5 WWE promos that were not scripted

One of the biggest criticisms of the modern-day WWE product is that, while the Superstars are better in-ring performers than ever before, the current characters on Raw and SmackDown Live are not as entertaining and captivating as past generations.

In the era of Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior, in-ring talent was less important and there was a lot more emphasis on promo skills and the ability to sell fans on upcoming matches.

Fast forward to the present day, the wrestling landscape has drastically changed and there is more of a focus on producing impressive in-ring performances, but there is also just as much need to keep the audience engaged through the art of promos.

Nowadays, WWE Superstars are either handed bullet points to put into their own words before a promo or interview segment, or they are given a full script to read from which has been written by a member of the creative team. In rare cases, some performers have even gone off script – sometimes with permission, sometimes without permission – to get their character’s point across.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at five times when Superstars delivered promos that were unscripted.

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#5 Sami Zayn

The inspiration for this article came from the episode of Raw after WrestleMania 35, which saw Sami Zayn return to the ring for the first time in 10 months to face Finn Balor in a losing effort for the Intercontinental Championship.

Following the match, fan favourite Zayn soaked in the adulation of the Brooklyn crowd before hilariously informing them that he did not miss any of the fans or the “toxic WWE environment” while he was gone.

Speaking on Busted Open Radio, WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry revealed that Zayn’s post-match promo was not scripted.

"That was not written for him. They said ‘Sami, how do you feel about this situation?’ And he let the world have it. I walked up to him and I said ‘Man, who the hell are you?’ Where has this guy been all this time? He said ‘Mark, I’m not holding back no more,’ and I said don’t.”

#4 Daniel Bryan

From the summer of 2016 to the summer of 2017, an entertaining 20-minute interview show took place after SmackDown Live called ‘Talking Smack’. Hosted by Renee Young and Daniel Bryan, the show gave Superstars the opportunity to evolve their characters and give fans a glimpse of their real-life personalities.

One of the most memorable moments from the year-long WWE Network show came in August 2016 when The Miz mocked the then-retired Bryan for no longer being allowed to wrestle.

Bryan walked off the set during the heated argument, causing the show to finish early.

He later explained to ESPN:

“Miz and I have known each other for a long time and we really know, like, how to get at each other’s nerves. So, I brought up the idea that I thought he wrestled like a coward, and he knows I don’t like the way he wrestles … And then he called me out on something that’s very personal to me.

“He knows that that’s really pushing on a nerve. And calling me a coward for not [going to the independents] … which I sometimes think of myself as a coward for not doing … it’s tough.”

#3 Dean Ambrose

On the same episode of Raw that Roman Reigns announced that he had been diagnosed with leukemia for the second time, Dean Ambrose did the unthinkable and betrayed The Shield by attacking Seth Rollins at the end of the show.

Almost four months later, and after one of the most underwhelming heel runs in modern-day WWE, Ambrose became a good guy again in February 2019 when, following a promo segment between Rollins and Paul Heyman, he approached his former Shield colleague in the middle of the ring on Raw.

According to the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer, Ambrose was supposed to deliver a lengthy promo discussing his time in the Shield before eventually turning the topic back to Rollins’ match against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 35. Instead, Ambrose simply said:

“I only got one thing to say to you: Slay The Beast.”

WWE announced two weeks prior to this segment that Ambrose would be leaving the company, so it is unclear whether he went off script simply because he had nothing else to lose, or whether the shortened promo was down to time constraints.

#2 Bray Wyatt

Bray Wyatt’s promos are the most unique in modern-day WWE. Granted, he sometimes receives criticism for taking up too much television time with his eerie messages from a blackout room backstage, but it cannot be denied that he is among the most captivating Superstars on the mic right now.

Unlike the other Superstars on this list, who have all had specific moments where their promos have been unscripted, Wyatt is one of the few performers who is given the freedom to say whatever he likes every time he has a microphone.

He told WTOP's Chris "The Big Chee" Cichon in 2016 (quotes via Wrestling Inc.):

“I don't have a script, I don't sit down and nobody brings me a paper and says 'It'd be really cool if you say this.' I speak from my mind and my heart and it's a lot easier to speak on something that I truly care about. I go on tangents obviously a lot, I'll have an idea when I go out there, and if I get lost I'll find my way and snake my way on back through the grapevine.”

#1 CM Punk

In the summer of 2011, WWE allowed CM Punk to vent his frustration about his position within the company during a memorable segment, aka the ‘Pipebomb’ promo, on the Monday Night Raw stage.

Two years later, a few days before he went one-on-one with Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam 2013, Punk was cutting an in-ring promo when he decided to turn his attention towards a fan at ringside who had been booing him.

Punk, a fan favorite at the time, said:

“Sir, you paid your ticket. You wanna boo, that’s fine, but I dare you to step in between these ropes and you’ll never boo again because I will render you a toothless, crying heap of a man. I am [expletive] off and I wanna fight, so if you have the [expletive], I dare you, fatso, to step up and be a man and fight CM Punk. Come on, son, come on.”

When the fan shouted back at him, Punk said:

“I will render you to tears. Come on, be a man or sit down and [expletive] [expletive] shut your mouth.”

With the fan dealt with, the former WWE champion then continued with the rest of his promo.