Out of these seven...

[Guest Choken One]

Shawn cut some damn good promos in his time...

[Guest razazteca]

The Rock.

 

Nobody can work a mic like him.

Yeah nobody could do an Elvis impersonation like him..............oh wait Honky Tonk Man was better.

[Guest Goodear]

Angle can cut a goofy character promo well. However, I challenge any of you to find me a serious, money drawing promo that Angle has executed. Hell, even HHH has one or two under his belt. That's not saying that WWE has really given Angle that oppurtunity, but I have yet to see Angle deliver even one ticket selling promo.

The one he did that interrupted Benoit's 'sacrifice' promo just before the Royal Rumble was a good, serious promo reflecting on how much the World Title meant to Kurt.

 

I don't buy all this 'money' promos stuff myself by the way. If people like you and your character (like they do for Angle, even when he's a heel), they'll come out to see you regardless. After all, Andre the Giant was a draw forever and maybe six people in the world could understand the guy. But people where enamored with the gentle giant.

[Guest AndrewTS]

I think Kurt Angle's underrated by a lot of people. He's moved way past that dork persona and he's become very versatile in his promo skills. I'd say he's tops in the business today, with Austin a very close second.

 

The other person on the list who can cut really good promos when he's focused is HBK. If you remember the video interview before Summerslam when he revealed that Hunter had run him over, that was just awesome. That promo actually gave me goosebumps up and down my whole body.

Angle still comes off as a dumbass--he can cut serious promos sometimes but he often fails when he tries.

 

And that same promo with HBK made me laugh, so I don't think that one should really count. Remember also the week later when he gave that hammy monologue after dropping the elbow onto HHH in the dumpster. The match was good, but the buildup was absolutely retarded.

[Detective Comics 0]

Foley

[Guest Dangerous A]

I don't buy all this 'money' promos stuff myself by the way. If people like you and your character (like they do for Angle, even when he's a heel), they'll come out to see you regardless. After all, Andre the Giant was a draw forever and maybe six people in the world could understand the guy. But people where enamored with the gentle giant.

Andre was the exception, not the rule. Andre had the "Giant" charisma thing going for him. Plus, he still needed his opponent to help out with the talking parts. Andre was helped by working with some good talkers like against/with Bobby Heenan, Hulk Hogan, and Ted Dibiase. Once Andre started working with a subpar talker like Warrior, business wasn't so great in regards to his program drawing.

 

You are right in that if people like you enough, they'll see you regardless. Problem is no one is liked enough right now that they are drawing anything. Therefore, you have to generate some interest by promoting matches with angles and money promos. If there were draws in the company, then Angle could slide without cutting those kind of promos like he did when he debuted all the way through 2002. Now that no one is a draw however, creative needs to start drawing up ways for these guys to use their vocal abilities to draw money and interest in seeing a particular match or program. I think that's a huge problem with WWE right now. Their creative staff wants to write to draw laughter, not money.

[Guest The Decadent Slacker]

Foley. His Cactus Jack stuff in ECW is one of the best work ever (his 2nd serious promo [on the Best Of DVD] is my favorite promo of all time). Anyone who can go from Cane Dewey to having awesome vingettes with Edge & Christian is the best ever.

 

Rock is a mixed bag, imo. He's got the most awesome charisma anyone can ask for, but he just has a tendency to both elevate himself & absolutely BURY his opponent (Booker is the best/worst example). His heel stuff is better, but it's always the same character.

 

Austin pre-'99 was great. His serious mic work against the Hart Foundation & McMahon are classic. His comedy stuff in '01 is the stuff of legend (although i maintain that a comedic heel shouldn't be the world champion, no matter who he is). He still can go, but it's not the same for a variety of reasons.

 

Others: Flair could tell a story & get things no matter how stupid over like no one in history. The lisp actually added to it. Piper is one of my all time favorites (the "getting Rude" promo from Summerslam '89 & the Mountie promo from Rumble '92 are gold). The fact he is in fact insane made it all the better. Savage is my favorite wrestler of all time, & his promos were electric. Sure he sounded like a coked up bum, but damn, he made everything awesome. I'd also throw in Cornette, Heyman, Heenan & maybe Sting (his stuff was good, just really really cliche).

[Guest Ray]

Rock is great at TELLING JOKES.

 

Foley is great at doing PROMOS.

 

Foley is great because he makes it seem like the match REALLY means something to him.

 

They make you want to SEE THE MATCH, which is supposedly the entire point of a promo.

[Guest Austin3164life]

Of this list, it's Foley (based on his wider range) and then Austin (owns the crowd). Of all time, it's a toss-up between Ted DiBiase or Ric Flair.

[Guest ShamRock]

Foley

[Guest deadbeater]

Can anybody else turn the very count one-two-three into compelling TV?

 

Foley, enogh said.