded the entire WWE universe why they loved him so much and the MILLIONS were enthralled by his mere presence alone.
From start to finish, this was the Rock at his electrifying best and the crowd thought so too; I have never heard a crowd pop like they did for his 'IF YA SMELL' entrance opening, the volume of the crowd reached Attitude era levels and it took a while for them to settle down so he could speak.
The highlight of this promo has to be him tearing the face of the company to shreds, even younger fans were cheering for him at this point as he said what so many of us were thinking and many could argue that Cena was put in his place, as he was completely made to look on another level to the Great One.
Now just having Rock and Cena in the same ring would be unmissable due to this promo, and I would fully expect to 'mark out' as much for that showdown as I was for this verbal bashing.
However, this does not take the top spot as my favorite promo since I have been watching. By now we all expect the amazing from the Rock yet normally we would not expect this next wrestler to cut such a good promo at all.
This next video will always be a favorite of mine, just as one of their previous meetings was back in the past.
An Epic Plan Revealed
6 of 7One when thinks of Kane, one thinks of the Big Red Monster, the powerhouse of the WWE who is the strong and silent type who haunts the Smackdown midcard.
Yet at the Money in the Bank PPV Kane was the surprise winner and proceeded to cash in his contract that same night on Rey Mysterio before defending it successfully against him at Summerslam.
In a surprise twist after the match, though, Kane's legendary older brother the Undertaker returned, seeking revenge on Kane for putting him in a vegetative state.
Yet Kane managed to overpower Undertaker and the night Friday on Smackdown, he cut the most amazing promo I have ever seen, and the fact that nobody expected it to be so good makes it even better.
Literally everything about this was brilliant, for the first and only time I was utterly caught up in what a wrestler had to say, suddenly I was a naive 7-year-old again in awe and not a derisive teenager.
Whereas Kane usually has a character driven speech pattern throughout, here it is wonderfully in dispersed by a more human and natural style of speaking.
This is further bolstered by the effects laid onto it by WWE's production team, who put together a wonderful nostalgia video showing the past of the Brothers of Destruction and the usually cheesy special effects really heightened the atmosphere and forces you to think whether Kane could have been the dominant brother.
Kane had never really endeared himself to me before this, but now I shall credit him for this narrative of epic proportions.
Till Next Time
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Thank you for viewing and maybe reading through my thoughts; let me know what your favorite promos have been since early 2009, any feedback and criticism minus trolling is appreciated.
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