For those who missed it, click here to see how our rankings of numbers 20 through 16 went. To see how numbers 15 through 11 went, click here. We will avoid the preamble and jump right back into our list, starting with number 10 …
#10. Jim Cornette
Jim Cornette burst onto the wrestling scene almost as fast as the pacing of many of his classic wrestling promos. While Cornette spoke perfect English, his promos sometimes felt like they should be sub-titled. That’s how fast he spoke and it was because of the passion he had for the product. It was that same style of speaking that garnered Cornette an incredible amount of heel heat as the famous manager of the Midnight Express tag-team.
Cornette is not only one of the best talkers in the history of wrestling, but also one of the best managers. In addition to his on-air performances, Cornette had an important role behind-the-scenes in the business. While working for WWE, Cornette was one of the key employees in their Ohio Valley Wrestling territory, a promotion that produced many of today’s top current Superstars such as Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton and Batista.
Cornette’s body of work has spanned several decades, and he has served as the mouth-piece for many of wrestling’s biggest Superstars, such as the aforementioned Midnight Express, Yokozuna, Vader and countless others. We kick off day three of our look at the 20 best talkers in wrestling history at number ten, Jim Cornette.
#9. Dusty Rhodes
Many will argue that “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes should be considered as the single greatest promo-man in the history of wrestling. I’ll argue against it. As mentioned earlier in our countdown, Rhodes heavily patterned his style off of “Superstar” Billy Graham (as well as a lesser known old-time wrestler named Thunderbolt Patterson) who himself borrowed a large part of his verbal style from the great Muhammad Ali.
If that’s the case, why rank Rhodes as high as number nine? Because of his storytelling ability. Anyone who has viewed the infamous “Hard Times” promo by Rhodes knows that “The American Dream” was more than a guy who made a bunch of words in a row rhyme. He could tell a story with the words that he chose. He could build anticipation to see him battle back against some of the top heels in the industry, such as “Nature Boy” Ric Flair and Harley Race.
Dusty Rhodes comes in at a deserved number nine in our look at the top 20 best talkers in wrestling history.
#8. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin
When looking at the “classic” top talkers in wrestling history one name that seems to get overlooked, or ranked lower than his ability warrants, is “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Austin always had a unique charisma and early in his career was considered the next Ric Flair due to his relentless in-ring style. His microphone skills were always decent in those days, but it wasn’t until his post-Ringmaster run in WWE that Austin really emerged as one of the best talkers in the business.
When Austin told Doc Hendrix (aka Michael Hayes, another great talker in wrestling history, by the way) that “Austin 3:16 means I just whipped your ass,” when referring to Jake “The Snake” Roberts in his post King Of The Ring speech, the future Superstar of WWE was born. Because of that promo, Austin started getting a lot of additional speaking opportunities from a company who brought him in with “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase (another great talker) as his mouth-piece.
As Austin’s record-setting “Stone Cold” reign continued, he truly broke through, much like the glass that shattered prior to his ring entrance, as an amazing promo man. Some of Austin’s work opposite the evil “Mr. McMahon” character was classic verbal (turned physical) performances. The same can be said of his legendary run against The Rock, a rivalry that headlined three separate WrestleMania’s.
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin comes in at number eight.
#7. CM Punk
If the list wasn’t controversial yet, it certainly is now. “How could you rank CM Punk above Dusty Rhodes, Steve Austin, etc.” I can picture it already. I lived through all of their eras. Dusty Rhodes had some memorable verbal moments. Austin did too. CM Punk in my opinion is on another level when it comes to the talking side of the business.
Much like the “Austin 3:16” promo referenced earlier, and the “Four Horsemen of the apocalypse” promo mentioned during Arn Anderson’s spot on our countdown, I can’t think of another single promo that sky-rocketed something as much as Punk’s famous “shoot” promo on RAW when he was — at the time — nearing his legitimately planned exit from WWE. That one promo convinced (or forced) WWE to run with Punk in the main event position that he had deserved for years.
On a regular basis, Punk drops “pipe bombs” on WWE television and pay-per-views. Like many of the classic top talkers in wrestling history, when CM Punk picks up a microphone, everyone pays attention. Not just because it’s going to be entertaining, but because they know they’re about to hear a true talent do what he does best. CM Punk didn’t rely on a bunch of sparkly catchphrases to get attention as a great talker. Like all of the true greats, Punk has an ability to tell a story in his promos.
CM Punk lands at number seven on our list of the 20 best talkers in wrestling history.
#6. Bobby “The Brain” Heenan
“What?! He’s got a right to be here, this is a public mall!” — Bobby “The Brain” Heenan. God I love this guy. Those were the words of one Bobby Heenan when Lex Luger shockingly jumped-ship from WWE and returned to WCW on the debut edition of Nitro in “The Mall Of America” in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Bobby “The Brain” Heenan represents a large portion of my childhood. I grew up on his stuff. Heenan entertained me for years first as a heel manager alongside iconic acts such as Andre The Giant and Harley Race. He did the same later as an announcer alongside the legendary Gorilla Monsoon. Heenan’s verbal talents were so superior that he was given his own talk show, “The Bobby Heenan Show.” It was classic stuff for its’ time.
Heenan could not only cut great promos as a heel manager, as a color commentator, but in my opinion, when it comes to public speeches, no one has shined brighter than Bobby “The Brain” Heenan during WWE’s annual Hall Of Fame induction ceremony. His own acceptance speech and his speeches while inducting some of his pro wrestling peers were as good as it gets.
Bobby “The Brain” Heenan concludes day three of our look at the 20 best talkers in wrestling history.
Stop back by eWrestlingNews.com on Tuesday to see who we ranked as the top five best talkers in wrestling history.
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