By Jake Clarke@JakeCCK
The ability to deliver a convincing promo may be one of the most important things in wrestling today. If a wrestler cannot do this or at least struggles to do this, it often takes out any excitement for an ongoing angle/feud that is taking place. In this article I am going to look at 5 men who I believe are 5 of the best promos in wrestling today and why their promos are so captivating.
5. Daniel Bryan
The current WWE champion has excelled in his promo work over the last 6 months. Since turning heel and taking on this new persona, Bryan may be one of the best promos in the WWE today. His character work has been fantastic, managing to turn a major world issue into something the audience hate listening about. In my eyes this can be seen as a career revitalization. Whilst his promos might be so simple, his delivery, the sadistic look in his eyes and so much more add to his promos. http
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmuVm5cRdUM7
This was his first promo post heel turn. Watch and you will see the look in his eyes and notice a vicious demeanour about him.
4. Samoa Joe
I can already imagine people reading this and saying “Joe is the best promo guy in WWE”. I agree. There is not one man in the WWE who delivers a line with more aggression and more believability in the WWE today than “The Samoan submission machine”. He is also the last WWE main roster guy on this list. Every time Samoa Joe is on a mic it is golden. The way he spits when delivering promos, the way he will throw in the odd savage line and the way you can tell he means every word he says is genuinely incredible. The fact that this man has not held the WWE championship yet is criminal. Furthermore, these promos help Samoa Joe stay relevant. Multiple times now throughout his stint within the WWE, we have seen Joe thrusted into nothing feuds and each time he has managed to make them relevant and keep himself relevant, no matter how poorly he is handled.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRKv5SWM76M
This promo was great. Joe interrupted Jeff Hardy’s 20th anniversary and made sure to remind us of all the bad things Jeff has done during his storied career. This alone made a feud which easily could have been a fodder midcard feud into something investing and Joe manages to do this every time he is in that situation.
3. Eddie Dennis
Whilst this man is affiliated with the WWE, he is not a main roster guy. Every person that has had the pleasure of listening to an Eddie Dennis promo or seeing an Eddie Dennis match will agree with me on this in saying that this past year and a half may have been the best of Eddies career within both aspects of the business. Whilst by no means floundering on the indies, the turn in Alexandra palace at Progress Chapter 55 is where Eddie Dennis’ career really began to thrive. Every time Eddie cuts a promo, he grabs you instantly. Like with Daniel Bryan, Eddies promos are simple but they are intense. The way he pauses after every sentence and looks at the camera or into the audience is also extremely intense. Everything about an Eddie Dennis promo is intense and I love it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0Fi5pfB-F0
Notice how when Eddie Dennis speaks, the crowd listens. He has an aura about him and its almost gratifying to hear him talk. Within this promo, Eddie lists his accomplishments since going full time and reminds us that he’s not necessarily good or bad guy but as he says it, he is the next Progress world champion. As mentioned, Eddie’s promos thrive with his intensity which is displayed the whole way throughout this. With mic skills like that and the ring skills to match, Eddie is going to be huge in the WWE.
2. David Starr
The name David Starr carries some controversy with it as of late. The man best known for his nicknames and incredible in ring capabilities also has the charisma to match and for my money is the best American independent promo guy right now and one of the best in the world. David is having an excellent 2019 right now, coming off a great feud with Jordan Devlin in OTT in which was made famous worldwide due to an incredible video package by the extremely talented Shaun Ryan. He has also just won the IPW:UK heavyweight championship. However, there is one thing I want to speak about when it comes to David Starr and that is the recent infamous promo he did for his upcoming ROH title match with Jay Lethal in the homeland, Israel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qqwy_FjiMP4&t=80s
This promo is incredible. Whilst I understand the controversy, you can’t help but believe everything David is saying. David shows off a bunch of charisma during this promo using facial expressions as well as his words to get across his point. Check this promo out.
1. Spike Trivet
Isn’t it in hindsight incredible how this man hasn’t even been an active wrestler for more than half a decade? The way he carries himself, his character work, his in ring improvement and especially his promo work are remarkable. Believe me when I say he will be one of the biggest stars the British wrestling scene has ever produced.
https://twitter.com/SpikeTrivet1
This promo on his twitter is incredible, my favourite promo of 2019 so far. He tallks about how essentially Progress had undermined him, continuously telling Spike there are no future dates and then going on to talk about how Jimmy Havoc, the man Spike and his DNR cohorts ran out of Progress now had no future dates. Spike delivered this promo with such swagger and intensity towards the end and this seems to be a recurring theme throughout all of his promos.
So, after looking at my top 5 promo guys right now, there is noticeably one thing they all have in common, that being their incredible charisma and intensity. As I said, being able to deliver a convincing promo is arguably the most important thing in wrestling today and I believe these guys do it the absolute best.
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