Let us be honest, pro-wrestling is a show. It requires not just talent inside the ring, but talent on the microphone as well. Time and again we have seen technical wrestlers unable to get over because of their lack of charisma on the microphone.
When you have a wrestler with the mic skills along with a solid mat wrestling/high flying arsenal, a superstar is born. This list takes a look at the five best trash talkers in WWE history.
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Keep in mind that the list focuses only on trash talkers i.e, those who could humiliate their opponents verbally and not those people who could just cut a good promo.
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5. Edge and Christian
If you think the New Day’s antics are entertaining, you must have never seen the WWE during the turn of the century when Edge and Christian dominated the tag team division. While the New Day’s promos are beginning to get repetitive and seem contrived, E&C segments were always hilarious for the two years that they feuded with the Dudleys and the Hardys in the tag team division.
Doing their best work as heels, E&C would usually insult the home-town crowd, usually pointing out the shortcomings of their sports teams. Their skits alongside Kurt Angle were especially memorable and who could forget the Five-second pose?
The duo would trash talk their opponents to shreds as well, with Edge memorably comparing Billy Gunn to a ‘human vacuum cleaner that manages to suck and blow at the same time’. Classic!!
4. Roddy Piper
Roddy Piper was the classic heel and always drew heat by trash talking his opponents. Piper would always find some sort of inadequacy in his opponent and would verbally thrash the poor soul.
He was the ahead of his time as he perfected the rough uncut face persona as well and he personified the Attitude Era before it actually began.
One of his classic rants was during a feud with Bret Hart when he claimed that Hart used to wear a diaper till he was 8 years old. Piper was so good on the mic that the WWE gave him his own talk show segment – ‘The Piper’s pit’ which has been copied by various wrestlers including Chris Jericho, Carlito, Edge,Christian and The Miz over the years.
3. Stone Cold Steve Austin
Steve Austin was the WWE’s mainstay during the attitude era days and he became so with a great move set in the ring and a great command of the microphone. Austin could decimate anyone verbally and physically and came up with a number of chants that are still in use today.
‘The what’ chant where Austin would continuously yell ‘What?’ at an opponent cutting a promo was a great put down and the WWE fans still use it in arenas.
Austin’s feuds with Vince McMahon and The Rock were filled with great segments on the microphone and Austin rarely left the ring without getting the final world – because, well – “‘That’s the bottom line, coz Stone Cold said so”.
2. CM Punk
C M Punk always had great mic skills – he had become a sensation on the independent scene with vitriolic promos and the ability to provide great matches. But the WWE seemed oblivious to Punk’s pipebombs for a long time – until the Summer of Punk.
Punk had gotten so disillusioned with the direction of the company that he decided not to renew his contract in 2011. Two weeks before his contract came to an end, WWE Creative asked him to air his grievances live on Raw to close out the show. What followed was a scintillating promo that had the live audience captivated and the television viewers begging for more.
WWE had to heed to the fans’ voice and resigned Punk and he debuted his ‘Voice of the voiceless’ persona. John Cena, Triple H and Alberto Del Rio felt the full brunt of Punk’s pipebombs during the time and the manner in which Punk verbally thrashed Kevin Nash on Raw was particularly praiseworthy.
He would continue to have great feuds in the company before walking out of the WWE in 2014 after getting looked over for a WrestleMania main event spot yet again.
1. The Rock
You don’t get to become one of the main men of Hollywood without charisma – and that is what Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has in abundance.
Transitioning from the squeaky baby face Rocky Maivia character into the cocky obnoxious ‘The Rock’ persona was the best thing that happened to the ‘Great One’s’ career. The crowds that used to boo him earlier were suddenly behind him attracted by his verbal attacks on his opponents.
The Rock came up with a number of catchphrases and thrashed his opponents verbally and physically. His rivalry with Stone Cold Steve Austin during the attitude era helped turn the tide of the Monday Night Wars in favor of the WWE.
He left for Hollywood in 2003 and when he returned for a short stint a decade later, he was still awesome on the mic, owning John Cena and Vickie Guerrero numerous times in promos.
