CM Punk and the Top 50 Wrestlers at Cutting Promos in Wrestling History

Wrestling is one of those businesses where if you are gonna talk about it, you better back it up in the ring.

The machismo that is bantered around and throughout the locker room and the legends of Kayfabe and the roots of wrestling are based on verbal as well as physical intimidation.

The 1970s and early 1980s were works based on the mystery and the secrecy of the business to make it look as real as it could be, with colorful characters that could talk and perform night in and night out.

Today, wrestlers don't get in front of a microphone without having about 10 minutes of dialogue to share. It is rehearsed and calculated. Nothing off the cuff next to Gordon Solie on Florida Championship Wrestling or next to Bob Caudill at an announcers podium.

Oh, how I miss the days of the NWA and the impromptu "shoot" interview.

But you have to say that today's wrestlers can make and break their careers by what they say and how they say it. For every wrestler that is great in the ring, but has average mic skills (Batista, Goldberg), something gets lost in transition.

Some wrestlers are able or were able to be just as popular for what they say as how they perform.

And the best promo workers are the ones who have fans waiting to hear what they have to say long before they get into the ring.

The Tag Teams

What was such an integral part of the wrestling business a decade ago has gone by way of the wind.

Tag teams were, and still are, a great source of drama and entertainment and with the right combination, there is magic when partners can both talk and wrestler well.

Sometimes, as in the case with some teams, managers are brought in to speak for the athletes because they are not good mic men. Either way, there are some very outstanding managers who convey the message for their clients.

50. Harlem Heat

They were an impressive tag team in both WCCW and WCW. Booker T and Stevie Ray were massive and brutal and feuded with the best tag teams.

Adding Sister Sherri Martel along the way only added to their strength in numbers.

49. Nation of Domination

The Nation as a "Black Panther-like" stable with four men who could talk but were led by Ron Simmons (Farooq) until he was ousted by The Rock.

All four men were brutal in the ring.

48. The Midnight Express

They had better be glad they had Jim Cornette to preach about how good they were. Stan Lane and Bobby Eaton were great tag team partners and before Lane, Dennis Condrey was a talented member.

If it were not for Cornette's rants, we may never have known how good they were.

47. Demolition

Ax and Smash and Crush...They were a LOD knock off for the WWF, but they were dynamite.

And when they were given a chance to talk, they preached pain for their opponents.

One of the best tag teams in the WWF of all time.

46. Road Warriors

In terms of the best tag team ever, there is no question. In terms of promos and talking, Paul Ellering did more than his fair share of that for them.

When Hawk and Animal came into the business, they were very green and could not talk or promote. Ellering was masterful at that. As they grew into their parts, both wrestlers became better in front of the camera.

45. The Dudleys

Two of the most intense wrestlers to ever come into the business.

Bubba Ray and Devon were great in ring performers who could talk and play the "extreme" game of wrestling.

Tables-Ladders-Chairs were their specialty. And when they needed a little "excitiement" they brought Stacy Keibler into their mix.

44. The Freebirds

Michael Hayes was the best talker in Texas at one time. And he could wrestle and back up everything he said.

When Buddy Roberts left the group and Terry Gordy and Hayes were partnered with Jim Garvin, it was a match made in heaven.

Hayes and Garvin were amazing on the mic, maybe underrated at times.

43. Edge and Christian

One of the greatest tag teams ever and two of the best performers ever.

Edge is a better mic man but he can surely pass the stick off to Christian who can beg and plead his case with the best.

As a team, they were brilliant.

42. New Age Outlaws

Road Dogg Jesse James was a one man show.

And when he came to the ring with Bad Ass Billy Gunn, you needed to go "Tell Somebody" and let them know about the New Age Outlaws.

Their entrance alone makes them great. Their skills only enhanced it.

41. DX

Two of the greatest wrestlers ever in the WWE, they came together and formed a partnership that is one of the best ever.

They were funny, flashy, serious and of course, GREAT.

Both will go down as two of the greatest champions in wrestling of all time.

40. The Four Horsemen

The original is still the best.

When you get four men in a stable who can walk, talk, wrestle and dominate, you have the best of all time.

And the best thing about it was they all had gold and all could have been great and were great without the need for the stable.

But it was the best thing ever in the 1980s and 90s.

39. NWO

Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were great friends who left the Federation to come over to WCW and take over.

It was a masterminded plan that was the best thing to ever happen in wrestling.

Add Hulk Hogan to the mix and you had three champions who could talk, walk and win titles.

And one bad ass clique.

And Now for the Wrestlers

Here is where the debate really begins.

I have listed them based on their ability to capture the audience, their popularity and what they did in wrestling.

Yes, some have been left out and there will be a debate over who should be at the top of the list, but then again, this is what these types of slideshows do.

And at times, we all need a little "Whoop Ass" to calm things down. Let's keep the bickering to a low roar, please.

38. Eddie Gilbert

He was a little ahead of his time and always stuck his nose in everything.

Eddie Gilbert was one of the best little men in the business. And he could talk better than most in the early 1980s.

Having Missy Hyatt by his side did not hurt.

And by the way, isn't this an awesome pic of JR, Sting and Steiner?

37. Butch Reed

Forget about his stink in the WWF, Butch Reed was a powerful and popular face and heel in the NWA years before he was a cartoon character in the WWF.

He could talk and preach about how the "Soup Bone"as gonna take care of things.

In Florida, he and Sweet Brown Sugar were a great tag team combination. In WCW, he and Ron Simmons were great as DOOM.

36. Buzz Sawyer

A man who actually lived like he was dying.

Sawyer was a dynamic personality who feuded with the likes of Tommy Rich in Georgia.

He was a regional talent and a smaller version of Bruiser Brody.

A menace to all who faced him.

35. Ole Anderson

The best thing about Ole Anderson was, he would tell you he was going to wear you down and beat the hell out of you.

And then he did.

Anderson was an old school wrestler who just wore his opponents out and made them submit.

And he could take the mic in his hand and make the wrestling program his own.

34. Larry Zbyszko

Larry Legend always seemed like he was mad in the ring and on the mic.

And when he spoke, the anger just came out like a flowing lava.

He was a great commentator when his wrestling days were over.

A great competitor and talker in the AWA, WWF and WCW.

33. Ray Stevens

A heel and face from the past.

Stevens was the kind of wrestler who went about his business and was successful in the AWA and NWA.

32. Tully Blanchard

A sharply dressed man who came to the ring and the announcer's table with a Pat Benetar look-a-like.

How can he not be successful?

Blanchard was old school and wrestled as hard as anyone. He may have been the fourth link in the Horsemen, but he could hold his own with his words and his skills.

31. Mark Henry

This one is my surprise pick for this list.

What Henry is doing now is something he should have been doing all along.

A true heel who can bitch and moan about his standing in wrestling. And he is backing his words up every night he gets in the ring.

He will be a champion for a while.

30. Nick Bockwinkle

In the AWA, he was a classy gentleman who feuded with Verne Gagne and was well spoken.

He was a throw-back of sorts. A man who talked it and then walked it.

His vignettes were classics.

29. Sgt. Slaughter

Listen all you maggots!

Slaughter was great on the mic and one of the best characters ever in wrestling and mainstream America.

And whether he was a heel or face, people still loved him.

28. Harley Race

What he did in the ring was just brutalize people. He was one of the 10 best of all time.

In 1983, Race placed a $25,000 bounty on Ric Flair and the promos for it were some of the best footage ever.

Race did not do a lot of talking, but when he did, it was amazing stuff.

27. Kane

Kane is one of my favorites.

He can talk, he can wrestle and he can sell.

There are few in the sport as brilliant as he is.

And when he speaks from the dark side, then you have a whole other dimension to the package.

26. Triple H

I am not as much a fan of his talking as I am of his wrestling.

Now that he is the COO, he talks more and is getting better at it. As a member of DX, it was different because his brilliance lied within the character.

His skills in the ring are much on par with Arn Anderson.

25. Wahoo McDaniel

The toughest SOB in wrestling ever.

Was there ever a guy who spoke his mind and said what needed to be said in the 1970s and 80s? If so, it was Wahoo.

And when he faced Magnum TA or the Road Warriors or Flair, he came to fight every night.

24. Sting

He is still one of the best ever, but got better when he assumed personas that fit his personality.

I had to warm up to the Joker one he is using now, but it does work.

He also is one of the best in the ring.

Never liked him as a heel. His best work lies in fighting against the Flairs and Hogans of wrestling.

23. Stan Hansen

The man from Borger, Texas. He was big, bad and a former AWA champion.

Hansen's lariat was one of the most brutal finishing maneuvers in wrestling, mainly because he could not see when he wrestled.

He could also call out his opponents and beat the hell out of them.

22. Owen Hart

I think if he had been able to do the things he set out to do and was not lost at such an early age, Owen Hart would have been a WWF champion and a better wrestler than his brother Bret.

That said, he was much better on the mic and looked more confident on television.

And his ring skills were some of the best.

21. The Miz

Really?

In a short amount of time, Miz has become a great in ring performer, and a great mic man, much like Roddy Piper.

His skills are still developing and it remains to be seen what happens with him and R-Truth as they are worked into this "conspiracy" angle.

But his words get the attention of the fans, no doubt.

20. Mick Foley

I am not a fan of Foley, mainly because I think he is a character that got into the biz and put his body on the line every night to the fans delight without really wrestling.

That's my opinion.

On the other hand, he is great at using the camera to draw fan support and using his mic skills to cause havoc, which is something key to being a great superstar.

19. Rick Martel

His promo skills really came out when he was in the WWF and his "Model" persona was played up.

He was brash and arrogant and a perfect fit for the things the WWF was doing at the time.

When he was in the AWA, he was one of the 10 best performers in the ring.

18. JBL

I don't like him. I don't like him. I don't like him.

As a true heel champion, he was great. And he could talk better than most superstars.

I think he may have been the last of the great true heels until Mark Henry came along.

17. Superstar Billy Graham

His run as a heel in the WWF was one of the best ever. It was also the first time a true heel held a championship belt for an extended period of time.

Graham was the original Hulk. Big arms, big legs. He was a giant in the sport.

And his gift for gab was pretty entertaining.

16. Jesse Ventura

The Body thought a great deal about himself. Hell, he still does.

Ventura will never win the hearts of everyone. And as a singles and tag team wrestler in the AWA and WWF, he was great, but he just thought it was always about him.

And today if you asked him, I bet he would tell you the same thing.

15. Edge

He outshines his best friend Christian by a country mile.

Edge is dynamic, unpredictable and great at being the insane wrestler.

When his eyes bulge out, look out.

In the ring, his skills are on par with any great ever to lace them up.

14. Undertaker

The Deadman is still the best at creating a scene in your head and holding it there.

Suspended animation of the mind.

His legend will be linked to Paul Bearer, Kane and Wrestlemania.

And some titles he won along the way.

Truly one of the greats.

13. Arn Anderson

He could have been better than Flair!

He was dynamic, could talk, could wrestle and was a badder ass than the champion.

Anderson in my estimation was the true leader of the Horsemen.

And his shoot interviews stand the test of time.

12. Steve Austin

What?

Austin captures the imagination of everyone because he is every man who hates his job, his boss and the establishment.

He is what we all want to see on the screen and his promos in the ring are perfect for his character.

11. Shawn Michaels

He is the closest thing to a Flair we have in the business.

He was cocky, arrogant, loved and hated.

And in the end, a pretty good wrestler too.

Whether a member of DX or on his own, Michaels was loved and adored by fans.

And Now... Your Top 10

OK, Guys.

I am not going to hold you up any longer.

These are David's 10 best wrestlers when it comes to giving a promo.

All I can say is "ENJOY."

10. Chris Jericho

Chris Jericho came to the WWE and really grew as a wrestler in the ring and on the mic. He was the closest thing the WWE had to a Shawn Michaels and could be the best at causing drama and chaos in a ring without wrestling.

Some of the promos between him and Michaels were classic and may never be duplicated.

He is that good!

9. Vince McMahon

You have to have Vinnie Mac in the Top 10.

Style and arrogance alone gets him a ticket here.

What he says and how he says it are two other reasons.

And of course, it's his party and he can piss off who he wants with his words.

8. Hulk Hogan

Let me tell you something, brother!

Over and over again, we hear Hogan and cannot get his voice out of our heads.

He has been an icon of wrestling so long and what he said early in the 1980s still rings in the annals of wrestling today.

He will forever be remembered for great promos, a dark side and the red and yellow.

7. CM Punk

We will talk about his shoot interview for years to come and his speeches on what is wrong in wrestling.

Punk became an icon overnight and if they stop his run, it is a damn shame.

Punk's purity of the words and the stroke he has are important to the livelihood of the industry.

6. Roddy Piper

His rants over the years have been some of the best to listen to.

You hear the real genius in his voice. Whether in the NWA, WWF or WCW, he always stirs the pot.

And we love what he has to say.

5. Ric Flair

Surprise!

I did not put Flair at the top, although he is worthy of such a title.

No one else had as much influence on the camera promoting the wrestling aspect as Flair. Not even Hogan.

And Flair can still cut a great promo and style and profile with the best of them.

4. Goldust

Next to The Undertaker, this is the best character ever developed by the WWF.

Goldust is MONEY!

The promos were dynamite and his persona and talking skills were excellent.

Dustin Rhodes was pure genius in the this role.

It will never be duplicated.

3. Randy Savage

Oh, Yeah!

Savage was made for the WWF. His glitz, his style, his wrestling. All in one package and some of the things he said were just amazing, like it rolled out of his mouth unscripted.

We sure miss him today.

2. The Rock

He singlehandly changed an industry.

The Rock's promos are legendary, self promoting and so damn good.

He can talk better than anyone in this business and he was born into this, but we never knew how good he would be.

He is the best!

1. Dusty Rhodes

He is here for one reason... Hard Times!

It is without a doubt the single best promo ever made for a wrestler and whether you were a wrestling fan or not, everyone in America could identify with it and feel its emotion.

It gives people chills and speaks about what hard life really is and for a man who was a plumber's son, he could relate to that.