Summary

Road Dogg believes he belongs in any serious conversation about wrestling's best talkers, and he went a step further by saying he thinks he was stronger off the cuff on the microphone than The Rock.

During a virtual signing appearance with K & S WrestleFest, Road Dogg was asked to name his top five wrestlers on the microphone. His list included Jake "The Snake" Roberts, his father Bob Armstrong, Dusty Rhodes, Roddy Piper and Chris Jericho. While breaking down those choices, he said the difference for him comes down to how much of a promo feels spontaneous in the moment.

Quote from Road Dogg

"I don't know about this order, but I'm gonna go with it. Jake 'The Snake.' My father ('Bullet' Bob Armstrong). I'm gonna say my father, and damn you if you don't agree. I'm gonna say Dusty Rhodes... Well look, (Ric) Flair was always great but, to me, it's about grabbing the person.... Ted DiBiase was always good but he didn't catch my — oh! Roddy Piper. Piper always had a good story to tell, always grabbed a hold of you in some way... And then I'll say... Chris Jericho. I don't wanna say that, I'm gonna be honest with you."

Road Dogg later went on to say:

"Chris Jericho may be the same as The Rock and I may get a lot of heat for saying this and I apologize if I'm wrong — I didn't hang around Rock backstage either — but I didn't hang around Jericho enough to know if his stuff was scripted. I know all Rock's stuff was thought about and written out, and I feel like Chris' — it may be now because I saw something lately that I feel like was well thought out. But I don't know, I feel like, off the cuff, I'm better than The Rock."

What Road Dogg's Rock comparison tells fans

Road Dogg framed this around spontaneity, and that puts the focus on a very specific kind of promo skill rather than overall star power. The Rock remains one of WWE's biggest microphone legends, so making that comparison at all tells you how highly Road Dogg rates his own instinctive promo work.

It also lands differently because Road Dogg only left WWE in March after serving as SmackDown's co-lead writer. Fans have seen him as both a performer and a creative voice, which gives extra context to how he views the balance between scripted material and speaking naturally.

Sources

Road Dogg on K & S WrestleFest