Scripted Promos..

[theexample]

What are your views on them? Do they make everybody sound the same? Are unscripted promos like the classic Cactus Jack ones superior? Do the scripts take the passion out of the promo and create cookie cutter gimmicks?

[Jeritron]

I don't have a problem with "scripted" promos if the wrestler who is cutting them writes them for the most part.
Guys on the level of Punk, Jericho, and Edge have this kind of freedom and input. That's why they come off fine.

They don't sound as good when some other deliver them, but what about Batistas last few promos? I would assume they're mostly "scripted" but they've been amazing. Probably because he has input, and the character he's portraying fits him better.

Old promos may not have been scripted on paper by creative, but they were certainly pre-planned. In many cases they were even taped, and probably done on multiple takes.
I know Chris Jericho wrote his debut promo in 1999. I haven't heard any complaints there.

Just about everyone who goes out their on the stick has to have some level of scripting to what they're going to say, whether it was typed or not.

[theexample]

How much of the script do the lower card guys get to write (for their limited promo time)?

[Jeritron]

I have no idea. Probably not much, if any. They also don't really get to work the stick. This definitely stinks. For example, look at Punk. He works the mic every week now. It's awesome. For years he was silent though. I think midcard faces are kept off the microphone more often.

But at the same time, look at a guy like The Miz. He's on the midcard but he's cutting promos every week. I don't know how "scripted" they are, but they're damn good. I certainly can't recall very much from the midcard ever being any better.
For the most part, I don't think there was ever much promo time coming out of the undercard to begin with.

You used to get brief promos from Val Venis and Road Dogg before matches, but they were obviously loosely scripted. You still get them from a few of the midcarders.


I'm not saying that some of the greatness of promos hasn't been loss, but I also still think there are a lot of great promos, and a lot of guys who are still working the stick well.

[St. Jimmy]

some guys need a leash (anyone in TNA).

[Loose Cannon]

I don't have a problem with "scripted" promos if the wrestler who is cutting them writes them for the most part.
Guys on the level of Punk, Jericho, and Edge have this kind of freedom and input. That's why they come off fine.

They don't sound as good when some other deliver them, but what about Batistas last few promos? I would assume they're mostly "scripted" but they've been amazing. Probably because he has input, and the character he's portraying fits him better.

Old promos may not have been scripted on paper by creative, but they were certainly pre-planned. In many cases they were even taped, and probably done on multiple takes.
I know Chris Jericho wrote his debut promo in 1999. I haven't heard any complaints there. .

yea, exactly my thoughts. I think the guys that are great talkers have a general idea of what they want to touch on and go from there. And the guys that are not have to probably remember almost word for word.

And yes, back in the day, the WWE did a number of takes on the tapes promos

Just about everyone who goes out their on the stick has to have some level of scripting to what they're going to say, whether it was typed or not.

[SOCCER LEGS]

I don't have a problem with "scripted" promos if the wrestler who is cutting them writes them for the most part.
Guys on the level of Punk, Jericho, and Edge have this kind of freedom and input. That's why they come off fine.

They don't sound as good when some other deliver them, but what about Batistas last few promos? I would assume they're mostly "scripted" but they've been amazing. Probably because he has input, and the character he's portraying fits him better.

Old promos may not have been scripted on paper by creative, but they were certainly pre-planned. In many cases they were even taped, and probably done on multiple takes.
I know Chris Jericho wrote his debut promo in 1999. I haven't heard any complaints there.

Just about everyone who goes out their on the stick has to have some level of scripting to what they're going to say, whether it was typed or not.

what makes you think punk, jericho, edge are writing their own promos? not saying you're wrong, just wondering how you got that impression.

[Lock Jaw]

Jericho spends hours opening the dictionary to random pages so that he can find more big words to throw into his promos.

[Lock Jaw]

Also, I think WWE must be writing Edge's promos for him now:


Edge: Hey guys, wassup?

Vince: Well Edge, you haven't been a face for sometime, so I have decided that my writers will write your promos...

Writers: Yeah, hi.

Edge: I'm capable of-

Vince: I think you'll like what they came up with! Guys?

Writers: *slips Edge a small piece of paper*

Edge: All this has written on it is "spear"!

Vince: Genius!!

[Jeritron]

I've heard Punk and Jericho talk about it in interviews. They have creative input in their fueds too. Jericho said something to the effect of him developing his own promos. The Shawn fued of late 2008 in particular is one example.
I think Punk's whole fued with Mysterio has pretty much been his brainchild, along with creative obviously. I just read a bit about that yesterday actually.

I'm not entirely sure about Edge, but I said this because of his status in the company. I probably should have mentioned HHH and HBK, rather than just those 3 in particular.

I really don't know exactly what goes on behind the scenes, but I'm just going by what I read on the sheets and what comes across on the screen.

[Emperor Smeat]

Not everyone is good at improvising promos so it would make a lot of sense to keep the wrestler on a scripted speech rather than have an awkward sounding promo that makes little sense. Also not every wrestler is good enough to portray their character in a promo which is another problem that a script can solve most of the time.

Batista's RAW promo was great at making his character seem like someone who doesn't care about pride and just cares about being a jerk and being rich. Cena managed to hurt his promo by being too bland and coming off like he's reading from a piece of paper than portraying someone who is down but wants to rise up to the challenge.