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Post by LiamMcDuggle on Jan 17, 2023 2:19:21 GMT -5
Just watching early 1980's Bob Backlund and seeing how lame his promos were, comparing them to the one's he had in the 90's is like night and day. He was arguably the best promo in the WWE for a (very) short period of time during the New Gen era.
What are other examples of people just randomly becoming really good promos?
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Mozenrath
FANatic
Foppery and Whim
Speedy Speed Boy
Posts: 121,127
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Post by Mozenrath on Jan 17, 2023 2:57:53 GMT -5
Bret and Owen definitely both got more comfortable on the mic. Bret was never known as a top promo, but later on, he'd be great at selling himself as an authentic character with whatever gripes he'd have or integrity to lean on, depending on if he was heel or face.
Earlier on, though, there's a reason Jim Neidhart handled most of the talking in the Hart Foundation.
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Post by ANuclearError on Jan 17, 2023 3:20:30 GMT -5
Zack Sabre calling everyone a dickhead is a vast, vast improvement over "Harry Potter's not the only wizard in England".
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pinja
Unicron
Posts: 3,012
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Post by pinja on Jan 17, 2023 8:07:47 GMT -5
PAC went from "Does he have functioning vocal cords?" to hard-boiled Shakespearean Gollum.
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thecrusherwi
El Dandy
the Financially Responsible Man
Brawl For All
Posts: 7,659
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Post by thecrusherwi on Jan 17, 2023 9:45:37 GMT -5
Ray Traylor was pretty lousy on the mic when he first became Big Bossman. He was young and didn't get to talk as Big Bubba. But by the time he turned face a couple years in, he was a solid promo guy and continued to improve throughout the rest of his career.
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Post by Gerard Gerard on Jan 17, 2023 10:16:22 GMT -5
Wouldn't necessarily say I'd seen anything bad from Bryan Danielson, but his WWE run went from slightly stiff on OG NXT to being, for my money, one of the greatest talkers this generation — at very least, one of the more underrated. The Planet's Champion arc gets a lot of deserved praise as he was the perfect foil for Kofi, but even his face stuff, be it perfectly playing his part in Yesslemania to the near-weekly belters he was swinging out as Smackdown GM (his hype promo for Styles/Lesnar was exceptional, in particular). Just yeah, not sure why he doesn't quite get the credit he deserves as a talker.
Also accidentally reminded myself of the time they were teasing GM Bryan going heel against Commissioner Shane in yet another reminder of Shane O'Mac being a chud that fundamentally does not understand anything about compelling fiction.
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Post by "Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik on Jan 17, 2023 10:40:11 GMT -5
The Rock is probably the best example. He was pretty bad as a face and still somewhat mediocre when he first turned heel but then he had this period in early 1998 where he just got a lot better every single week and was an all timer promo by the end of the year.
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Post by Finish Uncle Muffin’s Story on Jan 17, 2023 10:40:34 GMT -5
The Miz went from forgetting his lines on national TV to cutting some of the industry's best promos.
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Post by "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay on Jan 19, 2023 14:02:28 GMT -5
A lot of guys who weren't that great in their prime have become outstanding later
Sting for example was never more than serviceable in his prime but the last few years he has become incredible
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Post by Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!! on Jan 19, 2023 14:12:51 GMT -5
AJ Styles used to be like watching paint dry until they paired him up with Christian and now he's fantastic
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Post by Jindrak Mark on Jan 19, 2023 14:18:10 GMT -5
Most of the time Roman was in front of a live crowd cutting a promo as a babyface he seemed terrified, like he couldn't wait for it to be over. Now he sounds like the most confident person on the planet and has insane aura/energy.
I don't think anyone who watched Cena's promos in 2002 when he was happy to be there ruthless aggression guy would predict that less than a year later his promos would be so good they'd get him cheered as a heel over the likes of Taker/Angle/Lesnar/Rey.
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Post by karl100589 on Jan 19, 2023 16:45:45 GMT -5
Diesel’s promos were awful in his early years (even before his whitemeat babyface run), yet Nash would go on to become one of the best mic workers in the game.
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Post by Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) on Jan 20, 2023 23:58:43 GMT -5
Randy Orton
For his role he never had to be a great promo, just get his lines across and the persona sells it. Then when he turned face he didn't even have to speak at all, his mannerisms and way he moved got the reactions
I think over the last 5 years he became a really good promo. He talked about being a lot more comfortable when talking to Stone Cold on Broken Skull Sessions and he has been able to blend his character with his actual emotions really well
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Post by Main Eventer on Jan 21, 2023 10:05:53 GMT -5
I remember people saying that Seth Rollins wouldn't make it after The Shield broke up because he wasn't good on the mic.
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Post by James Fabiano on Jan 21, 2023 10:13:52 GMT -5
Eddie Guerrero from face ("I'm so happy to be here!") to heel.
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Post by Milkman Norm on Jan 21, 2023 10:37:47 GMT -5
On a similar note Jericho's promos until his 97 heel turn were all pretty bad. In both cases it could have had more to do the "aw shucks.." promos being a popular format for babyface when they broke in then either guy being bad.
With Backlund it's kinda weird because his heel promos where he changes his inflection and yells are way less creepy then his monotonous babyface promos where he stares at the camera and never blinks. They seriously give a sociopathic vibe.
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Jan 21, 2023 10:38:43 GMT -5
A lot of guys got good at promos when they turned heel. When Owen turned heel and developed his Bret's annoying baby brother gimmick, he became pretty good on the mic. Even that "kicked you leg from out of your leg" botch was a lot better than any of his forgettable babyface promos.
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Post by 1 Free Moon-Down with Burger on Jan 21, 2023 10:56:19 GMT -5
Sting was so goddamn awful at promos until his TNA run
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kidkamikaze10
Dennis Stamp
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Posts: 4,279
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Post by kidkamikaze10 on Jan 21, 2023 11:09:21 GMT -5
A Japanese example, but Kazuchika Okada went from a guy who absolutely needed a mouthpiece by his side (Gedo), to being a good promo.
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Post by BorneAgain on Jan 21, 2023 11:56:10 GMT -5
A lot Lesnar's early verbal stuff was pretty rough, but he's excelled talking as himself since his 2012 comeback.
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