10 Underrated Wrestling Promos
2. Brian Pillman - "Smart Marks"
As far as debut promos go, it doesn't get much better than this.
Having been 'fired' from WCW by Eric Bischoff just days prior, Brian Pillman showed up to the ECW arena in 1996 with a chip on his shoulder. By this point, fans legitimately weren't sure whether Pillman's "loose cannon" behavior was a work or not. Hell, there were some people within the wrestling industry who couldn't even figure it out.
And it was promos like these that left every "booker man" wondering.
Liberally lacing profanities into his brutal polemic, Pillman likened Bischoff (whom he called, in kinder words, a "piece of hecking poop") to the "smart marks" in the crowd. Basically, he called the ECW fans "stupid" before calling the ECW arena a "hell-hole" and threatening to urinate in the ring.
The whole promo and succeeding segment were excellent, as they expertly blurred the lines between reality and fiction. Pillman's intensity and demeanor convinced everyone that he was an actual madman, and Paul Heyman's subsequent intervention helped instill this notion that nothing about this was a work.
Now that is the "mark" of a good promo.