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What's the story?
Almost as important as a wrestler's ability to pull off moves believably in the ring, is a Superstar's ability to make you believe what he or she says when given mic time.
One Superstar who is great at both of these things is current Impact Wrestling star Killer Kross. He spoke about coming across as sincere in his promos when being interviewed at Starrcast II. WrestleZone.com carried transcripts of his thoughts from the interview.
In case you missed it . . .
When Killer Kross debuted with Impact Wrestling last year, he brought something different to the table.
While some heels were either bullies (KM) or arrogant (Eli Drake), Kross could scare his foes and the fans alike by delivering carefully crafted promos with the calmest of ease. He still terrorizes many members of the roster.
The heart of the matter
Just like when musicians talk about the idols who influenced their style, many pro wrestlers say the same about whom they idolized or looked up to before they got into the business.
Kross spoke about some of the performers that he took cues from in his career and how they all have helped influence his character and promos.
“I’ve had guys that I’ve idolized in the ring, but I have character presentations that I’ve idolized that are probably not really the same ones that other people idolized. Like Andy Kaufman’s one of them. Bobby Heenan, Jerry Lawler, Roddy Piper. Everyone knows about the good promo, you know from a guy in the ring, but you know people forget about those guys because they didn’t do as much in the ring as other people, but you never questioned a single thing that those guys said."
Getting the fans to believe what you are saying is just as important as telling a story in the ring during a match. If you don't believe what you are saying or have to relay an overly scripted promo, it will likely not come off as believable.
Despite not winning major titles in WWE, both Roddy Piper and Bobby Heenan were among the best at giving promos during their times.
"Whether you thought this was a show or not, there was a level of sincerity in their work cause they meant everything that they said. I try to bring that to life and I try to put that into what you guys are watching. I believe in what I’m saying, so you believe it. And that’s my goal. Wherever that lands me, I’ll be happy with cause it’s more important to me to be fulfilled in my work and to make sure I can take care of my family more than anything than anything else and sometimes, like with any job, it becomes very difficult to find that middle ground, right?”
What's next?
A good promo can sometimes take stars further in the business than someone who is merely great in the ring. Kross may appear to be influenced a lot by Strong Style in the ring, but on the mic, those influences on his promos have certainly paid off for him.
