Booker T's New Role In WWE Revealed..

[Nate DaMac]

On tonight's edition of Smackdown, it was revealed at the beginning of the of the broadcast that Booker T will be the newest edition to the Announce team.

Do you think this was the best move?

Will Booker succeed in this role?

In my opinion, this has potential to be disastrous. I remember watching him on commentary back when the Main Event Mafia took over iMPACT and all I can remember is his shrill voice overshadowing Kevin Nash, who was doing a much better job, ironically. Hopefully he doesn't do the same thing here.

So what do you think?

 

[dansaint]

He's not terrible. He's more of the "keep peace between Matthews and Cole". It does take a few moments to get what he's saying but he also has a great chance of succeeding.

Plus I like the change. Striker is better as the PPV 3rd man. Book wanted to come home and now he's back home. Allow him to be a broadcaster....occasionally wrestle (when his body is up to it) and maybe even be a backstage agent.

 

[Yodude "The Rock" Barber]

Honestly I feel Cole shouldve been replaced on commentary instead of Striker.
I love the move to move him to commentary regardless of who they moved.
If Booker doesnt succeed, they'll just move him to a more wrestling role such as a occasional wrestler/manager.
Still, Its a fresh voice for commentary, much like JBL when he was moved to commentary.
My question is whats next for Striker..

 

[KingBuddha]

Personally, I would have love to see Book come back as a wrestler. But, fact is Booker is getting older, his body has been put through alot. Yet the fact that he decided to stay after his apperance in the Royal Rumble (unlike Nash) is great. I do think Booker will be good at no matter what he does in the WWE.

 

[Hovertical]

Honestly I feel Cole shouldve been replaced on commentary instead of Striker.
I love the move to move him to commentary regardless of who they moved.
If Booker doesnt succeed, they'll just move him to a more wrestling role such as a occasional wrestler/manager.
Still, Its a fresh voice for commentary, much like JBL when he was moved to commentary.
My question is whats next for Striker..

I think striker will go to raw when Lawler retires as for Booker I like the fact he is on commentary. He is kind of fun, and gives cole less time to talk

 

[kozzomozzo]

I like booker t on commentary could be intersting. He can still wrestle some good matches too I think and the whole tough enough coach thing is cool too.

 

[Tha Wolfpac]

Booker T on commentary, i find is very fresh and a different voice and style we are used to hearing the WWE. He occasionally just sits there quietly while Michael Cole pretty much takes over everything. But he can really bring a better presence to the match with his obvious ring knowledge and psychology, and really postively add to the action when he gets more comfortable with his announcing role.

 

[JGlass]

I think Booker was damn fine on commentary tonight. He started off a little slow, but he found his groove as the night went on. He did a great job interacting with Josh Matthews to team up on Cole, which is refreshing because generally Cole does enough mouthing off for two commentators.

Do I think this is perfect? I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to see Booker lace up the boots and climb back in the ring, but he's old, he's accomplished just about as much as he can, and I wouldn't blame him if he never wrestled another match in his life. I think he might wind up in a similar role as Lawler where he gets involved in matches on occasions, but they will rarely be anything more than a glorified job.

I'm very happy that Booker is back in the WWE and I think he'll wind up being a very good commentator. If Lawler retires I foresee Cole and Matthews calling RAW and Striker and Booker T calling Smackdown, and I think those are both very good pairings.

 

[WWEIsLife2]

Very glad Booker T is now a Color guy for Smackdown. Loved the stuff with him & Josh Matthews teaming up on Micheal Cole. He started a little slow but he got better as the night went on I thought.

I too think Smackdown should be Josh,Booker,and Striker then Cole & King on RAW.

 

[Tugboat77]

Very glad Booker T is now a Color guy for Smackdown. Loved the stuff with him & Josh Matthews teaming up on Micheal Cole. He started a little slow but he got better as the night went on I thought.

I too think Smackdown should be Josh,Booker,and Striker then Cole & King on RAW.

I thought it was awesome! I try to stay away from Smackdown spoilers which can be pretty hard since it airs 3 days after it's taped, but I was successful this week and I was so glad. When Booker's music hit I freaked out (I'm not gonna use the term "marked out" because frankly I think it sounds dumb) because I wasn't expecting it at all. I knew he was gonna be a trainer on TE but I wasn't expecting this.

Like the person above stated, he started out a little slow. I kept waiting for him to say his first words and then Josh had to ask his opinion on things and ask him questions to warm him up but after that, he eased right into things. I really liked the interactions with Michael Cole. I like Striker a lot but I think it was smart to have Cole there at least for the time being until Booker gets his footing because Cole is excellent at setting situations up for good back-and-forth banter between himself and the other announcers.

I do worry about where this leaves Striker. I enjoy his "nerdy" commentary and the chemistry between himself, Cole, and Josh Mathews who is slowly becoming one of my favorite announcers. I think the chemistry that Mathews and Cole have together is excellent and I enjoy his sense of humor, much like Lawler's quips and sayings.

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

I thought Booker was horrendous tonight. Granted, it's his first show, but still, he was stuttering as much as Taz and basically said nothing but "I mean" and "Like I said". Half of his sentences, he never even finished, and the ones he did were 90% pointless or incoherent.

I like Booker...but his first impression was Adamle-bad. I say bring back Striker. Booker can wrestle on occasion, train the people in Tough Enough, and maybe manage a superstar, but unless he drastically (and I mean DRASTICALLY) improves extremely soon, I'll actually be hoping for a Grisham return...GRISHAM.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

If tonight means anything, Booker will work..for the time being at least. He's not Matt Striker, so he's already off to a great start.

Booker isn't annoying. He doesn't try and do too much out there, and it's refreshing. He's funny from time to time, providing decent banter with Michael Cole. Striker was the total opposite of Booker.

Striker thinks he's funny, and he isn't. He could never grasp the concept of "less is more." He tried so damn hard that he ulimately became too annoying to put up with. He was seriously my least favorite part of Smackdown, and I'm glad he's gone. Well, I don't know if he's really gone, or if he's going to Raw, or what's going on. It's more like I'm hoping he's gone.

Booker did an alright job, and he'll get better. Is he the long-term solution? Probably not. I'm sure there are guys around who could do a much better job, like Regal or Nash. So as long as I don't have to watch half of the show on mute because of Matt Striker, I'm a happy fan.

 

[WCWMondayNitroOnYT]

So as long as I don't have to watch half of the show on mute because of Michael Cole, I'm a happy fan.

Fixed it for ya! Booker just seemed too monotone and quiet for me. I would much rather see him return to at least somewhat-active competition after everybody saw what phenomenal shape he was in at the Royal Rumble. It would be great seeing the fresh match-ups he could be involved in on the Smackdown side. They definitely need a prominent face and Booker got a huge ovation when he was introduced at the beginning of Smackdown. He would be excellent in this role even if he was only there to get over the younger talent.

 

[Xemmy]

Do you think this was the best move?
Absolutely. I think it was an excellent move, and it's nice to have someone there that plays a bit of a foil to Cole on Smackdown. Josh doesn't do a good enough job. Booker T needs a little bit of practice though. Unfortunately he isn't a JBL. But I'll take it. I am quite pissed that they took out Matt Striker though. I was hoping when I heard the news that Booker would replace Cole on the show. Matt's too good not to be on Smackdown.

Will Booker succeed in this role?
Most likely. His job last night wasn't award worthy, but with some practice he'll succeed. No doubt.

 

[Ferbian]

Do you think this was the best move?

This is pretty arguable. Let's not forget the fact that Booker T is still able to work in the ring after all, and didn't seem to show any specific limitations at the Royal Rumble, or for that sake on Smackdown with the spinaroonie.

However, something tells me Booker T will be a sort of Jerry Lawler as of late, the guy that can sit at the announce table, yet still wrestle every now and then. At least I can only hope that it will be like that.

But I think that Booker T at the announce table will at least be interesting to watch, to say the least. I don't know whether it will be the best move, but I guess that's what time will only show.

Will Booker succeed in this role?

I'm not sure. Booker T isn't like the guy that is awful on the microphone, so I can see him making it work. However, he didn't seem like the guy that usually fits completely into the announce team. He's more the type of guy you give the microphone to cut a promo, and then wrestle. So I'm gonna be a little bit skeptical about whether Booker T will be a success at the announce table, or a failure.

 

[Mustang Sally]

It's ironic; Booker has a great voice for an announcer but he's clearly not comfortable in the role yet. It was interesting that he was watching the matches by viewing the monitor in front of him rather than looking at the action that was taking place 10 feet away. (I guess that proves that the best seat to view a sporting event is the chair in your living room)

But as much as folks around here don't like Michael Cole, I thought he did a good job feeding questions to Booker, finding ways to get him involved. As to Booker's delivery.......it's nothing that can't be fixed. After all, none of us were experts on our first day on the job, right?

 

[jack--sos]

I think Booker did a good job for his first show, you could tell he wasnt too comfortable for most of the night but that is expected, he brings something like JBL did and that is a recent wrestling experience to Smackdown (aside from Matt Striker but i dont think you can call his in ring career one that has alot of experience)

The one thing that didnt seem right was "HE'S GON DO IT!" must have heard that about 3 times, truly cringe-worthy.

I can see Booker being on the announce desk for quite a while he has a recognizable voice and once he gets more used to the role i think he will easily replace King as the WWE's main colour commentator.

 

[The Raven's Epitaph]

Do you think this was the best move?

It's not a bad move at all in my opinion. We've seen Booker T in the ring before and he's held countless championships time after time. Where could he possibly fit in if he were to jump back into the ring? Mostly everybody on the Smackdown roster is in a full-fledged storyline with somebody. The only thing that could be bad about this is if Booker T does actually get back into the ring and they make him job to newcomers like Trent Baretta. The man is a legend and to have him come back to tarnish his incredible wrestling career in one fell swoop would be disastrous to say the least. Look at it this way, anything is better than Todd Grisham on commentary isn't it?

Will Booker succeed in this role?

I've always been a fan of Booker T and it's nice to see him back. He got a warm reception at the Royal Rumble, and a pretty solid reception over on Smackdown. The fans like him and he hasn't shown any sign of rust from his WWE days. He still looks like the old Booker T to me.

I think he'll do alright. There's not a whole lot that could really make him fail at anything on the commentary table, but it's only the first week. Let's just hope he doesn't get stuck on NXT as a commentator, or even worse, a pro.

In my opinion, this has potential to be disastrous. I remember watching him on commentary back when the Main Event Mafia took over iMPACT and all I can remember is his shrill voice overshadowing Kevin Nash, who was doing a much better job, ironically. Hopefully he doesn't do the same thing here.

That was TNA though. WWE is a very different environment compared to TNA. It's like comparing an Aston Martin DB9 with an 02 plate Ford Focus. Both have very different backgrounds, fans and rules. TNA is laid back, whereas WWE is a very strict and professional company.

 

[The_Reptile_]

I love it. Booker's awesome on commentary, since he's actually commentating the matches with Josh Mathews and slamming Cole when he isn't. It's also good for Cole, because if last night's any indication he's going to be full blown heel on Smackdown, which awesome because I love Cole when he's a heel and he isn't kissing Miz's ass.

 

[Notorious KJE]

Booker wasn't great on commentary, but he wasn't bad either. He started out slow, but he eventually got better as the show went on. The only issue I had was that he didn't seem to know about the wrestlers on Smackdown that he's never competed against with the exception of Kofi Kingston. I think he'll improve with time though, and if he doesn't then he'll probably end up as a manager and part time wrestler, along with being a Tough Enough coach. I'm just glad that Booker's back, he's one of my all time favorites.

I'm upset about Striker being replaced though, if anything they should have replaced Cole because we don't need him on both shows. It's bad enough that we have to deal with Vickie on Smackdown, her and Cole on the show is just uber-annoying.

I could see Striker ending up as the RAW GM though, that would actually be AWESOME!

 

[Notorious718]

Booker has a great voice for an announcer but he's clearly not comfortable in the role yet.

My thoughts exactly. Booker has great potential to be a great announcer but he came off sounding somewhat awkward at times throughout the broadcast, most notably at the beginning. But he did start to get into it as the show went on. For his first day, he wasn't bad by any means but he wasn't wonderful. Of course, it was only the first day so I have no doubts that he will vastly improve as an announcer as the weeks go on. There's always room for improvement and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

I'm also pleased that he's been announced as a coach on Tough Enough. I've never seen the show before and having Booker on the show gives me even more of a reason to want to tune in. I'm quite excited to see what the future holds for Booker.