For every wrestling that has been captivated since being old enough to believe sports entertainment was real, we all know that when wrestling IS real, it’s some of the best and brightest moments WWE, or any other promotion have to offer. Often times that emotion comes out the best in an engaging promo where a superstar turns up their real feelings and personality to level eleven.
When it gets real, it gets too real and sometimes a little unnerving to watch. But that also gets a lot of paying fans into the building! Some of the realest promos get talked about as much as some of the most intense movie scenes of all time.
10 Miz On Talking Smack
After years of not getting the recognition he felt he deserved for his contributions to WWE, Miz had it. Considering the fans still loved the then-retired Daniel Bryan and booed the hard-working Intercontinental Champion ate him up.
Miz not only lost it, he did so on Talking Smack right in front of Bryan, causing him to leave the set. Dragon had called The Miz a coward, dismissing everything The A-Lister had ever done. It’s the kind of promo that will forever define Miz’s career.
9 Shawn Michaels - Sunny Days
The reason the heat between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart was so palpable every single week is because these two guys just were no longer getting along. They both wanted to be the top guy off and on-screen.
During one promo, Michaels let out the now infamous “Sunny Days” comment, inferring that The Hitman wasn’t just friendly with Sunny. Obviously that didn’t go over very well and led to the backstage fight where Bret ripped out a chunk of Michaels’ hair and HBK claimed unsafe working conditions.
8 Cactus Jack - Cane Dewey
We all know now that Mick Foley is a devoted family man. But during the early nineties, most fans just knew Cactus Jack as the most violent and sadistic superstar of all time. But one fateful night in ECW, the character and the real man collided.
There was a sign in the audience that said “Cane Dewey,” referring to his son Dewey Foley who was just a boy at the time. The promo Cactus cut became the infamous fire that lit the anti-hardcore character Foley used when we went to war with Tommy Dreamer.
7 Dusty Rhodes - Hard Times
As far as wrestling promos go, “Hard Times” get quoted and paraphrased just like any popular song or movie line would get quoted. After The Horsemen tried to end Dusty Rhodes career, he came back and declared that they tried to put hard times on him and his family.
But the real reason it resonated with so many fans is when Big Dust spoke about how all the hard-working men and women of America bust their keisters just to have their job replaced, and they get a gold watch in return.
6 Edge & Paul Heyman On Talking Smack
Just hours to go before fans would be back in a WWE arena for the first time in over a year, Edge was gearing up for once again returning to main event stage of WrestleMania. His opponents would be fellow challenger Daniel Bryan and the defending Universal champion, Roman Reigns. But as amazing as that match would be, Edge’s true moment of WrestleMania 37 weekend was the Talking Smack before the show.
Edge and Paul Heyman combined told a story that rivaled any grand movie scene. The two old friends were now on opposite sides of aisle and instead of traded barbs, treated one another with respect as Edge reminded Heyman of who he was and why he is a man to be feared, a man who pinned Mick Foley while his skin was still smoldering.
5 Bret Hart - This Is BS!
For some strange reason, Bret Hart doesn’t get spoken about too much when it comes to great promos. That’s a shame, as he has plenty of great ones. This one however in some ways kickstarted The Attitude Era.
After losing a Steel Cage match to Sid, thanks to all sorts of controversy (once again), Vince McMahon went to the ring to interview the now former world champion. Bret wanted nothing of it, heaved McMahon to the mat and declared everything that had happened to be a load of excrement. He knew it and everyone in the world knew it.
4 Eddie Kingston - Fight Me
One great thing about AEW is that it’s superstars are not afraid to get “real” with each other. On one fateful night on Dynamite, Eddie Kingston and CM Punk got real with each other. Kingston declared that he, like many admired the likes of Punk, Samoa Joe, Danielson, and Homicide.
Punk was nonplused, and denied Kingston the respect that he felt he deserved. It all led to a pull apart brawl between the two after Kingston told Punk no one wanted him back, and he should quit after Kingston bears him.
3 The Pipebomb
Its so commonplace over ten years later that it almost doesn’t seem “too real” anymore. But one fateful night on Raw, then WWE Superstar CM Punk lambasted his opponent John Cena and the entire company.
He demanded a change that he felt wasn’t going to happen while declaring himself The Best In The World before the WWE brass turned his mic off and tried to silence The Voice Of The Voiceless.
2 Cody Rhodes - I Love My Brother
On The Road To Double Or Nothing, on the road to the very first AEW Show, Cody Rhodes wasn’t just gearing up for battle with The Natural Dustin Rhodes, he was gearing up to start a revolution and to end The Attitude Era, despite his love for his brother.
Cody likened his love of Dustin to a story of knowing when to put an animal down and thanks to their match at Double Or Nothing, helped jumpstart AEW.
1 MJF - Not Just Another Friday
For anyone that ever loved wrestling and got to meet their idol; for anyone that ever tried to fit and was bullied for it, Maxwell Jacob Friedman of all people tugged at all our heartstrings leading up to his Dog Collar match with CM Punk at Revolution. A week prior The Iconoclast showed a picture of himself with a young MJF - which Punk declared was just another Friday night.
An emotional MJF declared that he was bullied, and he struggled with learning disabilities, but he was so happy to get to that Friday and meet his hero. Then Punk quit on him and all of us and MJF committed himself to making himself the best and world to spite Punk and never ever quit. If MJF ever starts a babyface run, this promo proves how much he can bring a crowd to tears.