Prior to the birth of WCW, Jim Crockett Promotions was a territory largely built on great wrestling and even better talking. From the birth of the Four Horsemen to many a Dusty Rhodes masterpiece, the Turner Broadcasting Station was home to some spectacular mic work in the 1980s.
RELATED: The 15 Best WCW Wrestlers Ever, According To Ranker.com
When Ted Turner purchased JCP in 1988 and turned it into World Championship Wrestling, the best work from legends such as Harley Race and Tully Blanchard, who had defected to WWE, was already in the rearview mirror. And on the flip side, future WCW mid-card talents like Mick Foley and Steve Austin would do their best work after leaving the company. But there were still plenty of promos on WCW television that stand the test of time.
10 Rick Rude
From 1987-1990, Rick Rude did everything there was to do in WWE except win the World Title. He won the Intercontinental Title, feuded with top names like Ultimate Warrior, Roddy Piper, and Jake Roberts, and even headlined SummerSlam 1990, but he was never given a proper run as a top guy. In some ways he was overshadowed, as standing beside manager Bobby Heenan, Rude would always be the second-best talker on screen. The Ravishing one would have to leave WWE to achieve his full potential.
With an awesome entrance theme, Simply Ravishing, his epic battles with the likes of Ricky Steamboat, and the WCW Championship draped over his shoulder, Rude truly hit his stride in Atlanta. His cocky promo style made him a legit main event player and a highlight of WCW in the early 90s.
9 Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan's cartoonish promo style may not have aged well, but he "talked the people into the building, brother". The Hulkster successfully transitioned from what had become a tired babyface routine into a fresh heel who led the revolutionary nWo stable.
Many a Nitro episode kicked off with a "Hollywood" Hogan promo, and for better or worse, it was the hottest period in the history of WCW.
8 Michael Hayes
It's easy to dismiss Michael Hayes as the oft-drunken backstage employee in WWE or as "Handsome" Dok Hendrix, but "Freebird" Michael Hayes was one of the greatest promos of his generation.
By WCW's inception, the Freedbirds best days may have been in the past, but they still had some very good years in the late '80s/early 90s. And no matter where he was on the card, Hayes was one of the best talkers in wrestling.
7 Chris Jericho
When Chris Jericho arrived in WCW in 1996, he was little more than a "white meat babyface" who had terrific Japanese-style matches in the Cruiserweight division. But that all changed in 1998 when Jericho turned heel, taking Juventud Guerrera's mask before losing the Cruiserweight Title to Dean Malenko.
RELATED: 10 Most Ridiculous WCW Moments In The Year 2000
This prompted Jericho to claim his title loss was part of a conspiracy, leading to hilarious vignettes where he scoured the Library of Congress for the NWA rule book, and the classic "1004 holds" promo where he read all of his "moves" off of a never-ending stack of old school printer paper. Had Jericho discovered this character earlier in his WCW run, he would be higher on this list, but 1998 was truly a landmark year for him nonetheless.
6 Arn Anderson
For fans who started watching WCW during the Monday Night Wars, they may remember little else of Arn Anderson than his "My Spot" retirement speech on Nitro in 1997. It was brilliant and personal mic work, where he described how much being a member of the Four Horsemen meant to him, before giving not only "a spot" but his spot to Curt Hennig.
Unfortunately, that was overshadowed by a nWo parody the following week, the fallout of which is well documented. But there are a lot of great Arn Anderson promos from before 1997 as well. From his return to WCW in late 1989, Anderson was consistently one of the best talkers in the company.
5 Terry Funk
Terry Funk was in the midst of one of his many retirements from wrestling, this time as a Hollywood actor fresh off campy 80s favorites: Paradise Alley, Over The Top, and Roadhouse. So when he appeared at WrestleWar '89 as a judge for the 5-star rubber match between Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat for the WCW Title, fans figured it was little else than a guest appearance. However, after Flair won the match, Funk attacked the newly crowned Champion.
RELATED: 10 Cringey WCW Moments We Completely Forgot About
The angle was shocking and revolutionary for the time, including a Piledriver from Funk to Flair on a table. This attack led to one of the greatest feuds in WCW history, as Funk and Flair traded classic promos to build to a tremendous brawl at Great American Bash '89, and their most revered bout, an "I Quit" Match at Clash of The Champions 9. Funk was always a great promo, but his work in 1989 was a masterclass.
4 Jim Cornette
Jim Cornette's present-day role as an ultra-opinionated and polarizing podcaster may obscure the fact that he was one of the greatest managers of all time. Known most prominently as the mouthpiece for The Midnight Express, he was one-third of perhaps the hottest heel tag team act of the 80s.
His rich mama's boy persona got under the skin of many a blue-collar wrestling fan who wanted dearly for their babyface favorites to get their hands on Cornette. No one could speak as fast as Cornette without flubbing a line, yet he did it with ease.
3 Paul Heyman
Whether you prefer Paul Heyman or Jim Cornette is all a matter of taste, you're splitting hairs between the two managers. The WCW version of Paul Heyman was a young man in his early-to-mid 20s, a prodigy on the microphone.
Working with everyone from Steve Austin to Rick Rude to the future Undertaker ("Mean" Mark Callous) to the entire Dangerous Alliance, Heyman elevated any talent he managed. In fact, Heyman once feuded with Cornette, where Heyman was so hated he somehow managed to turn Cornette babyface.
2 Dusty Rhodes
For as bad as a color commentator as Dusty Rhodes was in WCW, he was every bit as good on the microphone. No matter what era, program, or feud he was in, Dusty Rhodes got super over because of his speaking skills.
He didn't have a traditional look of a star and wasn't a great athlete, but he connected with the fans on a level that made him a superstar for his entire career. Even though his days as a top guy were predominantly prior to 1988, "The American Dream" was still top-notch on the mic.
1 Ric Flair
Ric Flair may not only be the greatest talker in WCW history, but perhaps in wrestling history. He was the backbone of WCW for nearly its entire history, save for his run in WWE from 1991-1993, and was always someone company brass could toss into a main event in a pinch.
It didn't matter how "The Nature Boy" had been booked or how weak an angle might be, he was seen as a threat based on the sheer strength of his promo ability. As amazing as Flair was in the ring, his greatest asset was his mouth.
