The “promo” is an essential part of the world of professional wrestling, allowing fans to get a better understanding of each wrestler’s character and connect with them on a deeper level. We here at ComicBook have decided to amass some of the most memorable promos of all time from both WWE and WCW. From wrestlers such as Dusty Rhodes to Macho Man Randy Savage to Ric Flair, some wrestlers have the ability to not only leap from the top rope with ease, but also being born with the “gift of gab”. Whether they be babyfaces or heels, wrestlers can make or break their careers based on their outside of the ring personalities and these wrestlers featured here have definitely withstood the test of time!
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Which promo is your favorite? Let us know down in the comments!
Hard Times
Dusty Rhodes was a legend. He was a wrestler that could make anything work with this promo being no different. Rhodes unleashes the “Hard Times” promo against Ric Flair, going into a tirade of what the “real” hard times are. Comparing himself to “textile workers who are out of work” and a senior employee who is told that a “computer took your job, daddy”, Rhodes’ incredible delivery and his thick southern drawl make this speech easily one of the greatest in wrestling history.
With a Tear in My Eye…
You’d be hard pressed to find a wrestling fan that doesn’t consider Ric Flair to be one of the greatest wrestlers of all time and his victory promo following his win in the Royal Rumble in 1992 was easily one of his best. The best promos for wrestlers do a great job of blending the character they portray along with the man or woman behind them, and Flair’s victory speech shows how excited and insanely pumped he is for having been the first man ever to win the World Championship belt as the victor of Royal Rumble. Flair’s enthusiasm is infectious in this promo and you can’t help but bounce in your seat as you watch it for yourself.
Added bonus, Mean Gene Oakerland angrily telling someone off camera to put out their cigarette.
Ultimate Warrior Plane Crash
Between you and me, this article came dangerously close to simply being only Ultimate Warrior promos. The character of the Ultimate Warrior was unlike, and most likely will continue to be unlike, anything we’ve ever seen in the history of the WWE. If you had to narrow it down, you’d have to pick this promo as being his “best” in that the insanity of the warrior is fully on display here, with the buff wrestler telling Hulk Hogan that he should kick down the cabin door of the airplane and crash the plane itself.
It’s bonkers but it’s nearly impossible to forget.
I Am The Cream of the Crop
Some wrestlers simply jump off the screens as their personalities are too big to contain within a transmission and Macho Man Randy Savage is easily one of those. Savage gave his growling performance here, blending his usual menace and pageantry while simultaneously performing actions that we can’t help but laugh at every time we see them. Macho Man used this opportunity to bolster himself while time after time pulling out a tiny container of cream over and over again. I’m honestly amazed that “Mean Gene” is able to keep a straight face in the presence of this hilarious promo.
“Nothing is nothing” indeed.
The New World Order
Did anyone truly recognize how big the “New World Order” was going to be before this promo dropped? Hulk Hogan had been a face for the majority of his career, and when he decided to take the huge leap of becoming a heel, fans in attendance simply couldn’t keep their cool as they began throwing garbage and food into the ring itself. This would start an era where the WCW was essentially consumed by the NWO, with the two factions of the organization in Hollywood and Wolfpac being wrestlers only two options for the most part. To this day, the NWO is still thought of as one of the biggest movements in wrestling and is still referenced to this day by fans.
The Pipe Bomb
When CM Punk was informed that he needed to go out and deliver a promo for his upcoming match against John Cena, Punk made himself a legend by breaking kayfabe and slamming the WWE Superstar by saying real life things and incorporating them into the speech. With Punk saying that Cena was “only good at kissing Vince McMahon’s ass”, CM broke the fourth wall and shocked fans of the WWE with a promo unlike anything they had seen before.
Austin 3:16
Stone Cold Steve Austin truly came into the limelight during this promo for 1996’s King of the Ring, letting fly his patented catchphrases for the first time such as “Austin 3:16” and “I just whipped your ass”. Thought Austin had been wrestling for some time, it wasn’t until this moment that “Stone Cold” really came into his own and introduced something new that acted as a precursor to the “Attitude” era of the wrestling organization. There are any number of promos that can be considered Austin’s best, but this is the one that put him on the map!
