Greatest Shoot Promos In Pro Wrestling

In this edition of The Wrestling Estate roundtable, we look back on the greatest shoot promos in wrestling history.

Juan Bautista’s Greatest Shoot Promos

Samoa Joe on Scott Hall

After Scott Hall had no showed Turning Point 2007, Samoa Joe was given a live mic and called out Hall on his bullshit. This was even more intriguing as Hall’s best buddy Kevin Nash was in the ring during this shoot.

The Pipe Bomb

The reason this promo stands the test of time is because everything that was said has happened. CM Punk was speaking the truth. The ratings are the lowest they have ever been as a result of the stupid family’s decisions.

Joey Styles Quits Raw

While it was a way to get Joey to the revived ECW, his venting was very real. After all, he had been bumped from pay-per-views because Vince McMahon believed he needed to be taught “sports-entertainment.”

James Konlowski’s Greatest Shoot Promos

Paul Heyman on Vince McMahon

Vince McMahon told Paul Heyman to sell Survivor Series 2001 on the go-home show, and boy, did the former ECW head honcho do just that.

The Pipe Bomb

When CM Punk sat down on stage to close out Raw in a Stone Cold Steve Austin shirt, things felt just a little different, just a little more real. That’s because it was. Punk was weeks away from his contract expiring and wasn’t pleased with his role in the company. Vince McMahon offered him a compromise: the WWE Title and a live mic to air his grievances.

Vince Russo On Hulk Hogan

WCW was in freefall at this stage, anyway, but what Vince Russo did at Bash At The Beach 2000 is still talked. Hulk Hogan allegedly wanted to use his “creative control” card to dethrone Jeff Jarrett of the World Heavyweight Championship, despite it not making sense. Russo, against his better judgement, went along with it and hatched a worked screwjob plan with Eric Bischoff that saw Jarrett lay down for Hogan and the Hulkster walk out of WCW with the title. Russo then got into the ring and cut the most scathing shoot promo in professional wrestling history, something, to this day, Hogan claims he had no idea was about to happen.

Steven Jackson’s Greatest Shoot Promos

Brian Pillman at ECW Cyberslam 1996

Working everyone in the business, the “shoot” Brian Pillman delivered in the ECW Arena is the stuff of legend. The articulation Brian exhibits along with his badass attire and presentation still gives me chills.

The Pipe Bomb

The “shoot” which changed the perception of modern-day WWE overnight. The buzz this five-minute segment created can never be done justice. Lapsed fans returned, media companies were talking and CM Punk made himself the most important person on the planet. That is a bold statement, but you literally could not open social media without CM Punk’s name appearing somewhere.

Kevin Steen in ROH

Running parallel to CM Punk in WWE, Kevin Steen’s status in ROH throughout 2011 was defined by several “shoot” moments. The most exciting of these taking place at DBD IX when Kevin Steen stormed the ring, took the mic and then proceeded to grab ROH Ambassador Cary Silkin with the intention of Package Piledriving him to hell! While it has not aged as well as other “shoot” moments, the buzz Kevin Steen created on the independent scene was thrilling and defined his character for years to come!

Chad Gelfand’s Greatest Shoot Promos

Paul Heyman to Vince McMahon

Paul Heyman was at his best here ripping into Vince McMahon, who went against his own father’s wishes and put his competition out of business. The anguish in Paul’s voice, knowing he was one of the victims, was years of pent up frustration being spewed.

John Cena shoots on Roman Reigns

When John Cena and Roman Reigns faced off for their feud in 2017, it became abundantly clear that Reigns at that point was nowhere near Cena’s level on the mic. Cena toyed with Reigns, flustered him, cut him off at every turn and capped it off “It’s called a promo, kid. You’re gonna need to learn how to do one to be the top guy.” Reigns certainly has taken that advice to heart and become one of the best promo guys in the industry, but on that night, Cena got the best of him.

Bret Hart shoots on Vince McMahon

In what would later become one of the gateways to the Mr. McMahon character, Bret Hart pushed Vince, then shoved the ring announcer down and went off on a profanity-laced tirade about how he was being screwed. Given this was early 1997, this was an especially shocking promo, and Bret let out a few real feelings in all likelihood.

John Corrigan’s Greatest Shoot Promos

Doug Gilbert

You don’t talk about another man’s family. Jerry Lawler and Brian Christopher learned that the hard way when Doug Gilbert returned to Power Pro Wrestling after a tour of Japan. In retaliation for skits mocking his parents, Gilbert unloaded some bombs: exposing Christopher as Lawler’s son, claiming promoter Randy Hales smoked crack and accusing Lawler of raping a 13-year-old girl. That last one is probably why you’ve never heard of Doug Gilbert.

The Pipe Bomb

Not since Austin 3:16 and Bash at the Beach 96 has a promo shook the wrestling world. CM Punk broke the fourth wall, tearing into sacred cows like the McMahon family and The Rock, venting universal frustrations felt within the WWE Universe.

Paul Heyman to Vince McMahon

Three days before Survivor Series 2001, Paul Heyman called Vince McMahon out to the ring, eulogizing him before The Alliance was sure to conquer WWE. For about 10 minutes, Heyman aired all his grievances, chastising McMahon for killing the territories and stealing the ECW owner’s ideas, bringing up some pretty taboo topics for the time. Perhaps Heyman’s finest hour on the mic, which as you know, covers a lot of ground.

Jack Goodwillie’s Greatest Shoot Promos

Cane Dewey

Mick Foley’s “Cane Dewey” promo is arguably the best “worked shoot” before worked shoots became cool. This interview would serve as the genesis of a new Cactus Jack that sought to systematically take away all the things the rabid fans of ECW liked about him until they were left with nothing. Foley has said this interview actually came from a place of personal, real life frustration, although what would make him one of the three or four faces of the Attitude Era was his ability to so effortlessly blend real emotion and real motivation into his on-screen characters.

While his modern social media presence is highly questionable, he is undeniably one of the most influential wrestlers that ever lived. Foley himself calls this promo one of the top two or three best of his career. It all started when a fan asked him if he could hold up a sign in the crowd that read “Cane Dewey,” as in, “Cactus is so crazy, he should cane his son for our entertainment.” At first, Foley had no problem with this, but after talking to his wife about it, he saw it fit to channel his wife’s frustration into a new and improved Cactus Jack character: one that expressed regret for, as he put it, “trading in the Victorian in Atlanta for a sweatbox in Long Island.” It wouldn’t be the last time Foley put forth a worked shoot, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention this promo, a favorite of mine.

“I Will Not Die”

This promo had it all. Obviously, the friction between Matt Hardy and Edge throughout the mid-to-late 2000s is well documented, and without that, this promo probably doesn’t work. But I also have to give a lot of credit to Vince McMahon for coming out to the ring and setting the table for what I remember fondly as one of the greatest worked shoot interviews of all time. By coming out to the ring and introducing Matt Hardy back into the world of WWE (officially), McMahon effectively tee’d the ball up nice and high for Hardy to drive it right down the middle of the fairway. Once Hardy’s music hits and he leaves McMahon’s limo, he becomes this incredible ball of energy (some of it perhaps nervous energy) knowing he needs to cut the promo of his career in order to flip the script on one of the darkest chapters in his life to that point.

Well, he did just that. He came out to the ring looking like he just took a bunch of Stacker 2 YJStinger (remember that?) and credited the will of the fans as the reason he’s back. He then recapped his tumultuous relationship with Lita and Edge and then the promo took a dark turn. It’s believable, some of Hardy’s remarks may shock you and it does stand the test of time. The big miss with Hardy would ultimately come in the follow-up, but this promo, in a vacuum, is a must-watch for fans of the worked shoot.

“I Am Not a Coward, I Am Your Intercontinental Champion”

Truthfully, CM Punk’s “Pipe Bomb” has to crack my top-three, but that’s gotten plenty of run in this roundtable. Punk is, after all, arguably the greatest wrestling promo in the past 10-15 years, whether working or shooting. Nobody can deny that. But there’s a clear top four in wrestling shoot promos, and the promo The Miz cut on Talking Smack back in 2016 has everything you could possibly want. It’s raw (pun not intended), uncut, unscripted and uncensored. The Miz has been a glutton for punishment since his debut for what fans considered to be a “pampered” upbringing in the business as a former reality TV show star and for working a style that is safe.

But once Daniel Bryan, the purest antithesis to The Miz and arguably his greatest rival, calls him a “coward,” The Miz becomes absolutely unglued and unleashes a two-minute tirade on Bryan and anybody who agrees with the sentiment that he’s a “coward.” And as is the case with any great heel promo, there’s a kernel of truth to what The Miz is saying. His words are venomous and come from a place of jealousy and spitefulness, but he makes some valid points.