10 infamous microphone blunders from wrestling history

That being said, even some of the all-time greats mess things up from time to time.

Today, we're going to look at the 10 Infamous Microphone Blunders in Wrestling History. Quick disclaimers before I begin - the first is that I will not be including any mic mishaps from non-wrestlers, so you won't see Mike Adamle or Jeremy Piven here. The second is that I understand that these are not the only instances of people messing up on the mic, so feel free to list even more examples in the comments below!

Now that we've covered that, let's get on with the list.

---

#10 Hulk Hogan forgets who Saddam Hussein is

(Skip ahead to 1:43 to get to Hulk Hogan's interview)

Let me just preface this by saying that I consider Hulk Hogan to be one of the best mic workers in professional wrestling history. However, as I said before, even the greats mess up here and there.

Prior to the 1991 Royal Rumble, Hogan was cutting one of his standard "Hulkamania" promos to "Mean" Gene Okerlund. Initially, the promo was going quite well, even though his schtick was admittedly a bit antiquated around this time. This was, of course, until the end of the promo, when he was trying to say that Sgt. Slaughter's reign as WWF Champion would be temporary, much like Saddam Hussein's reign over Kuwait.

Unfortunately for Hogan, he couldn't remember Hussein's name in the heat of the moment. So, he stumbled through the rest of the promo awkwardly, even looking to Mean Gene to help him at one point.

This would not be the first time Hogan would mess up a promo (hint), but it was certainly one of his more memorable screw-ups.

#9 Batista flips the script

Word has it that Batista suffered from terrible anxiety when faced with the task of cutting a promo. While I don't personally think he's as bad on the stick as some people make him out to be, I wouldn't necessarily call him "good" either.

Batista has had quite a few memorable-for-the-wrong-reasons moments on the microphone, including his awful "basketballs don't hold grudges" line, but I'm not putting that one on this list because I'm assuming that was actually scripted for him.

Instead, I'm going to put this hilarious example of Batista saying words in the wrong order.

Describing an upcoming No-DQ match, Batista tried to explain that weapons were not only allowed, but welcomed. Instead, he accidentally said the word "welcomed" first. So he told us that not only were weapons welcomed...they were allowed.

Good to know, Batista. Good to know.

#8 R-Truth forgets where he is

[Skip to 1:09]

"What's up?!" Well, the city R-Truth thought he was about 120 miles north of where they actually were, so...I guess Green Bay is up?

R-Truth was doing his usual entrance, rapping along before asking the local crowd "what's up?" Unfortunately for Truth, he did not remember which city in Wisconsin they were in at the time. So, with his usual fervour, Truth shouted, "Green Bay, Wisconsin!!! What's up?!"

Problem was, they weren't in Green Bay - they were in Milwaukee.

Annoying heel play-by-play commentator Michael Cole caught onto the mistake almost right away, though Truth seemed to have no idea. So, the fans chanted "Milwaukee" at him and Mason Ryan during their match.

Maybe this is where WWE got the idea to make R-Truth completely clueless all the time.

#7 Kalisto makes a good lucha thing

Kalisto is one of those wrestlers who really doesn't need to cut promos that much - he can just let his incredible acrobatics in the ring do the talking for him. Still, this didn't stop WWE from making him cut an improv promo about being drafted to SmackDown.

It was a disaster. A hilarious, hilarious disaster.

Immediately, it's clear that Kalisto is uncomfortable and doesn't really know what to say. As the promo goes on, he starts flubbing words more frequently (i.e. calling Baron Corbin "Baroncorn"). The promo ends with him saying that he's "here to stay; make a-make-a-a-a good, good luchas, uh, lucha...thing." He scurries off camera in embarrassment, audibly cursing on his way out.

To basically no one's surprise, Kalisto hasn't had much mic time since.

#6 Sid forgets that he's on live television

(Couldn't find a video of this one on its own. Luckily, it's the first one on this Top 10 that WWE made)

Sid looked like the perfect archetype of a professional wrestler - he was a nearly seven foot tall, over a 300-pound wall of muscle. He likely would've been a lot bigger of a deal back then...if he could only string a sentence together.

Simply put, Sid was pretty awful on the microphone. Granted, the man probably never took an acting class in his entire life, but his ineptitude gave us some pretty excellent promo bloopers. For example, before his WWF championship match with Diesel at In Your House, he stumbled on the word "sceptics" and tried to get them to shoot the promo again...even though it was a live interview.

Somewhat kayfabe-shattering, yes, but hilarious nonetheless.

#5 Owen Hart kicks Bret's leg out of his leg

Pretty much every member of the Hart family was incredible in the ring. Sadly, none of them were particularly good on the microphone. I would argue, however, that Owen Hart was a more compelling speaker than his brother, Bret.

Still, perhaps his most memorable promo was the one he messed up in.

At the 1994 Royal Rumble, after The Harts lost their tag team championship match to The Quebecers, Owen turned on his brother, kicking him in his bad leg and leaving him prone in the ring. Shortly after, he showed up on the TitanTron to explain his actions. He explained that Bret was "selfish" for not tagging him in when he was injured, so that's why he kicked his leg out of his... leg.

After he botches the line, you can see in his eyes that he is mortified. Luckily, the initial promo mishap ended up being overshadowed by the fantastic matches they put on together.

#4 Hulk Hogan was just the right gay guy

(Skip to 1:30 to see where it goes downhill)

Hulk Hogan could've appeared on this list again for messing up the name of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome at WrestleMania 30, but ultimately this one was too good to omit.

In 2003, Hulk Hogan was embroiled in a feud with Vince McMahon over Hogan's influence on the company. During this exchange, McMahon suggested that he could've made anyone into "Hulk Hogan" and that Hogan was just in the right place at the right time. Admittedly, Hogan's initial response was pretty good (again, he's one of the all-time greats on the microphone).

Then, he messed up the words. A lot!

First, he couldn't string together the idea that he was the "right guy in the right place at the right time". Then, he couldn't stop saying, "if you actually think/believe..." Then, he accidentally called himself gay.

The look on Vince McMahon's face says everything that needs to be said. This was probably Hulk Hogan's worst promo ever.

#3 Scott Steiner breaks it down mathematically

I honestly can't decide if Scott Steiner is truly good on the mic, but one thing is for sure - the man is damn sure entertaining.

Following his abysmal run in WWE in the early-2000's, Steiner enjoyed somewhat of a career renaissance in TNA. Clearly, TNA officials were allowing Steiner to have more creative control of his character than WWE did, so he was back to the "Big Poppa Pump" that we all knew and loved from WCW. Still, many of his most famous promos were from his stint in TNA.

This one is no exception.

Talking about his upcoming Triple Threat match with Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle at 2008's Sacrifice PPV, Steiner wanted to prove that he was going to win, so he broke the odds down mathematically. The result was a hilariously incoherent assortment of numbers and flubbed words.

You need to hear it in order to believe it.

#2 Sid has half the brain that you do

As I said in a previous entry, Sid was pretty awful on the microphone. I honestly cannot recall him cutting a good promo even once.

But maybe I should cut him some slack... after all, he only has half a brain.

At least this is what he claimed during an episode of Nitro. Speaking to Scott Hall and Kevin Nash about how they are "half the man that he is," he goes on to say that he has half the brain that they do. Surely, he meant to say that he had twice the brain that they did, but he accidentally said the opposite. Hilarity ensued as Sid continued, saying that week after week, the two have tried to make him look like a jacka**".

No, Sid - you made yourself look like a jacka**.

#1 Booker T is coming for you!

You all knew this was going to be here.

Before I begin, I'll admit - I think Booker T is pretty good on the mic. He's not Top 50 or anything, but he's not bad at all. Unfortunately for him, his most well-known promo is this one.

At 1997's Spring Stampede, Booker was scheduled for a Four Corners match with Stevie Ray, Lex Luger, and The Giant. His pre-match backstage promo started off quite well. He spoke with conviction and intensity, and his intentions were clear - to win the match and go for Hulk Hogan's WCW Championship. He may have gotten a little too amped up, though, because, at the end of the promo, he famously exclaimed, "Hulk Hogan, we comin' for you, n***a!"

Immediately, he cradles his head in his hands, realizing that he just called Hulk Hogan "the n-word" on national television. Simply brutal.