Rate Shelton's promo on ECW last night

[Lionheart]

So, it's often said that Shelton could be a huge star if only his personality and mic work were anywhere near as good as his athleticism and ring skill.

I admit, my first thought when I walked back into the room after getting myself a snack and saw Shelton holding the mic was, "Oh crap, take cover!"

That said, it wasn't a horrible promo at all. His delivery was pretty good. The ending was kind of clunky; they should have had him either not mention that the line is in his song and go straight to it as a catchphrase, or tighten up the transition line to something like simply: "Like the song says..."

The real problem is that he just doesn't exude the confidence he needs to. Between lines, his facial expressions slip and he does this nervous shifty-eyed thing.

Overall, I'd probably give it a 6.

[Ash Whenzday]

It was much better than I expected. 8

[royboy8]

7- I was impressed

[A Dubya (El Hombre Muerto)]

I give it a 7. I think for the most part it was decent, but yeah the ending seemed a little forced and wooden to me. I'm just glad he is getting something new to do where he might have a good run, but I suspect that it won't really be anything in the long run. Hopefully they prove me wrong.

[Dr. T is an alien]

They need to sit Shelton down with a tape of 4-5 hours worth of Rick Rude and Curt Hennig promos. Those are the two classics that Shelton needs to emulate in his promos.

[Lionheart]

LOL @ the 1 vote. That's cold.

[Next Level was WRONG]

On a scale of 1-10, how good was Shelton's ECW prom?

Mikey Whipwreck standing dejected in the corner wearing a pink nylon tuxedo, New Jack working the refreshments table, Joel Gertner as the DJ, RVD and Sabu sitting smoking outside, the BWO tearing up the dancefloor and Raven and Dreamer getting in a fight over Beulah, all under Terry Funk's supervision.

It was pretty damn good.

[Lionheart]

I was wondering if somebody was going to run with that.

[SassovsHart]

A big improvement over some of his past ones. He still doesn't speak very clearly, but he had good conviction in his tone of voice, and although his facial expressions could use work, they were improved. Got his point across well without screwing anything up, although I didn't see any need for the ending part which was just awkward. I was also impressed that he actually took some time to pose and try to work the crowd/use some facial expressions during his match, he hadn't done that enough in the past.

Still has quite a ways to go, but it was definitely a step in the right direction and I'm encouraged by it.

[molson5]

OK, but his "ain't no stopping me" thing at the end made me cringe.

[Lenny: Smooth like Keith Stone]

I vote 3. He looked like he was reading from a script the whole time. I understand that amost all promos in WWE are in fact scripted, but the person delivering the promo should try to make it look like it's not scripted and that it is natural. His didn't at all.

[Mayonnaise]

I went with 5, which for how bad he normally is, is a huge improvement.

[Aaron E. Dangerously]

Does anybody have a vid of just the promo?

[forgottensinpwf]

nextlevel said:

On a scale of 1-10, how good was Shelton's ECW prom?

New Jack working the refreshments table,

serving sprite no doubt.

[gmanquik]

7. Needs more 'Palace of Wisdom'.

[Threadkiller [Classic]]

molson5 said:

OK, but his "ain't no stopping me" thing at the end made me cringe.

Make that double for me. Few lines have felt that scripted, and it seemed so structured, like a properly written sentence. And that's the problem. Most promos sound like the person is reading a novel because they deliver the promo as it's written on the page, and these guys don't know how to write dialog.

That, and Shelton has always come across as a marble-mouth to me. Like every time he opens his mouth, he's in a private war to enunciate, lest it all get lost in a word salad.

EDIT: I voted 7 though. It was more control and confidence in a promo than I've seen in Shelton since his mini-feud with Jericho (the one where he said he was gonna make more hits with his fist than Fozzy did with their last album). He also spoke with perfect clarity throughout and didn't seem uncomfortable.

[wrestlecrapcrap]

I thought it was good. He seemed to be getting decent heat from the crowd, got his point across well. Not perfect, but certainly not 'bad'.

It makes me laugh though, how people will say Kennedy is 'bad' because all he can do is say his name. His last 2 promos though, about father time and HBK's merchandise have shown truly how great he is at them. That is what Shelton should aspire to.

[Mozenrath]

wrestlecrapcrap said:

I thought it was good. He seemed to be getting decent heat from the crowd, got his point across well. Not perfect, but certainly not 'bad'.

It makes me laugh though, how people will say Kennedy is 'bad' because all he can do is say his name. His last 2 promos though, about father time and HBK's merchandise have shown truly how great he is at them. That is what Shelton should aspire to.

People who say that do little more than expose how little they know what they're talking about. Kennedy is closest WWE's had to a DiBiase or Roberts style heel in forever, and the IWC cries to mommy about it.

I gave it a 7, since it did exactly what it was meant to do. Got him over, and layed out his mission.

Someone taught our little Shelton how to deliver a promo.

[azz0r]

All I could focus on was his weird facial expression...he looks like an otter.

[THE Dinobot]

I actually believe it to be a 10.
The dude said, "Just like the lyrics at the beginning of my song says...", that's a top-rate line that needs more love.