LANCE STORM COLUMN: Promos 101

[Ishmeal Loves BBL Bayley]

I am totally agreeing with Lance on this one over anyone else in here: He is a trained, successful professional wrestler. I think he knows what he's talking about.

[BlackJackRobby]

You can agree with Lance in a simple world scenerio. How can wrestling develop though if they only go with said two scenerios and repeat.

The Rock got so big because he threw out the two scenerios and just trashed his opponents. It just sucks that Jr. Fatu is so blatenly ripping him off.

SCSA did much of the same thing throughout as the Rock.

I totally see where he is coming from and TNA is doing most of it wrong, but they are trying somthing differnt then the old formula at least.

[thestinger]

I made almost the exact same points as Lance after last week's impact.

It really was the worst impact in months, and since I read spoilers, this weeks doesn't sound much better.

I believe I've seen two Rock promos in my entire life, and even I could tell Fatu was ripping him off something fierce.

His promos are as bad as his wrestling. I'd never seen Jr. Fatu before TNA and I gave him chance. I didn't instantly dismiss him as a "WWE reject" but he sucks and he has to go.

TNA needs to stop getting rejects like Fatu and Black Reign (Guys who were fired by WWE) and instead work on recruiting guys who left WWE by choice like RVD and Booker T.

Like Christian and Angle, they would be TNA by choice, not rejects. Of course I STILL haven't seen Matt Morgan wrestle a match so I can't even say what I think of him.

[Lenny: Smooth like Keith Stone]

It's not just Lance Storm who thinks that promos should put over your opponent. I remember when John Tenta was around he used to say the exact same thing. Jarrett had recently cut a promo against Nash, saying that Nash was a used-up has been with bad knees and didnt belong wrestling anymore. Quake thought that a much better approach would have been for Jarrett to put over Nash as a tough competitor, and then said that he was gonna beat him. In other words, you want your opponent to seem like a credible threat, otherwise the fact that you beat him is no big deal.

And yes, that Fatu promo was horrible from the moment he called Roode "Rick Rude" to his constant asking of "do you smell that"... which I still find bizarre and unusual. Smell what???

[Michael Coello]

lenny said:

It's not just Lance Storm who thinks that promos should put over your opponent. I remember when John Tenta was around he used to say the exact same thing. Jarrett had recently cut a promo against Nash, saying that Nash was a used-up has been with bad knees and didnt belong wrestling anymore. Quake thought that a much better approach would have been for Jarrett to put over Nash as a tough competitor, and then said that he was gonna beat him. In other words, you want your opponent to seem like a credible threat, otherwise the fact that you beat him is no big deal.

Are heels suppose to be right 100% of the time? Do we take everything they say at face value? Just cause Jarrett says it doesn't make it true. All Nash needed to do is come out one time and chase Jarrett away to help establish himself. I don't get how the heel has to make the face seem credible, cause it makes the heel seem like a pushover.

Not everyone needs to put people over. I was watching the Best of CHIKARA DVD and I didn't hear UltraMantis Black put over someone like Jigsaw, who he hates. He just trashed him in a funny manner. Same went for his blog that was posted. The Age of the Fall sure as hell didn't put over The Briscoes in their blogs and promos, instead opting to call them tools and stuff like that and wishing to destroy them. Team 3D did the same thing to the Steiners after HJ, and they didn't do any promo after it, and were gone for about 2-3 weeks, and I don't think there was a problem with that.

Not everyone needs to give the same cookie-cutter promo just because. nothing is settled in a few minutes, and I don't see how it has to be shrunk in that amount of time.

[Lenny: Smooth like Keith Stone]

sinister1 said:

lenny said:

It's not just Lance Storm who thinks that promos should put over your opponent. I remember when John Tenta was around he used to say the exact same thing. Jarrett had recently cut a promo against Nash, saying that Nash was a used-up has been with bad knees and didnt belong wrestling anymore. Quake thought that a much better approach would have been for Jarrett to put over Nash as a tough competitor, and then said that he was gonna beat him. In other words, you want your opponent to seem like a credible threat, otherwise the fact that you beat him is no big deal.

Are heels suppose to be right 100% of the time? Do we take everything they say at face value? Just cause Jarrett says it doesn't make it true. All Nash needed to do is come out one time and chase Jarrett away to help establish himself. I don't get how the heel has to make the face seem credible, cause it makes the heel seem like a pushover.

Not everyone needs to put people over. I was watching the Best of CHIKARA DVD and I didn't hear UltraMantis Black put over someone like Jigsaw, who he hates. He just trashed him in a funny manner. Same went for his blog that was posted. The Age of the Fall sure as hell didn't put over The Briscoes in their blogs and promos, instead opting to call them tools and stuff like that and wishing to destroy them. Team 3D did the same thing to the Steiners after HJ, and they didn't do any promo after it, and were gone for about 2-3 weeks, and I don't think there was a problem with that.

Not everyone needs to give the same cookie-cutter promo just because. nothing is settled in a few minutes, and I don't see how it has to be shrunk in that amount of time.

I see what you're saying and I do see your point, but I guess it just comes down to a matter of personal preference. Personally I prefer to see a wrestler put over his opponent before tearing him down, since it just seems to balance things better for me. For example even Santino has been putting Steve Austin over by first commenting on his DVD success and mentioning how the world loves Austin... and then he talks about opening the whip ass.

[hollywood]

sinister1 said:

lenny said:

It's not just Lance Storm who thinks that promos should put over your opponent. I remember when John Tenta was around he used to say the exact same thing. Jarrett had recently cut a promo against Nash, saying that Nash was a used-up has been with bad knees and didnt belong wrestling anymore. Quake thought that a much better approach would have been for Jarrett to put over Nash as a tough competitor, and then said that he was gonna beat him. In other words, you want your opponent to seem like a credible threat, otherwise the fact that you beat him is no big deal.

Are heels suppose to be right 100% of the time? Do we take everything they say at face value? Just cause Jarrett says it doesn't make it true. All Nash needed to do is come out one time and chase Jarrett away to help establish himself. I don't get how the heel has to make the face seem credible, cause it makes the heel seem like a pushover.

Not everyone needs to put people over. I was watching the Best of CHIKARA DVD and I didn't hear UltraMantis Black put over someone like Jigsaw, who he hates. He just trashed him in a funny manner. Same went for his blog that was posted. The Age of the Fall sure as hell didn't put over The Briscoes in their blogs and promos, instead opting to call them tools and stuff like that and wishing to destroy them. Team 3D did the same thing to the Steiners after HJ, and they didn't do any promo after it, and were gone for about 2-3 weeks, and I don't think there was a problem with that.

Not everyone needs to give the same cookie-cutter promo just because. nothing is settled in a few minutes, and I don't see how it has to be shrunk in that amount of time.

He's not saying that there's a specific formula with 3-4 easy steps that every promo should follow. He's only saying that there's certain things you do and certain things you don't. And an established guy like Fatu calling someone TNA desperately needs to elevate a worthless jabroni is one of those things. Same goes for 3-D squashing MCMG.

If it looks like one wrestler or a team doesn't even stand a chance, what's the point in ordering the PPV?

[Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby]

The Age of the Fall and the Briscoes is a bit of a different matter. The Briscoes are the top babyfaces in ROH, roughly - they've certainly reached a point in the tag division where few fans can think of anyone else as champions. They almost fall into the "exception" category that Storm mentioned. Hell, even then, Jimmy Jacobs talks about how the Briscoes are the top stars, groomed with a silver spoon to be the face of ROH - he hates them because he thinks their status is immoral and undeserved, but in preaching his hate he inherently admits that the Briscoes are the top dogs.

The Machine Guns? Young guys trying to move higher. They need to at least get in some intimidating shots and put their opponents on the run.

This whole "putting the other guy over" thing is usually subtle. Foley talked about how much HHH put over the "Cactus Jack" shirt-change, and how the expression on Trips's face was all he needed to put over the angle. All the Guns needed was a back-and-forth battle with Team 3D.

[tonyexile]

That was a really interesting read with some really good points, thanks for posting!

[Red 'n' Black Reggie]

basically, a promo should always have the jist of "yeah, that guys good, but i'm better", and neither jr. fatu or 3D did that. they just made their opponents look like crap. if i'm gonna beat soemone, then i'm gonna make him look good. i'd rather beat someone who is incredibly over and who people care about than some no-name who everyone knew i could beat anyway. i know that ONE PROMO isn't gonna make all the difference, but it still just adds the finishing touches that make a feud great.

[hooeylewis]

Lance Storm makes some very good points about the issues with the promos in TNA. While team 3d are bullies they are burying the X Devision with the way the angle and promos are being booked.

[GaTechGrad]

LOL @ Storm giving promo advice. This is the guy who's mic time each and every week was limited to just saying "A moment of silence for the Canadian national antheim."

However, he did have some good points about the Jr. Fatu interview. Fatu's jokes about him having a smelly rear-end are getting old.

[Mozenrath]

gitcommand said:

LOL @ Storm giving promo advice.

However, he did have some good points about the Jr. Fatu interview. Fatu's jokes about him having a smelly rear-end are getting old.

He was good at giving promos. Just because you aren't being hilarious or "electrifying" doesn't mean you aren't furthering an angle or getting someone over.