Could TNA Use Different Announcers?

[Calderownz]

Obviously, Mike Tenay knows his stuff. And Taz can be very funny at times. However, Taz seems like just another WWE reject and Tenay isn't one for... EXCITEMENT to say the least.

So, my question is obviously simple. Do you think TNA could use some different announcers. Sometimes, I'll watch TNA programming and I just can't get into the finishes of matches. Sometimes, it's the finish itself. And sometimes, I feel that the story of the match is just not being told too well.

So...

- Do you think TNA should pursue different announcers?

- Who do you think might have a good chance of getting the job done?

 

[Kidd]

I love Taz as an announcer.

I could do without Tenay though. I remember hearing rumors of Jim Ross coming to TNA and being very excited at this prospect.

Jim Ross is the best announcer I've ever heard and it's a shame that he's not behind the announcer's table right now. I realize his health may be keeping him away but that still doesn't change the fact that JR is ten times the announcer than anyone in the business.

 

[Jeritron5000]

I wouldn't really consider Taz a WWE reject. I mean...if I'm not mistaken he was quite a successful announcer on Smackdown and left on his own accord. I legitimately think Taz and JR together would have given TNA a ridiculous credibility boost in terms of how their product is perceived upon viewing. Tenay...I don't know. He does know his stuff and the diehards love him, but he doesn't do much for me. I think they would be much better off if they could convince Mick Foley, or somehow convince JBL, to get on board.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

I've never been a huge Mikey Tenay fan, but I would call him servicable. He knows his stuff, that's for sure (a whole lot more than Mitchell Cole). Is he a great play-by-play guy? No, not really. He's not J.R. He's not Gorilla Monsoon. I wouldn't even say he's better than Schiavone. But if he's paired with a decent color guy (like when Schiavone had Heenan), he can get by. I would say replace him if you can find someone better, but I doubt that's possible.

Taz bothers me, always has. He isn't funny, and I honestly think he's rather stupid (yes, actually dumb). He fumbles his words, says the wrong thing, and isn't funny..at all. I like him more than Don West, but I also like a hole in the stomach more than Don West. If I were TNA, I would always be on the lookout for someone better. Is there anyone inside the company right now who could do a better job? Flair probably, but he's busy. If Kevin Nash retires from in-ring action as a heel, he could do a good job I believe. Free agents? Possibly JBL, but I'm not sure he would take the job. I've always hoped William Regal would do color commentary after his in-ring career is over, but I'm not sure he would go to TNA.

I just don't like the duo of Taz and Tenay. Tenay can get annoying, but he knows his shit. Taz is just..annoying and basically worthless, IMO. TNA could definitely benefit from a better commentary duo.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I used to be a big fan of Tenay in the earlier days of TNA, but I am starting find him irritating. His annoying facial expressions and exxageration of every minor thing that happens on iMPACT is a bit grating. He does know his stuff though, thats why he known as "The Professor"

The perfect commentator for TNA at this time, especially now they have EV2.0 storyline going, would be ECW's own Joey Styles. Sadly, this will not be happening as Joey has a cushy job in the WWE office running the website, so he would probably earn alot more doing that that coming to TNA for the commentating gig

OH MY GOD!

 

[Megadeth]

I dont think Tenay and Taz should be replaced, per se, but I think they should add someone and use a 3 man team instead. Taz is great on color, and Tenay is great as a historian, but I dont feel either are particularly great at the actual play by play. I think keeping them, and adding someone like, hypothetically speaking, Joey Styles or Jim Ross, or even Tony Schiavone, to handle the actual calling of the matches would make a huge difference for TNA.

 

[reed214]

Tenay is 43% why i can not watch TNA and taz is just mediocre. if they could get joey styles and JBL (if you dont think he is good than go back and watch all the smackdown dvds again), then that would be a huuuge upgrade. J.R ofcourse would be the best possible option followed by Schiavone but too bad that wont happen. one could think with *if* J.R went to tna one of the greatest duos could be put back together with King (wouldnt be hard for J.R to get King out of WWE)

 

[jhauth11]

i think TNA's announce team has always been sub par, Taz is a great play by play and makes me crack up with some of his comments but i think tenay is starting to get towords the end of his rope and maybe a new fresh guy should take over or someone like JB

 

[wiKid hoRse]

I have been watching some old ECW dvd's and I think Cyrus would make a excellent colour commentator alongside Tenay. You could keep Taz as a special comments type guy (they do it all the time with Aussie Rules football telecasts, have your set guys call the game and an ex player for special comments). Cyrus comes off as a great heel (underrated imho). He is smart and quick witted enough to both pipe in with comments and insults. He has previously worked with TNA (though as a manager).

 

[Vintage]

Seems to me Taz gets on Tenay's nerves in a way Don West never did. It hurts the product overall. They do best when they have a special guest and I still think TNA missed the ball to bring something different to the table with 3 commentators for their weekly show. You have all the elements with Taz, Tenay and West to have a pretty entertaining broadcast. Tenay can do what he does and West and Taz can go back and forth with the jokes.

 

[ABMorales787]

I like them. They feel more natural and spontaneous when they speak. But on occasion, they drift too far off. Currently, on Xplosion Taz works with Jeremy Borash instead of Tenay. Borash is a better play-by-play guy, but he sounds bland and comes off as lacking in personality. I'd say Taz just talks too much and JB can't keep up the humor, but yes, TNA should look into other guys as commentators. I once stretched the idea of Hulk Hogan working as color commentator, but that's pretty out of reach due to his current role. Other guys like Stevie Richards, Al Snow and Mick Foley are good options.

 

[Rammsteinerteen]

If they could hire JBL, JR, Mick Foley, Joey Styles and Mark Madden (JUST KIDDING!!!). Then I would think, whoever they pair, would be good. I don't care what anybody says, but I hate Taz's commentary. I hated it in WWE, and for some reason, it got worse in TNA. He's useless, commentary is not right for him. He's a great wrestler, but thats done for him. Mike Tenay used to be tied for me when it came for JR and Joey Styles back in the day. He was a large portion of why I watched WCW. And he made me love TNA earlier in there years. Now he's so boring. I could care less about him also. He's not exciting anymore. So it would be great to change both.

 

[Mr. Artistic guy]

yeah I was watching JB do the commentary on xplosion and whilst him and tazz didnt have any chemistry in the slightest he himself was pretty good, id mark him as good as tenay right now based on his performance and he has a long time to improve so.....

Only problem like I said you may have to replace tazz as well cos the two guys really dont have any chemistry together

 

[Navi]

Both of them are fair under the circumstances,

Tenay to me is the worst of the two, and could be replaced in a second. I'll give the guy props for knowing what he's talking about but other than that no. He can get off my TV at any time.

I like Taz but he needs someone a a little more exciting to work with. Tenay in my eyes brings both of them down. The thing that pisses me off more than anything else, is the way that they don't sell big moves and of course the fact that TNA loves to go "straight to the back" after each match. It totally cuts out any comment either of them would make.

Jim Ross will never come to TNA, I think at some point he posted it on his blog that he was a WWE guy through an through. Shame about the Bell's Palsy and wasn't that the reason he had to quit? Something to do with the constant travel. TNA would be good for him as it's based in one location, but I just don't see him doing it, too loyal to Vince McMahon.

 

[DangerousDave]

TNA needs a new announce team, the current team isn't exciting or entertaining at all. Tenay has good wrestling knowledge, but lacks any excitement or sense of humor whatsoever. Taz is the one that irritates me. He thinks hes funny, but hes not. I would say the lame to funny joke ratio is about 90% lame to 10% funny. He fumbles his lines all the time. I think this is due to a lack of reading and organizational skills, he is always looking at his notes and flipping pages when the camera isn't on him. (I see this in the Impact Zone.) The chemistry just doesn't seem to be there, Tenay seems irritated with Taz and his lame comments. They seem to be uncomfortable with each other and just don't come off as a coherent team.

The best announce team in the history of wrestling was Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. These guys could make the shittiest match entertaining. Bobby was the funny one, but Monsoon had a great sense of humor and could go toe to toe with "The Brain" anytime. Heenan loved to crack on jobbers while Monsoon would defend them, so even a low card match held your attention. I don't think their chemistry or talent will ever be duplicated.

The most entertaining announce team is a face/heel team. TNA has two guys in the company right now that I think could pull this off. Jeremy Borash does a great job of play by play on Xplosion and the guy has a good sense of humor. Mick Foley, one of the better promo guys in the business, would make a good color guy. Foley has a subtle sense of humor and the wrestling experience to be a great heel. If they started off confrontational I think they could play that up and make an entertaining and funny announce team. Switch Tenay to Xplosion with Taz, I think that team is more suitable for the foreign markets. No one looses their job and TNA's premier show gets a better announce team.

 

[shattered dreams]

This comes up a somewhat surprising amount because to me it is more of a minor occasional annoyance opposed to an obvious problem. I'll jump on the Taz bothers me from time to time bandwagon though. There are some things he says that I think are absolutely a detriment to the program, how he calls KO matches, OJ matches and other random things he says that are way out of place. On Xplosion he and Borash are oil and water. The clash of styles fails miserably. I would love Foley to do some broadcasts with Borash though. The styles match and wit might be what we are missing. That might be more of a smark broadcast team though. Taz brings a lot of good stuff behind the scenes, but I hope this last thursday was a tease of him going away from the announce table, or transitioning to playing a full character on the mic, instead of just being himself and calling a good match. Maybe Tenay goes heel and becomes less boring in peoples eyes. One important thing to remember is that the job Tenay does is much harder than people realize. It is almost impossible to just insert random wrestler into that role.

 

[Kidd]

One announcer who would make an easy transition from color to play by play is Matt Striker IMO.

If TNA could get him and pair him with Foley doing color commentary, it'd be golden.

 

[Joe's Gonna Kill You]

They are not the Best announcers ever but I certainly don't think that they are horrible. Taz can be a bit annoying with some of the dumb things he says but I think he's tolerable, Mike Tenay is decent. I think there are more important issues that TNA needs to fix before the announcing needs fixing.

 

[goodlay]

They are not the Best announcers ever but I certainly don't think that they are horrible. Taz can be a bit annoying with some of the dumb things he says but I think he's tolerable, Mike Tenay is decent. I think there are more important issues that TNA needs to fix before the announcing needs fixing.

Joe hit the nail right on the head here. Sure, the announcing isn't anything amazing, but it's serviceable, and that's all that you really need.

Having a great like JR in the booth would have been great, but it isn't necessary. Tenay does a solid job at calling the action, and Taz is a decent analyst. They seem to have pretty solid chemistry, and with way bigger issues right now in TNA, I really doubt to see any announcing changes in the near future.

 

[SpecialFNK]

I think Cyrus would make a excellent colour commentator

Miley? Billy Ray? I'm just kidding.

personally I don't really pay a lot of attention to the announcing. if TNA was to replace one or both, do they simply get fired? assigned somewhere else? do they ahve to have some type of angle to get them off TV? maybe now with Hogan/Bischoff in charge could be a time when either one of them make a change at announcing?

 

[Chrome]

Why isn't anyone stating other talents they already have? Like Raven? Once this EV 2 thing is done I can totally see Raven doing this. His style of speech, and mannerisms might transend well to announcing. I mean TNA is doing nothing else with him.

I do think they need 3 people if they keep Tenay in the fold. he has a lot of knowledge and has been there since the begining in TNA, I just think they need one odd ball in the mix to make things interesting.. I think Raven would be that guy.

 

[SpecialFNK]

mr.lance mentioned this in another thread, but what about Tony Schiavone? he was an announcer in WCW. I don;t pay a lot of attention to announcers, but I do remember him and I think he was good.

 

[TheTheDude]

Mike Tenay has always been one of the reasons I can't fully embrace TNA's product. It's not high on the list of things, (ie burying homegrown talent at the expense of a well known name is number one, Jeff Jarret is number two) but its still there. Tenay used to annoy the crap out of me on Nitro--especially when they used to have those lucha libre matches and he would come off as he was the only one who could name the moves... though to be fair around this time WWE didn't have high spots and Joey Styles was still saying Hunan-con-rana.

There are plenty of people TNA could get instead of the team they have now. Tazz is not bad on Color, but any former wrestler who can talk is a good color guy. Rick Rude, Jesse Ventura, Jerry Lawler, JBL, Foley, all have been good color guys. The problem is the Play by Play. The play by play guy doesn't have to be a name. Gordon Solie and Jim Ross didn't get their jobs because they were involved in wrestling, they got them because they were good at play by play. Get someone who is good at pbp and they can become a star in the wrestling world

 

[wrestlemaniaxxx]

Mike Tenay has always been one of the reasons I can't fully embrace TNA's product. It's not high on the list of things, (ie burying homegrown talent at the expense of a well known name is number one, Jeff Jarret is number two) but its still there. Tenay used to annoy the crap out of me on Nitro--especially when they used to have those lucha libre matches and he would come off as he was the only one who could name the moves... though to be fair around this time WWE didn't have high spots and Joey Styles was still saying Hunan-con-rana.

There are plenty of people TNA could get instead of the team they have now. Tazz is not bad on Color, but any former wrestler who can talk is a good color guy. Rick Rude, Jesse Ventura, Jerry Lawler, JBL, Foley, all have been good color guys. The problem is the Play by Play. The play by play guy doesn't have to be a name. Gordon Solie and Jim Ross didn't get their jobs because they were involved in wrestling, they got them because they were good at play by play. Get someone who is good at pbp and they can become a star in the wrestling world

Problem with Tenay is passion. He doesn't have it anymore. His comments sound old. His play by play is boring. He doesn't have the OMG factor. Waiting on todays IMPACT! I read the spoilers and it is better than last week.

 

[JoonDaGr8One]

I know i'm in the minority in this but i don't have a problem with either guy but i do believe they tend to not pay attention to what's going on in the ring if its not a main eventer out there. But WCW used to do this and this is basically WCWlite. Taz is funny to me i don't know why but he is and tenay is ok, i don't need much from the announcers but to tell what's going on in the ring and let me know who the new guy is. I'm simple like that.