It wouldn’t even be outlandish to suggest that this entire list could be dominated by just one manNow while 2015 has been a refreshing change from previous years in terms of the quality of in-ring action, thanks in no small measure to the first generation of NXT stars coming into their own, deciphering the underlying trend as to how promo-cutting in general has fared when compared to the past has perhaps been less obvious a task to say the least. While it seemed that almost every top level Superstar during the Attitude Era could wield a microphone almost like a wand, 2015 on the other hand, was spent with the WWE Universe struggling to come to grips with how painfully forced the company’s next top star’s promo skills seemed to be.However in a year that, for the most part, was centred around getting Roman Reigns across despite his work-in-progress microphone skills, there have nonetheless been instances of pure genius on the mic that have conspicuously stood out for their verve in presentation and solid contribution to the storylines.This slideshow goes over 5 such instances in 2015 that serve almost as a reminder of how much can actually be accomplished through rendering a few well-chosen lines laced with a dose of conviction, intensity and belief.
#5 Kevin Owens
After the usual phrases that he throws around to inaugrate the US Open Challenge each week, while everybody was expecting to see another mid-carder walk out to try and (unsuccessfully) wrest the US Title from John Cena, we can concur that Kevin Owen’s debut on Raw was as unforseen as the manner in which the segment eventually unfolded.
Hinging on the idea that John Cena was always perceived, both by the fans and the rest of the locker-room, as the unimpeachable ceiling in the WWE, Kevin Owen’s cold and calculating approach in ruffling his feathers and questioning his supremacy was nothing short of a breath of fresh air.
Although Owens did not immediately take Cena up on his US Open challenge, instead nonchalantly brushing it away and powerbombing the Leader of the Cenation, it set the tone perfectly for what the WWE were aiming to accomplish by slowly chipping away at John Cena’s god-like status and signalling the arrival of the new guard in the WWE landscape.
#4 Dean Ambrose
While all internet fans know of how fairness has never really been a concept that the WWE top brass handily invests in, hearing someone as hard-headed as Dean Ambrose confirm as much in a short but impactful monologue after a gruelling encounter with Seth Rollins was nevertheless endearing to say the least.
Although the WWE Universe has arguably been behind Dean Ambrose right from the onset, even the most seasoned fan would have sympathized with the Lunatic Fringe after he literally came within an inch of taking the WWE World Heavyweight Title from Seth Rollins at Money in the Bank.
After viciously having his leg worked upon throughout the match, Ambrose’s brutally honest assertion that he didn’t deserve to win but would regardless be tireless in his pursuit of one day capturing the WWE World Heavyweight Championship mellowed even the most hardened critic in us for a moment, reminding everybody of the bodily sacrifices these wrestlers make on a daily basis to keep us entertained.
While this promo didn’t really contribute tangibly to the development of any storyline, coming as it did at the end of their feud, it certainly didn’t do any harm to the burgeoning popularity of the Lunatic Fringe.
#3 Bray Wyatt
Although much of the headlines this year were stolen by the hell-raising exploits of the ex-Shield bretheren, the Wyatt family has been allocated its fair share of the spotlight with the ECW originals doing a tremendous job in putting the monster faction over as a destructive force.
However, before the introduction of Braun Strowman and the consequent re-packaging of the Wyatt family, Bray Wyatt had already enjoyed what many Superstars would consider as a superb year after being involved in a Wrestlemania program with the Phenom himself.
Despite losing to the Undertaker in their match, the very fact that Bray Wyatt was placed in a feud with the veteran was evidential of a passing-the-torch type of scenario, especially since it played along the lines of his freshly coined moniker of being the ‘New Face of Fear’ in the WWE.
While the lead-up to their match expectedly featured promos draped in mysticism from both parties, this particular promo from Bray Wyatt, replete with the appropriate sound effects, summed up the dynamic of the feud succinctly and lay the perfect platform for two of the WWE’s most ominous personas to clash at the grandest stage of them all.
#2 John Cena
As we witnessed during the Rock’s re-emergence in the WWE a few years ago, John Cena very much requires someone to get in his face and threaten the aura that his larger-than-life status with the company often unquestioningly qualifies him for, in order to perhaps bring the best out of him.
Certainly as far as mic-work goes, John Cena has displayed time and again that pressurizing him onto the backfoot and decrying his dominance could ideally be the way to have him deviate from his rather corny and overused deluge of catch-phrases.
That was exactly what Kevin Owens managed to achieve, as displayed in this segment, before which everyone was wondering about the nature of John Cena’s response to his shocking loss at the hands of the NXT Champion.
Instead of coming out and defending his values and principles in vintage fashion, the Leader of the Cenation went on the offensive against Kevin Owens whereby he stumped him using his own arguments and had the verbal beating of him much to everyone’s surprise.
Apart from containing one of the most intriguing and realistic back-and-forth exchanges of the year, this John Cena promo was also on point as far as setting up a basis for an elongated feud between the two was concerned.
#1 Paul Heyman
With Paul Heyman being featured heavily in WWE programming during the initial parts of the year, it would be sacrilegious to rank any other Superstar’s promo ahead of his regardless of how effective they may have been; not due to some misguided notion of loyalty but genuinely because it is incredibly hard to out-do the master at his own craft.
Although each one of Paul Heyman’s throaty eulogies of Brock Lesnar could be placed on this list without fear of recrimination, this particular promo that he cut on the fallout episode of Raw immediately after Wrestlemania 31 arguably tops the lot.
Especially since the WWE universe still hadn’t recovered fully from the shock value that had accompanied Seth Rollins’ cash-in at the main event of Wrestlemania 31, there were more questions than answers leading up to this segment regarding the immediate future of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Buoyed by charged up crowd, Paul Heyman’s fire and brimstone delivery of a promo that gave props to Roman Reigns for his never-say-die attitude and at the same time portray Seth Rollins as the ultimate heel for his sneaky win pretty much laid the foundation upon which their respective characters would then be built upon for the remainder of the year.
