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The world of Professional Wrestling is essentially a World of Ham. Very few wrestlers people in the business get any real success without a manager acting as a Large Ham, or being at least a bit of a ham themselves. Below, some of the hammiest examples of Large Ham.


  • "OL' HACKSAW'S GOT A LIST OF SOME OF WRESTLING'S LARGEST HAMS, TOUGH GUY!!! HOOOOOOOO!!!!!"
  • Bret Hart wasn't known for his hamminess, however, he had Jimmy "The Mouth of the South" Hart hamming it up for him during his tag team days. Hart got a tiny bit hammy during his late 90s heel run.
  • You have to start with Ric Flair. The Nature Boy didn't just become The Man with his endless series of great matches, but also because of his huge charisma. Give the man a microphone, and he just explodes with ham, whether to sell a feud, or just because he could! He couldn't just do an interview with Mean Gene, he always had to do an interview with MEEEEEEEEAN... WOOO! BY GOD, GENE!!!
  • This is the almost the entire purpose of managers. Got a great wrestler who can't work the mic to save their lives? Hire a manager.
    • Jim Cornette and his legendary Motor Mouth is a prime example. Corny ranted till he was more red in the face than Brother Love.
    • Sensational Sherri wasn't any great shakes when strictly a wrestler, but once becoming a valet, for Randy Savage, she turned the ham way up (of course, you'd have to if you're gonna keep up with the Macho Man).
    • Jimmy Hart's promos for his boys were a gigantic burst of energy, but that wasn't enough for Jimmy - no, he brought a megaphone to the ring so he could keep chewing scenery during matches.
    • And of course, manager Paul Heyman, currently the manager for The Beast Incarnate, Brock Lesnar, and possibly the largest ham going today. It's only right that the big monster has a big mouth next to him.
  • Or, if you don't want to use a manager, pair them up in a tag team with a notable ham so they can learn to work the mic. John Morrison helped The Miz and Joey Mercury get over this way. (Mercury helped Morrison on the wrestling side in exchange)
  • Tag teams in general can be a good source of Ham-to-Ham Combat, such as The Road Warriors, aka the Legion Of Doom. "TELL 'EM, HAWK."
    • Plus, The Nasty Boys, who spent almost every single promo they ever had shouting at the top of their lungs. Even when they're happy!!
  • What if you got a nearly seven foot tall guy pretend to be a zombie gravedigger? He's supposed to be The Stoic, so he doesn't talk much and emotes even less. But it's early 1990s WWF, how are you going to include the requisite amount of ham? Hire a guy named William Moody, give him a Punny Name, and have him ham it up, preferably with a hilarious voice. The results are deliciously hammy.
  • WWE chairman Vince McMahon turns into a Large Ham, not only on the WWE's own programming, but whenever there's a camera on him. This is best shown in the documentary Beyond the Mat, in the scene where he gives Darren Drozdov his gimmick. "He's gonna puke! He's gonna PUKE!" The "tidal wave of phlegm" phenomenon that is so prominent in his way of saying "You're fired!" that it's impossible to hear it without laughing.
  • Dusty Rhodes, THE AMERICAN DREAM, DADDY!!!
  • To call Roddy Piper hammy would be a major understatement. Incredibly brash and obnoxious with one-liners to spare, Piper was such a notable ham (in both hot and cold varieties!) that they gave him the interview segment "Piper's Pit," which, as a result, became easily the most beloved wrestling interview segment ever.
  • And then there's Hulk Hogan, who almost merits his own page on this wiki and set the standard among Professional Wrestling for large hamminess that all others emulate. Quite simply, after Hulkamania ruled the world, wrestlers had to be Larger Than Life.
    • As a matter of fact, the Hulkster's sheer bluster is part of the reason Bob Backlund isn't better remembered nowadays - once Hulk showed up, Bob, his predecessor as the face of the company, was too milquetoast to really compete with him. Of course, it's funny how things work out, because when Backlund made his comeback in the early 90s, he had a Faceā€“Heel Turn that turned him into a huge ham.
  • THE SHEER UNBRIDLED HAMMINESS AND THE POWER OF THE WARRIOR IS TOTALLY OUT OF CONTROOOOOOOOL.
  • Santino Marella. "Bring forth...The Honk-a-Meter!!!!"
  • For a very short time, Charlie Haas (who is not very well-known for his charisma). "Mamajuana Extreme dot com!"
  • Randy "Macho Man" Savage demands his place on this list, ooooooh yeeeeaaaaaaaaah!!
    • So does Black Machismo, better known as Jay Lethal.
    • Hell, Randy's real-life brother, Leaping Lanny Poffo, was also a big ham himself, most notably camping it up as The Genius.
  • A large part of the New Age Outlaws' appeal to crowds during the Attitude Era was, no doubt, the Road Dogg's booming, scenery-chewing introduction. "OH, YOU DIDN'T KNOW????"
  • Bryan Danielson was long pegged as an impossibly brilliant wrestler who unfortunately had no personality. Then he won the Ring of Honor World Heavyweight Championship and started bringing the ham. His hammy act included daring the audience to riot because he is a "ONE MAN RIOT SQUAD", forcing the ring announcer to call him "The best wrestler in the world, with an emphasis on entire world," or most famously putting his opponents in illegal holds for as long as the referee allows him because "I HAVE TILL FIVE!".
    • During his heel World Heavyweight Champion run in WWE, we have "YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!" after winning matches (or doing anything, really).
  • Kurt Angle certainly qualifies. This was lampshaded by John Cena: When Kurt was throwing a tantrum in the ring, Cena popped up on the TitanTron and yelled: "Kurt! Kurt! Stop it, man, you're acting like a friggin' ham sandwich!
  • Of course, John Cena is one to talk - the guy's been consistently hamming it up as The Hero on a weekly basis for the past decade.
  • CM Punk took a turn for the gloriously hammy when he added religious/cult overtones to his Smug Straight Edge gimmick. His performance at the 2010 Royal Rumble, where he cuts a promo interspersed with eliminating whoever comes out next doubles as both a Crowning Moment Of Awesome and a Crowning Moment of Hamminess.
    Punk: Let me thank you all for joining me, in what will be the most historic moment my Straight Edge Society has ever seen. These were just the first of twenty-nine other men who will be thrown over the top rope, or if they have the courage that the WWE Universe LACKS... they CAN be saved! And unfortunately not everyone can win the Royal Rumble... excuse me. It's clobberin' time.
  • Ted DiBiase, the Million Dollar Man. During his heyday, his promos (complete with constant shouting, an Evil Laugh so OTT it has to be heard to be believed and attempts to buy everyone and everything in sight) managed to be the largest ham in a business in an era filled with them. Ted DiBiase Jr.... not so much.
  • Kevin Sullivan was pure deviled ham during his "powers of darkness" phase in the 1980's.
  • Vickie Guerrero seemed to have developed some hammy qualities as a side effect of needing to talk over the amazing heat she got from the WWE Universe.
  • Vickie's late husband, Eddie Guerrero, was so fantastically hammy that he made nephew Chavo come off as flat (which Chavo never really overcame).
  • Jillian Hall, even before her bad singing gimmick.
  • On the Real Life page, we gave sports commentators a mention, so as you can imagine in pro wrestling, regardless of the federation or country, ham is constantly served at the commentators' table.
    • The most famous example is quite probably "Good Ol' JR" Jim Ross. His ability to get overexcited about any match and to make even the weakest of jobbers look like a badass is what people love about him (and probably a big part of the WWE's success in the first place).
      • "GOOD GOD ALMIGHTY! GOOD GOD ALMIGHTY! THEY'VE KILLED HIM! WITH GOD AS MY WITNESS HE'S BROKEN IN HALF!!"
  • Bray Wyatt. He's got the wholeworld with his ham.
  • Handsome Jimmy Valiant, The Boogie Woogie Man, had a gruff, powerful voice that was at maximum volume at all times. Jerry Lawler admitted in his autobiography that Jimmy was untouchable in the old days of Memphis Wrestling when it came to promo work, even if he wasn't the best wrestler in the world. Expect Jimmy to say "baby", "daddy", "woo!" and his own name as often as possible.
  • During his heel run in the mid-2000s, John "Bradshaw" Layfield, aka JBL, defined Evil Is Hammy as much as anyone else in the company's history (he could be considered a more cerebral Ted DiBiase). His overbearing, right-wing bigot schtick had gusto to spare, and seeing him shout down entire audiences was something to behold. Still got some leftover hamminess at the commentary table.
  • Zack Ryder! His time as the WWE's biggest Ensemble Dark Horse was relatively brief, but with his big, goofy persona, he established himself firmly as a glorious ham, on air and on his YouTube show. Woo WOO woo! You know it!
  • "DON'T YOU DARE BE SOUR! IT'S A NEW DAY, YES IT IS!"
  • The GZRS (Tom Irivn and Sebastian) of Progress Wrestling
  • Enzo Amore and Colin "Big Cass" Cassady, aka Enzo & Cass. Enzo's really brash by himself, but with Big Cass backing him up they just effortlessly steal the spotlight wherever they go, and you CAN'T. TEACH. THAT.
  • MISTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ANDERSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    • ....ANDERSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • While Ivory was often overshadowed in this department because of how hammy the guys werenote , she was easily the most over-the-top Diva WWE had, until Vickie Guerrero's heel turn and Jillian Hall's bad singer gimmick. For a time, part of her ring entrance involved her Shaking the Rump on the ring apron. Tied in with her Cloudcuckoolander and Genki Girl tendencies, she had no problem acting silly and messing with the crew during photo shoots for her own amusement.
  • Sha Samuels of ICW and later NXT UK fame appears to be incapable of doing anything without bellowing at the top of his lungs. The thick Cockney accent just adds to it.
  • Val Venis: HELLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, LAAAAAADIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!

Alternative Title(s): Professional Wrestling

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