Should the commentators be aware of match outcomes?

["Cool Guy" Jensen]

Ok, so we all know the commentators, or commentary in general should be, or is just as important as the wrestlers themselves. Without commentary in sports, you just wouldn't have sports. They are supposed to bring "hype" to what his going on, and sometimes inform you about some history lessons and whatnot.

Now, I ask this question for a number of different reasons. Yesterday, as I read on here about how Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler continue to make errors concerning what was going on on Raw. It really caught my eye (and ear) to hear Michael Cole say, "Who will be the new Unified Tag Team Champions...? We'll find out when Raw returns."

Whether that was an actual error or not, I'm not sure. However, does this mean that Cole actually did know that DX would be losing the tag titles? If so, does this mean that all commentators are informed about every outcome? Because I hear very different reactions from very different commentators after very different matches. You don't know if the commentators know who will win each match. Even sometimes when they do, depending on who it is, they can do a great job of hiding it.

So, I want to know whether or not you think the commentators should be aware about the outcomes of each match. If they do, should they try hard enough to hide it? Or should they find out the winner the same time as the rest of the WWE Universe? I apologize for comparing WWE commnentators to sports commentators, as WWE is indeed scripted, but I was just trying to make a point. Thoughts?

 

[Phoenix]

Simple answer, no.

Commentators are there to call the action as they see them and the best reaction you get is the most instinctive. When you think of the classic moments in wrestling history like say Foley's dive off the Cell, you think of JR going "OH MY GOD, that's killed him!" or when Vince was revealed as the Higher Power "Oh son of a bitch!" If a commentator is aware of an outcome, then the hardest part is trying to cover it up when the time comes because you have to spend your time putting over the competitors in the match, yet in the end you're going "It's his time!" when you knew he's not going to win it.

Much like any commentary in any sport, the most effective means is going by what you see with the uncertainty of the outcome, they shouldn't know the outcome because if a swerve is pulled at the last minute without them knowing, they'll don't know how to respond and think it's a botched ending. The less you know, the better you can give.

 

[Mr. TM]

A while ago when there was talk of making the referees unaware of the decision of matches, I thought to myself that the announcers should also be made unaware. The biggest reason, you have made us aware of, they can slip, and blow matches by saying things that hint at a new champion, or the winner of a match. I can hardly blame them, they are in the heat of a match, and there is always a chance for a slip up, just by simple language use. Keep them unaware of the victor, and they will keep their excitement, just as the fans do.

 

[Via Armbar]

Agree with TM here. The announcers are the middlemen betweent he fans on watching on television and the action in the ring. They are just as important as the wrestlers in the match when it comes to selling whats transpiring in the ring to us. Knowing the outcome tends to influence them to say things like "wrestler X is working on the neck of wrestler Y, it will be hard for wrestler Y to hit his finisher" and then within 2 minutes the exact thing they said wouldn't happen does. To me the less they know, the less i could predict the outcome of the match.

 

[MizisAwesome]

I think it would be much better if they didn't know the outcomes. The commentary is kind of boring as it is, and they have very little emotion in their voices. The slip-ups and botches during the matches need to stop, especially when they give away the ending. The should get some new commentators, more of ESPN style commentators, and not tell them the results. The referees though, need to know the results, because there are some 2 counts that are more of a 3 1/2 count, and the refs could ruin some of the matches that way. So they announcers should be kept away from the results, and WWE should find some new commentators

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

I definitely think Eric Bischoff was onto something here when he ran WCW, since he tried this policy for the first time in Pro Wrestling ... at least first time I am aware of.

I know the commentators weren't thrilled with it, but it gave them the general sense of putting themselves as "authentic" announcers who were calling the action.

In all honesty, what good does knowing the outcome of the match do the announcers? Frankly, it's a detriment, because as we saw with Cole this week, it only can lead to fuckups like what he did when he gave away the outcome of the match when they went to commercial break.

Announcers should prepare for the matches, have backgrounds of all feuds planned, and some lines of their own down ... Vince will feed them all the rest of the lines at his own insistence. Honestly, if Vince has no faith in the announcers, he should march his ass down to ringside like he used to do and just call the action himself ... just as he did with Jesse Ventura a couple months back. I'd rather listen to him then Michael Cole anyway.

But I'm getting off topic.

I am definitely in favor of announcers NOT being made aware of the match outcomes as their commentary is likely to be more authentic and evenly balanced. If they know who is winning, they may talk up a certain talent more, which therefore the viewer wouldn't be surprised at the outcome since the commentators spent the whole match putting the winner over the whole time.

 

[Davi323]

Agreed. If the announcers know who wins, their commentary can reveal the winner ahead of time. However, if they do not know who wins, then whatever happens still retains an element of surprise to them, and therefore to the home audience.

But at the same time, I actually think the WWE announcers do NOT know the results ahead of time, I think Cole simply misspoke, as he frequently does, and was really just asking who would win the match, not necessarily revealing that there would be "new" unified champs. I mean, it's Michael Cole. We expect less of him.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

A while ago when there was talk of making the referees unaware of the decision of matches

Wow, what a stupid idea that would be, considering the refs are supposed to guide the talent through the main spots and ensure they don't overrun the matches, it would seem extremely detrimental to keep the refs in the dark. If they didn't know guys were going to cheat to win some matches, they'd blatantly just stand there and watch them do it and then go 'whoops, i wasn't supposed to see that'. Although on the other had it would help them avoid making cock ups during pin falls, but to be fair, Teddy Long and wasshisname, the one who owns The Friendly Tap bar they used to do all the APA bar fights in, they were the ones who were most guilty of fucking up match endings, and neither of them ref anymore anyway.

As for announcers, i never thought they did know the outcomes, based on JR posting blogs before nearly every PPV stating who he thinks is going to win, but then again he may be encouraged to do that by Vince, or because he's a 30 yr veteran and Vince clearly doesn't give a shit about kayfabe anymore, so he takes the initiative to help further the illusion.

Anyway, should they know? No way, they should be learning about what's going to happen as we know. They should be able to talk about fuedsboth past and present, as well as any injuries both past and present. Knowing the outcome of matches would make them seem less surprised or concerned when the talent take big risks, and they wouldn;t show anywhere near as much enthusiasm towards praising the faces and condemning the heels. The announcers should act as a liason between the fans and the talent. They should know everything there is to know about any talent in the ring at any given time, EXCEPT who's going to get the 'W'

 

[emerald phoenix]

Wow, what a stupid idea that would be, considering the refs are supposed to guide the talent through the main spots and ensure they don't overrun the matches, it would seem extremely detrimental to keep the refs in the dark. If they didn't know guys were going to cheat to win some matches, they'd blatantly just stand there and watch them do it and then go 'whoops, i wasn't supposed to see that'. Although on the other had it would help them avoid making cock ups during pin falls, but to be fair, Teddy Long and wasshisname, the one who owns The Friendly Tap bar they used to do all the APA bar fights in, they were the ones who were most guilty of fucking up match endings, and neither of them ref anymore anyway.

As for announcers, i never thought they did know the outcomes, based on JR posting blogs before nearly every PPV stating who he thinks is going to win, but then again he may be encouraged to do that by Vince, or because he's a 30 yr veteran and Vince clearly doesn't give a shit about kayfabe anymore, so he takes the initiative to help further the illusion.

Anyway, should they know? No way, they should be learning about what's going to happen as we know. They should be able to talk about fuedsboth past and present, as well as any injuries both past and present. Knowing the outcome of matches would make them seem less surprised or concerned when the talent take big risks, and they wouldn;t show anywhere near as much enthusiasm towards praising the faces and condemning the heels. The announcers should act as a liason between the fans and the talent. They should know everything there is to know about any talent in the ring at any given time, EXCEPT who's going to get the 'W'

the ref's actually dont know the outcome in the WWE..i think the most they know is if it will end clean or will be a DQ/countout.......vince made this decision when he was flip flopping over going to war with mma(a battle hes getting his ass kicked in, which is why hes on this "mma is for dumb people" so were not even competeting)......he wanted to make his product look more "real"