5 most awkward promos in professional wrestling

Promos are one of the most integral parts of professional wrestling. While it's the in-ring action which offers a final resolution to conflicts, it's the mic work which actually builds the story and gets fans invested in what is happening.

This is why some of the most famous wrestlers in the history of the business have been great talkers. Your lack of in-ring skill can be forgiven if you're able to connect with the fans. And, we have seen a lot of great promos over the years.

But, there are instances where things go very very wrong. For whatever reason, the person on the mic completely botches their promo and it leads some of the most cringe-worthy moments in all of professional wrestling.

So, without any further ado, here is our list of the 5 most awkward promos in professional wrestling:

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#5) Scott Steiner's math promo

Our first entry on this list comes from TNA courtesy of one Mr Scott Steiner. Now, while Steiner has always been able to connect with the fans with his crass style of talking, he is prone to go off on a tangent and that was clearly evident in the promo above.

In the build-up to his Threeway match against Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, Big Poppa Pump decided to mathematically explain why he was going to win.

What followed was an awkward and hilarious couple of minutes of Steiner making no sense while Petey Williams - dressed as a mini-Steiner - nodded along like things were making perfect sense.

#4) Hulk Hogan calls himself a gay guy

While Hulk Hogan might have made a name for himself as the ultimate babyface who could always get a crowd pumped up, he showed that even the great ones are prone to some mistakes every now and then.

On an episode of Smackdown where he was cutting a promo on Vince McMahon, The Immortal One kept forgetting and mixing up his lines. You can see the awkward exchange above and the kicker, in this case, is when Hogan accidentally calls himself a gay guy.

Pretty ironic considering his homophobia.

#3) The Miz's first appearance on Monday Night Raw

Nowadays, The Miz is known as one of the finest talkers in all of professional wrestling and his promo-cutting skills are second to none. That was not the case when he first made his appearance on Monday Night Raw as the host of the Diva Search.

All he had to do was pass along simple instructions on how the audience could vote for their favourite contestants. Instead, he flubbed the entire thing, making absolutely no sense and even looking to the titantron which held no information whatsoever.

It's great to see just how far The Miz has come since this first disaster of a promo.

#2) Roman Reigns and the Beanstalk

If you have ever wondered why WWE fans have long derided Roman Reigns for his inability to cut a good promo, look no further than the clip above where The Big Dog tries his hand at launching a scathing a verbal attack.

Instead of the desired result, what follows is Reigns telling the story of Roman Reigns and the Beanstalk and how The Big Show is a loser. A big loser. This was pretty much the start of the Roman hate train.

#1) Titus O'Neil's legendary promo

There are no words to describe just how awkward and awful this promo was. Titus O'Neil wanted to verbally beat down Darren Young and Bob Backlund, and instead, managed to make himself an overnight laughing stock.

Here is the full transcript of the promo if you're interested:

Now last night you all... I mean earlier tonight you guys hurl-heard that the New Day, talking about winning the WWE Tag Team champions... being the t-becoming the WWE Tag Team champions, last summer, right here, in Brooklyn. Now what you all forget, sometimes, is that going into that match that the Prime Time Players were your tag team champions, w-going in. So every time I get draaaaagged back here to good ol' Brooklyn... I always get someone answering the same question. Whether it be one of them broke brothers from Bushwick, or one of them uppity hipsters from williamsburg.

They ask the question: "Was that the worst day of your life?" I look at em. And I say no. That wasn't the worst day of my life, cause when I flash this million dollar smile, I tell ya right now baby, that was the BEST day of my life. It wasn't the worst day of my life cause I dropped the tag team titles, it was the best day of my life, because I dropped the dead weight that was Darren Young.

Oh no no no, let's let's let's let's be real. There's no Ride Along - there is a reason there's no episode of Ride Along with the Prime Time Players. Pretty difficult to do when it's only one Prime Time Player. And he would not be relevant - Darren Young would not be relevant if it wasn't for me. Much like Jay-Z wouldn't be relevant if it wudn't for Beyonce. Oh yeah you booin', but it's true, think about it!

Bob Backlund. How is Bob Backlund gonna make Darren Young great again, when he wasn't ever great to begin with? I would be all over the main event. You would be wearing my T-shirt. Hell, I would be your Universal champion right now, if it wasn't for Darren Young. Y'all wanna talk about some Bobbbb BACKLIN.

Well tonight, I blame YOU Darren Young. I blame YOU for all the failures that I have not ha-no-had since I been here. I blame YOU for not being in the main event. I blame YOU for not being the WWE Champion. And I'll tell ya tonight, tonight. You come out here tonight so I can bury you, and be done with you, all together.

Come on out here Darren Young, give these people what they want. They want you, come on out here. Come on, we gon' make Darren Young great again, come on Darren.

*No response*

I'll tell ya what's going on right now. Ol' crazy, wild-eyed, bobbb BACKLIN is back there tellin' him, don't go out there, don't go out there. Cause... he knows... damn well, that Darren Young is too stupid to come out here. So- ......

*Crowd chants 'We Want Slater'*

I want Darren. I don't know who y'all want, but I want Darren to come on out here. I want Dar-ren. Okay. That old crazy man please let this man come out here. I mean t-AY! Who is Bob Backlin anyway? Bob Backlund runs out Who is Bob Backlin? Who does Bob Backlin- Ay ay, don't you come out here. I will beat yo- drops mic.