WWE: Ranking the Top 10 Greatest Promos of All Time

Mankind’s Deep Interview with Jim Ross

When we talk about how to develop a character, this should be the blueprint for just that. In a four week string of interviews with Mankind conducted by Jim Ross, we learned so much about him. We learned about his origins from the time he was young, and what caused him to be the strange, demented man that he is.

This interview was a star making performance for Mankind, because the fans would quickly gravitate and relate to the stories that he told throughout this interview. Whether or not it was the original intention, these interviews turned Mankind into a sympathetic baby face. Most importantly what it did though is add layers to the character of Mankind. It made the character make sense to anyone who would watch him and wonder why he is the way he is.

There’s far too many great quotes from this interview for me to possibly pick all of them out, but I would say that the part that I always liked looking back on it was Mankind saying that any time he put the Mandible Claw onto someone, he envisioned that person as Vince McMahon, because Vince didn’t sign him when he was better and younger.

Mick Foley would later tell the story behind these segments in his book, and the thing I find the most interesting is that, according to him, there was no script for him for these interviews. Everything he said in this promo was of his own making. This certainly can’t work with everyone, but when you give someone who is as good at telling a story as Mick Foley is free reign to say what they feel works, you end up with segments like this.