This award honours the best on-air monologue/speech (promo in wrestling slang) delivered by a wrestler in the year. The award is named after Ric Flair (Richard Fleihr) whose charismatic, intense promos are still a benchmark for the verbally gifted.
WINNER - CM PUNK -"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU" (WWE SMACKDOWN, 12 MARCH 2010)
It pains me to bump Shawn Michaels to 2nd place, but I dare anyone who saw CM Punk delivering this promo to disagree. One of my favourite WWE moments of the year, maybe till date, saw Punk tormenting Rey Mysterio's little daughter on her birthday, with graphic details on what he was going to do to her father. He ended by singing "Happy Birthday". Punk was brilliant throughout the year on the mic, here he was at his unreal, mesmerizing, creepy best.
1st RUNNER UP - SHAWN MICHAELS - "THE HEARTBREAK KID HAS LEFT THE BUILDING" (WWE RAW, 29 MARCH 2010)
This may not technically be a promo, since Michaels wasn't in-character. But this is wrestling, where its harder than other fields to separate the person from the character. So I include it. Michaels' career has been an incredible graph of escalating perfection, and his last night in a WWE Ring was no outlier to the trend. The Heartbreak Kid spoke from the heart, chose his words to perfection, and I can't think of a single thing he could have said better. It was a beautiful speech, amplified by emotion and nostalgia. A fitting last memory of maybe the greatest professional wrestler ever.
2nd RUNNER UP - JOHN CENA - "MOM, I'M COMING HOME" (WWE RAW. 22 NOVEMBER 2010)
From an actual farewell to a fake one, although guess what- if you didn't know which was which you'd find it very difficult to guess, thanks to a fantastic performance by John Cena. WWE may have cheated us big time on the "Cena Gets Fired" storyline, but Cena did an outstanding job here of making it look like he really was leaving the company. Mentioning production personnel by name, hugging the heel Michael Cole, leading the crowd in a nostalgia chant, and even somehow managing to legitimately cry on cue when talking about going home to his family. I have no idea if it was skill by Cena or just lucky coincidence, but it was a great promo nonetheless.
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