One of the best heels. Ever.For a wrestling fan, ardent or casual, by now you will be quite aware about how important a promo is in the realm of the WWE. It’s important when you need to take the story forward and essentially, to tell a story. A Promo can make or break you.And there are only a handful people in the WWE right now who can command your attention and make you get engulfed in a story.And there are only a handful of people throughout history who can actually lead a pack of believers or rile people up to start a riot. We take a look at 5 such non- wrestlers who have had that ability:
#1 Paul Heyman
Heyman is an MVP on the microphone and he’s so eloquent in his barbs and responses that you just have to pay attention. Heyman is one of the really few people in the WWE who will try to engage the audience into the realm of storytelling. He’ll introduce the characters in the mix and the consequences. The way he conducted himself and managed the crowd a night after his client Brock Lesnar conquered the Undertaker’s streak could have led to a riot in the way he boasted shoved the achievement down everyone’s throats.
The heel-ness has always been impeccable.
His voice, his shrieks, his breathessness, all of it combine to make the best on the microphone consistently.
#2 Stephanie McMahon
Stephanie McMahon is a beauty when it comes to heel work. She’s just so seamless in making the crowd rally against her. She actually made the audience cheer for Vickie Guerrero, how momentuous is that?
Daniel Bryan’s rise in the industry won’t have been as satisfying if it wasn’t for Stephanie who played the perfect villain to his hero. One of the prime examples of her controlling the crowd may be seen in her Wrestlemania 31 segment with Rousey and The Rock. She put over Rousey only to tear her apart and ordering her to get out of the ring. The crowd went from being amused to completely taken aback.
No matter what, teh crowd will react to her.
#3 Bobby Heenan
Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan is arguably one of the greatest managers of all time. He was great on commentary, at ringside and on the microphone. Heenan is one of those rare talents who were perfect at playing a heel. The heat he drew was incomparable. That made anybody associated with him get over as a heel. There is something so fulfiling when you’re a heel, to have the entire arena wishing the worst for you.
He can lead an entire arena to rile up against him. And whenver he did get punched out of his wits, the overwhelming response to it was spectacular.
#4 Vickie Guerrero
Vickie Guerrero wasn’t the most elocutionary when it came to promo work but boy, did she have a memorable voice. That voice made her the long term heel that she will forever be remembered as. She was a heat magnet. You knew that everytime you hear an ‘Excuse Me’, a plethora of boos will embrace the ring and won’t leave until she’s done talking.
Guerrero’s voice was so annoying and her resolve to not let the boos get to her was so strong that she could have actually led the arena to start a riot if she wasn’t done talking. That sort of a reaction is so rare to get.
#5 Jim Cornette
When it comes to talking about Jim Cornette, he’s a guy who’s been quite infamous. And the things that have made gain such a reputation are his verbose performances. Cornette’s career began as a manager. He later went on to become a color commentator and promoter.
Cornette is famously known for being the manager for The Midnight Express and lately, you definitely would have heard of him from so many of his many, many shoot interviews. The guy’s brutally honest and that is his USP.
He has gotten a lot of things wrong when it comes to a particular wrestler’s future. A hilarious video shocased it pretty well. And Cornette took all of that in stride, especially because he’s been getting a lot of flak about his opinion on Kevin Owens’ weight.
But when he does start talking, even after all these years, it’s still hard to ignore.
