10 Best Promos in WWE History (Ranked)

Promos in professional wrestling and the WWE could be argued to be as important as the actual wrestling that happens throughout. Forming a promo is their way of talking to the crowd and increasing the allure of their character, feud, or upcoming event.

While many fans may see a promo as “not pure” and taking away from the sport of professional wrestling, the theatrics and drama created when seeing or hearing a promo add to the allure of professional wrestling and the incredible storylines told through the medium.

While most professional wrestlers have “cut a promo”, a few promos have lived in wrestling fans’ memories for many years. Here we highlight the top 10 promos in WWE history.

Honourable Mention: Dusty Rhodes’ Hard Times

This makes the honourable mention list due to the promo not happening under the organisational banner of the WWE, but it is still one of the most famous and iconic promos in professional wrestling history. The “Hard Times” promo is now known to have been performed by The American Dream and Dusty Rhodes back in 1985.

The feud set up a grudge match between Rhodes and Ric Flair at the pay-per-view Starrcade, but the promo performed by The American Dream became a sensation with how much it resonated with the fans of professional wrestling at the time, but also to the present day.

10

Bray Wyatt

Thank You

A promo that at the time was seen as a very emotional one. It has only become even more heartbreaking since. The promo performed by the Late Bray Wyatt occurred after his return to WWE in late 2022 after months of teasing his return via the “White Rabbit” interactive clues.

It came as a gut-wrenching promo with Wyatt thanking all the fans and the organisation for finally being back after the pain and depression he had suffered due to being fired initially by WWE, but also the death of Brodie Lee.

That promo became even more heartbreaking, however, after the untimely passing of Wyatt in August 2023 while still under a WWE contract.

With the numerous tribute videos as well as interviews with fellow superstars, this promo was played again and took another form as a final thank you and farewell to WWE and the last pure promo Wyatt did outside of storyline gimmicks.

9

Macho Man Randy Savage

The Cream Of The Crop

After his dramatic but entertaining loss to Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat at WrestleMania III for the Intercontinental Championship, people may have thought that it was the end of the road for “Macho Man” Randy Savage.

But as we all know, The Macho Man didn’t go down that easily. Shortly after WrestleMania, Savage was interviewed backstage by Gene Okerlund regarding his future. Savage was ready immediately to put on one of his best-ever, but also hilarious promos.

Constantly reiterating to Okerlund that he was the “Cream of the Crop” while constantly revealing coffee creamer cups from his hands, much to the confusion of Okerlund.

While it may be the most comedic promo on this list, it is also one of the most iconic, with many wrestlers imitating it throughout the years since it happened.

8

AJ Lee

Burial Of The Divas Era

Channeling her current husband, AJ Lee’s variation of the “pipe bomb” promo also sent shocks down the roster, the head office of the WWE, as well as the fans in general.

Similar to CM Punk’s version, the line between Kayfabe and real life became blurred with AJ Lee calling out the WWE Divas roster, as well as the general dealings WWE had with the female talent on the roster.

While it was seen as brutal and controversial at the time for the women’s talent on the main roster, it did highlight the inequality women’s wrestling had in comparison to men’s wrestling and was one of the spearheads for the women’s revolution in WWE.

7

Ric Flair

Paying Homage To The Man

The promo performed by Ric Flair after his iconic Royal Rumble win in 1992 was another showcase of how incredibly complete wrestler Ric Flair was.

In a Royal Rumble performance that is still seen as one of the best-ever, Flair came in at #2 at the 1992 Rumble to then ultimately win. He became the prototypical Ironman of the Royal Rumble as well as winning the WWE Championship that was on the line for the 30-man Rumble.

However, even though he stayed in the history books for that monumental win, his victory speech also went down in the books afterward. The promo that Flair proclaimed himself as the best wrestler in the company, beating the likes of Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper and Randy Savage.

6

Paul Heyman

Shoot On Mr. McMahon

While seen as “The Wiseman” to Roman Reigns, the Paul Heyman of old was seen as a much more volatile figure as the head of the ECW promotion, and stuck with this nature of character when he joined WWE in 2001.

This promo conducted by Heyman appeared throughout the infamous Invasion storyline of WWE, when the newly acquired stars from WCW and ECW joined the organisation to win the rights to change the name of WWE to the former promotions.

While Heyman has since revealed that Mr. McMahon told him before to not hold anything back when the promo started. The former head of WWE might have regretted that. Heyman went into full attack mode, and the promo speaks for itself.

5

Mary Henry

Retirement Speech

While Mark Henry may not be as well-known as some of the other names on this list, his infamous “retirement speech” is as good, if not better, than the majority of other promos ever performed in WWE.

In 2013, after losing to John Cena for the WWE Championship, Henry came to the ring in his now-famous salmon pink blazer and told the fans of the WWE he was retiring from wrestling. The speech, which brought an emotional John Cena to the ring to console Henry, backfired dramatically with Cena being attacked by Henry to set up a title match between the two.

Ultimately, this was 2013, so Cena still held onto the Championship with Henry not getting another chance at the belt, but the retirement speech still lives on as one of the best to be made.

4

The Miz

“Talking Smack” to Daniel Bryan

Another promo that blurred the lines between professional wrestling Kayfabe and real life was the promo performed by The Miz on the former WWE talk show “Talking Smack” towards Daniel Bryan. The promo arguably changed the opinions of many wrestling fans towards The Miz himself.

While having not defended his Intercontinental Championship for an extended time, and having a lack of TV time, The Miz wanted to go on the talk show to essentially vent over his current circumstances.

One of the current hosts at the time, Daniel Bryan, had a controversial past with The Miz after Mizanin became Bryan’s “coach” in the first season of NXT. This choice was criticised profusely by wrestling fans, with Bryan being seen as one of the best wrestlers in the world pre-WWE.

The promo blurred the lines between Kayfabe and real life while putting The Miz more in the forefront of TV going forward. After being seen as a cocky, cheesy gimmick of the WWE, The Miz became better known for his wrestling ability and ambition for professional wrestling as a whole.

3

Shawn Michaels

“Who’s Your Daddy, Montreal?”

After the infamous Montreal Screwjob of Survivor Series in 1997, the Montreal crowd became the most hostile crowd in WWE every time they went to visit once again.

The three main members of the Screwjob – Shawn Michaels, Mr McMahon and referee Earl Hebner were constantly heckled, booed, and lambasted for at least 10 years after the event.

Michaels, who was a Heel at the time, wanted to cash in on the hostile Montreal crowd. Coming out to perform a promo in front of the crowd, the Showstopper began his promo with the words:

“Who’s your Daddy, Montreal?”

The promo, which then famously saw Michaels tease the return of Bret Hart, including his music and TitanTron playing, went down in history as one of the best Heel promos ever cut.

2

CM Punk

The Original Pipe Bomb

Arguably seen as option 1B when it comes to what is seen as the best promo in WWE history, the “pipe bomb” by CM Punk is seen as arguably the greatest ever done, with the illusion of Kayfabe being thrown out of the window for it.

During his famous and arguably most iconic feud with John Cena in 2011, Punk came out to the crowd, sat cross-legged by the TitanTron entrance, and created a barrage of words that are still quoted today in WWE 14 years later.

The pipe bomb, which went into the meta details of WWE, talked about how Punk will never be as good as Cena because he didn’t schmooze up to Vince McMahon, the same way The Rock and Hulk Hogan did.

The promo also referenced the likes of Brock Lesnar (who had left the company seven years prior), New Japan Pro Wrestling, a return to Ring of Honor for Punk, and a shout-out to his former ROH friend, Colt Cabana.

1

Stone Cold Steve Austin

The Dawn of 3:16

While the CM Punk pipe bomb is seen as 1B, the Stone Cold Steve Austin 3:16 promo is easily the 1A of WWE promos in history. The promo, which came to happen by sheer luck, was performed at the inauguration of Stone Cold Steve Austin after his win in The King of the Ring in 1996.

The promo that created the Stone Cold character came through sheer improvisation by Austin after he feuded with Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts, who preached the Bible verses of John 3:16.

The promo, however, was not concerning any future feud or build-up to one. Arguably, if it wasn’t for what could have been seen as a “throwaway” promo at the time, the creation of the biggest superstar in WWE history may not have happened.