The Rock and the best talkers in wrestling - part 2
John Cena
The top dog in WWE and poster-boy of the company for 8 years, Cena is an obvious choice. While he has garnered mixed reactions from the crowd over the years, his popularity and relevance has never been in question. A large part of that is credit to a consistently great work on the mic. While the on-screen character of Cena has been pretty much the same in the last 6 or so years (which is why he gets so much hate), the transformation that happened in the early years of his career is nothing short of incredible.
Starting off as ‘The Prototype’, John was straddled with a character that would move around like a robot, all stiff and showed very little reaction to pain. Owing to his character limitations, he wasn’t able to do a lot on the mic. But it wasn’t until a particular episode of Smackdown that he wore a hockey jersey, steel chain and impersonated Vanilla Ice, that his career took off! His shtick included coming out in jerseys, insulting the home town sports teams, and rapping away on his opponents, freestyle. He was so good and entertaining that despite being a heel, the crowd started cheering him and the WWE turned him into a good guy. What makes Cena special and engaging when he talks is the fact that he is all about one word: Passion! The guy is passionate about wrestling, passionate about the WWE to such an extent that even his hardcore haters ended up rooting for him when he took on the ‘sell-out’ (in his words) The Rock at last year’s Wrestlemania.
Cena is very old-school when it comes down to hyping an upcoming match or an opponent. Never the one to put someone down prior to a big match, he is probably the best when it comes to building anticipation for an upcoming big-ticket match. His promos also bear the unmistakable mark of being ‘on-the-fly’, wherein you know that the stuff he is saying is mostly his own and is usually improvised on. Be it intense, comedic or rapping promos, Cena is light years ahead of his peers when it comes to putting in the work on the microphone. If you don’t agree on that one, then ‘you can’t see him!’….really!
Triple H
Another polarizing figure among wrestling fans, he is a veteran of the game and one of the most decorated champions of all time too. And all of those accomplishments can’t come only by being married to the boss’s daughter, you know! He is pretty awesome inside the ring and maybe better on the microphone. Triple H has always delivered compelling promos throughout his career, be it the comedy type, as part of the DX faction or the intense ones, in his ‘The Game’ avatar.
While he doesn’t quite have the bagful of catchphrases a la the Rock, what Triple H does possess is an uncanny ability to enunciate words perfectly and dictate the audience response as per his will. You would have an arena full of rabid fans chanting and hooting against him or someone, but Triple H just has to pick up the mic and a stern gaze later, you can hear crickets sing as the audience goes mum and ‘The Cerebral Assassin’ unmistakably holds them in the palm of his hands for as long as he is talking. One of the best heels to ever come out in the last 10 years and more, his durability as a top guy is astounding, and he has had his biggest feuds with all the top guys in his era, right from Austin to Foley, Rock to Cena, Punk & Lesnar.
Edge
One of the most talented all-round performers, Edge is without a doubt one of the greatest ever to grace a wrestling ring. Had it not been for the cruel twist of fate that led to his premature retirement, Edge could have eclipsed many more records other than being the “most decorated WWE superstar of all time”. Edge, in his 13-year stint in the WWE, has pretty much done it all, and he did it in his own flair and style. One of the most gutsiest performers inside the ring, he was overlooked for a very long time, before a real-life angle between him and WWE diva Lita provided him a platform to become one of the most despised heels in wrestling, the ‘Rated R Superstar’.
He went from a mid-carder to a top guy overnight, and he backed up that faith with his consistent showing as the most hated bad guy with a huge target on his back. His promos would rile up even the most neutral of fans, and when backed up by his actions and the believability with which he delivered his lines, made it impossible for anyone to cheer for him. But, the fans could see Edge’s talent shine through, and when he did turn face during his last run with the company, he was very over with them and had some memorable feuds with guys like Jericho, Alberto Del Rio and even the anonymous RAW general manager!
Just like Cena, Edge was a huge fan growing up, and it was this passion that would come across in his mic-work too. He and his tag-team partner Christian, also his best friend in real life, were hugely entertaining with whatever they did, be it the 5-second pose or just acting like total goofs on camera. The more intense of the two, Edge, managed singles success on his own and his ability to make a babyface get over way more than expected is the stuff of legend.
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin
The biggest star in the business during the boom-time, Austin is also the man majorly responsible for the WWE’s eventual victory over WCW during the exciting ‘Monday night wars’. Also, the biggest mover of merchandise, Austin catapulted to the top of the heap with his 3:16 catchphrase and the promo that included it.
15 years before CM Punk ever dropped a pipebomb, Stone Cold cut a promo that ushered in a new era in professional wrestling, where clean-cut good guys became a thing of the past and foul-mouthed, anti-establishment, everyday guys became the crowd favourites. ‘Attitude era’ was born when Austin cut the famous promo (link below) after his ‘King of the Ring’ victory over a reformed born-again Jake “the snake” Roberts. Things were never the same following that promo, as he became one of the hottest things the business has ever known and the battle of the ratings began with the WCW and it’s NWO angle.
On the mic, Austin isn’t shy nor is he very erudite. His redneck demeanour (mostly himself) meant that he was in your face, aggressive and minced no words. He was able to get Bret Hart out of self-imposed exile, just by cutting vicious promos on him! However, what made must-watch TV during this time was his war of words with the WWE Chairman, Vince Mcmahon which seemed as real as possible due to the great work put in by both men. Austin made ‘calling out’ people an art-form, and there was not a single wrestler who could escape from the ‘Texas Rattlesnake’ wrath. His comedic timing came to the fore too when he aligned himself with Vince and Kurt Angle, and the “What?” chant was born. Personally, I find it a bit annoying. However, the durability and popularity of the catchphrase does mean that he did connect with a lot of people on a lot of levels. So, it is pretty safe to say that a major part of the allure of Steve Austin was due to his superb talking skills, and that’s the bottom-line, cause Stone Cold said so!
You can check out the Part 1 here!