Did the Rock ever have an iconic/definitive promo?

[XIII]

Dude is obviously ultra charismatic and he’s revered as a mic god, but I can’t remember a single coherent iconic promo from the dude.  He was a catchphrase machine of course, but what about an actual promo?

So what was the Rock’s best promo? 🤔 

[Cranjis McBasketball]

Burying the shit out Billy Gunn is up there.

[Gecko]

First one to come to mind was one before the 6 man HIAC.

[DiBiase is Good]

The “Die Rocky Die” promo after he came back from injury and joined The Nation was pretty good. It was before he became “The Rock” and you could see that the chant genuinely bothered him.
(The chant did save his career though because if they never turned him when they did, I don’t know if he could have come back from that.)

[DichEvans]

Sept 2, 2023 19:06:56 GMT -5 XIII said:

Dude is obviously ultra charismatic and he’s revered as a mic god, but I can’t remember a single coherent iconic promo from the dude.  He was a catchphrase machine of course, but what about an actual promo?

So what was the Rock’s best promo? 🤔 

It's hard to have ONE good promo, when he was just hitting it out of the ball-park every week.


His two orignal concerts when he was a heel are my fav. Him singing with Austin was also amazing. I've done theatre at a local level and I have seen seasoned pros who would kill for the timing and chemistry those two had that night.

["The Natural" Bustin Loads]

I am the Game-uhh and most of if not all his promos during his feud against the McMahon-Helmsley era

The Sacramento Concert

His 2011 return promo

[Hulk With A Mustache]

Sept 2, 2023 19:07:44 GMT -5 Cranjis McBasketball said:

Burying the shit out Billy Gunn is up there.

That burial was so bad that it took 23 years for Gunn to finally recover.

[Kyle Butler]

Hollywood Rock in Toronto 2003

[thegame415]

Billy Gunn was the first one that came to mind.

["Playboy" Don Douglas]

He had several that I can quote, but only in soundbites. I'm not sure if he had what I would call a definitive, iconic promo.

And you know what? Most guys don't. Austin had "Austin 3:16" at King of the Ring, Dusty had "Hard Times" (and more old school minded folks would argue "Payback is hell, daddy!" before that), but the list of great promo guys without a definitive promo is longer than the list of great promo guys with one.

What would be called Flair's definitive promo? Or Piper's? Lawler's? Funk's? Hogan's?

[legendkiller1985]

Sept 2, 2023 21:15:12 GMT -5 "Playboy" Don Douglas said:

He had several that I can quote, but only in soundbites. I'm not sure if he had what I would call a definitive, iconic promo.

And you know what? Most guys don't. Austin had "Austin 3:16" at King of the Ring, Dusty had "Hard Times" (and more old school minded folks would argue "Payback is hell, daddy!" before that), but the list of great promo guys without a definitive promo is longer than the list of great promo guys with one.

What would be called Flair's definitive promo? Or Piper's? Lawler's? Funk's? Hogan's?

Hogan's n.W.o at Bash at the Beach 1996 promo has gotta be up there and Piper's Old School's cool promo to Jericho in 2009 is one of my picks.

[Renslayer]

"Yay! Hooray! He said Toronto! Yay! Woo! That's where we live, we live in Toronto! Yay!...Shutup"

[Hit Girl]

Joining the Nation, then the Corporation

["Playboy" Don Douglas]

Sept 2, 2023 22:26:23 GMT -5 legendkiller1985 said:

Sept 2, 2023 21:15:12 GMT -5 "Playboy" Don Douglas said:

He had several that I can quote, but only in soundbites. I'm not sure if he had what I would call a definitive, iconic promo.

And you know what? Most guys don't. Austin had "Austin 3:16" at King of the Ring, Dusty had "Hard Times" (and more old school minded folks would argue "Payback is hell, daddy!" before that), but the list of great promo guys without a definitive promo is longer than the list of great promo guys with one.

What would be called Flair's definitive promo? Or Piper's? Lawler's? Funk's? Hogan's?

Hogan's n.W.o at Bash at the Beach 1996 promo has gotta be up there and Piper's Old School's cool promo to Jericho in 2009 is one of my picks.

I thought about the Bash at the Beach promo, and it’s absolutely great, but aside from “the fans can stick it,” I can’t remember many of the specifics. And as over as Hollywood Hogan and the nWo was, when I think of Hogan’s peak, I think of that initial WWF run, and nothing jumps out at me from that. And that’s not a bad thing, he was phenomenal in the build to Wrestlemania III and the controversial loss to Andre on NBC. He did great work against Savage, Warrior, etc.

That promo from Piper was great, and there are many other examples. But that one iconic, legendary promo is such a unique thing. It’s hard to place with Flair, Jake Roberts, Jim Cornette, Bobby Heenan, etc.

[Cranjis McBasketball]

"The Rock says they didn't hold you down because you wanted to say goodbye to your little rooty-poo friends in Madison Square Garden, no, the Rock says they held you down because you absolutely SUCK!"

[MentalMidget]

There was one right before the ladder match with HHH, where he talked about climbing rung, by rung, by damn rung that really stands out in my head.

[jimmyjames]

"Stronger than a bear, faster than a buck, the biggest thing to hit Canada 'cause the Maple Leafs suck!"

[Mozenrath]

Sept 2, 2023 21:15:12 GMT -5 "Playboy" Don Douglas said:

He had several that I can quote, but only in soundbites. I'm not sure if he had what I would call a definitive, iconic promo.

And you know what? Most guys don't. Austin had "Austin 3:16" at King of the Ring, Dusty had "Hard Times" (and more old school minded folks would argue "Payback is hell, daddy!" before that), but the list of great promo guys without a definitive promo is longer than the list of great promo guys with one.

What would be called Flair's definitive promo? Or Piper's? Lawler's? Funk's? Hogan's?

I would say Funk's would be the "beautiful dream" promo on Flair, which was sublime, and for Hogan, honestly, it's more a segment, but the contract signing with Andre is what I'd choose, though some of his nWo ones might qualify. But yeah, in general, I fully agree, it's usually either that a promo will be too long to kill time (many, many Triple H and Seth Rollins ones), or kept pretty short so they're entertaining and effective, but hard to really compare to a Hard Times when it's like 35 seconds long.

Foley got a few, such as the "Cane Dewey" and "Uncle Willy" promos in ECW, but even most of his were more like soundbites in the WWE, outside of maybe like the JR interview, or the return of Cactus Jack for the Royal Rumble street fight match with Triple H.

I ragged on Hunter, and with damn good reason, but I figure he probably qualifies with his JR interview where he objects to being dubbed a "student of the game" even if it was intended as a compliment, saying that he IS the game, which was brash but not unjustified given it was when he was one of the peak wrestlers in North America and kind of a critical and fan darling alike. Shame that some truly self-indulgent booking would sully a lot of that, plus injuries and a changing landscape.

[4real]

The Toronto promo has to be it for me. Just hilarious and masterful at playing the crowd.

His part of the sit down interview with JR and Austin before Mania X7 is iconic too even if Austin’s line probably get remembered more. Both basically said exactly what happened late in the match and lived up to their words.

[Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!!]

Sept 3, 2023 3:28:35 GMT -5 jimmyjames said:

"Stronger than a bear, faster than a buck, the biggest thing to hit Canada 'cause the Maple Leafs suck!"

that probably got a massive pop everywhere outside of Toronto. hell, probably even in Toronto.