Best soliloquy
Aug 12, 2006 21:55:25 GMT -5
Post by Pete on Aug 12, 2006 21:55:25 GMT -5
The Rock is great--maybe the greatest--but if you ever see Flair's "retirement" speech after having his neck broken by Race, Orton, and Slater--or the quiet, dignified "She was mine before she was yours" dinner interviews with McMahon that are on Youtube--you'll never again dismiss him as a guy who just yells a lot.
Ultimately I went with "Other" because from the mid-'70s to about 1999 or whenever the "puppies" phenomenon started, there was not a better money interview on the planet than Jerry Lawler. Maybe the greatest face interview and the greatest heel interview in one package. Funny as hell, serious as hell, and most important of all made you want to get down to Memphis to see him kick the crap out of Andy Kaufman or Nick Bockwinkel or whoever--or see Jeff Jarrett or Austin Idol beat up on him. And no reliance whatsoever on catchphrases, the overuse of which was the one thing that held back both Rock and Flair for my money.
Top 10 in no particular order...
Lawler
Flair
Bockwinkel
Jake (when sober--his "Trust me" run in 1991 was the absolute darkest, most dramatic stuff the WWF had *ever* done)
Arn
Foley
Rock
Cornette
Terry Funk (Funny, serious, and psychotic--all at once)
Dusty (I hated him as a kid but he won me over with his stuff on the Flair DVD and his own set; the "That's hard times!" interview is maybe the greatest PO'd-babyface promo I've ever seen)
With honorable mentions to:
Hogan (not always my cup of tea but he knew what he was doing)
Heenan (funnier one-liners than anybody in history but not as good as others at wrapping them into true awesome promos as a whole)
Taz in ECW (which just exacerbates how awful he is with Styles)
Bill Dundee (if only for the interview in Memphis where he said everyone who goes to church is stupid and almost set off a riot in the TV studio)
Edge & Christian (best tandem promo team ever, with the possible exception of the Roadies)
Ultimately I went with "Other" because from the mid-'70s to about 1999 or whenever the "puppies" phenomenon started, there was not a better money interview on the planet than Jerry Lawler. Maybe the greatest face interview and the greatest heel interview in one package. Funny as hell, serious as hell, and most important of all made you want to get down to Memphis to see him kick the crap out of Andy Kaufman or Nick Bockwinkel or whoever--or see Jeff Jarrett or Austin Idol beat up on him. And no reliance whatsoever on catchphrases, the overuse of which was the one thing that held back both Rock and Flair for my money.
Top 10 in no particular order...
Lawler
Flair
Bockwinkel
Jake (when sober--his "Trust me" run in 1991 was the absolute darkest, most dramatic stuff the WWF had *ever* done)
Arn
Foley
Rock
Cornette
Terry Funk (Funny, serious, and psychotic--all at once)
Dusty (I hated him as a kid but he won me over with his stuff on the Flair DVD and his own set; the "That's hard times!" interview is maybe the greatest PO'd-babyface promo I've ever seen)
With honorable mentions to:
Hogan (not always my cup of tea but he knew what he was doing)
Heenan (funnier one-liners than anybody in history but not as good as others at wrapping them into true awesome promos as a whole)
Taz in ECW (which just exacerbates how awful he is with Styles)
Bill Dundee (if only for the interview in Memphis where he said everyone who goes to church is stupid and almost set off a riot in the TV studio)
Edge & Christian (best tandem promo team ever, with the possible exception of the Roadies)
