Jerry "The King" Lawler - The Heel Commentator?

[Prince Vee]

Ever since Mauro Ranallo made his Announcement team debut on SmackDown, Jerry had been portraying as the heel commentator. He had been consistently involving in banters with Mauro, but his continues embarrassment of Byron Saxton is unbearable. Honestly, there were a lot of critics being around Jerry being out of touch and being an awful heel commentator for a while already but it went out of extent last night on SmackDown.

During the match between Charlotte and Natalya (Which was a good technical match apparently spoiled by his commentary), he blamed Byron Saxton being "Jealous of the relationship between Charlotte and her father". He went wayward over the limits when he said "Come on Byron, you don't have a good relationship with your father. In fact when you took your first step, your father tripped you"

It doesn't seem funny does it? Is this just my verdict or you too presume the same as me that Jerry Lawler is an awful heel commentator? Let's discuss, shall we?

 

[Piss Bucket]

Jerry's always been the heel commentator though, during the Attitude era on Raw he was the Tom to Jim Ross's Jerry.

 

[TDFG]

He went wayward over the limits when he said "Come on Byron, you don't have a good relationship with your father. In fact when you took your first step, your father tripped you"

It doesn't seem funny does it? Is this just my verdict or you too presume the same as me that Jerry Lawler is an awful heel commentator?

He was a great heel commentator back in the day, I don't watch a lot of Smackdown & I haven't seen this weeks edition.

Maybe your too use to him not being a heel or maybe he's trying to hard to get over as the heel.

I can see that King is trying to make a joke, it depends on how it comes across to the viewer, I remember the legend Bobby "The Brain" Heenan coming off with stuff like "that's not illegal, it's a greco roman poke to the eye", given who he was and the relationship he had with Monsoon and the rest of his partners, he could get away with saying that type of stuff because it was a classic heel comment.

 

[MizMark11]

I'm fine with his heel commentary. I could not bear Jerry Lawler after JR left because his commentary was just so...bad. I was relieved when he was moved to SmackDown because it meant I wouldn't have to listen to him on Raw, but ever since Mauro arrived, it seems as if Jerry is really enjoying himself again. I've legitimately laughed at multiple things he's said over the last few weeks, which hasn't happened in awhile.

Depending who you are, I'm sure his comments may offend people and may not others. As for him targeting Byron, The Rock also did it on Raw, so I think that he's just going to be the punchline for a lot of jokes as a character kind of thing. As long as the talent don't mind it, I'm kind of fine with it.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I'm fine with Lawler's commentary. He's over the top, but not too over the top and I've found myself chuckling a few times, actually chuckling, at some of the stuff Lawler has said. Hell, last night, he said something that I'm sure someone could quantify, if they really tried to stretch things, as somewhat racist when he said he didn't like Kalisto and couldn't really put his finger on what it was exactly. It wasn't because he was small, it wasn't because he was fast, so that leaves the fact that he's both of Mexican descent and United States Champion. Lawler has felt more like an old school heel commentator along the lines of Bobby Heenan or Jesse Ventura, he's not as funny as they were but he manages to keep things light enough.

While he still lets a lousy joke fly every so often, it's not remotely like he normally is.

 

[James]

You know, it's sad that we've been without a heel colour commentator for so long that members from various boards I visit aye complaining about Lawler's heel banter.

I listened to his commentary during the Styles match and I simply loved it because I missed the old King. He isn't over the top laughing like he used to, he's more serious with it similar to Hennig or Jesse would portray it.

I'm all for him being that way as it makes the commentary more interesting compared to that horse manure that's present on Raw.

I begin to wonder if anyone remembers King during 95-2005, he was off the leash. How about the Brain? He'd destroy babyfaces to no tomorrow.

His jokes toward Kalisto and Byron are just that, jokes and if you can't handle them then just mute the television. I'm glad he's being able to be himself again and not some guy just collecting a check and saying random shit throughout the night.

I think the new generation is just soft and want to point the finger at everything they think is racist.

As a black man, the statement that op made reference to wasn't racist at all.

What was borderline racist was a statement king made against Ahmed Johnson during Survivor Series 95' when he said that Ahmed doesn't need a tan, etc, etc

I still chuckled but, do yourself a favour and spend 9.99 to watch some classic WWF where The Brain would say anything that made this look pg. The same for classic King.

 

[Elchicano15]

I like Jerry Lawler as the heel commentator. It's a breath of fresh air. At first I was stoked of JBL becoming the heel commentator but he's been kind of bland as of late. Maybe because the RAW team isn't as great but I like the fact that Jerry is back to his old school heel commentating on Smackdown and with Mauro's energy the chemistry they're creating is just magic. I hope we'll be seeing them in the announcers booth calling some matches at Mania. Jerry as a heel is something we needed.

Now I do think it's rather odd that he just became a heel just like that outta the blue. In the blink of an eye we started hearing him hate on Kalisto and now siding with Del Rio. Give us some kind of a story or a reason why he became heel. Not because Mauro just joined the team. Still, I'm feeling it and actually enjoying Smackdown.

 

[FromGlasgow]

I think he's arguably one of the best of all time, Difficult to picture the attitude era without hearing JR and the King's voices in the background which added to it so much, If your not into humour then I guess Lawlers commentary probably wont be productive and not serious enough for you but speaking for myself ive always enjoyed him

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

In my opinion, he's easily the greatest heel commentator of all time.

Now he's trying too hard and it doesn't come off as natural. His commentary, and basically everything in WWE, comes off as forced and scripted.

It's still a lot better than his face commentary for the last few years, and WWE has needed a good heel commentator for a while (Cole was just annoying, and JBL seems to be more of a tweener).

 

[the_peoples_adam]

Heel Jerry Lawler is the greatest commentator of all time..I love that jeery..
But how it works out in todays era needs to be assessed..

 

[OYDK]

"Come on Byron, you don't have a good relationship with your father. In fact when you took your first step, your father tripped you"

Damn, I laughed. And I didn't even watch Smackdown. It makes me ridiculously happy to see that WWE is letting Lawler do what he was best at after all these years. Having to watch him go from The King of old to The King of the last decade has been rough, especially for somebody who used to tune in to WWE partially to hear his commentary.

Just a question. What was so terrible about King saying this? I doubt Byron actually hates his dad or vice versa... I can't imagine you being around when King called Goldust a flaming ****** on live TV. Feel like it would have blown your head off your shoulders.

 

[evildicey]

I do miss the old days of a heel Jerry on commentary. I only watched the highlights for the Styles/Axel match and I did enjoy his commentary which I was shocked at because towards the end of his raw run he did sound like he was just waiting to be taken out back and put down.

Curiously, does anyone know why he stopped being the a heel commentator?

 

[The Brain]

Ever since Mauro Ranallo made his Announcement team debut on SmackDown, Jerry had been portraying as the heel commentator. He had been consistently involving in banters with Mauro, but his continues embarrassment of Byron Saxton is unbearable. Honestly, there were a lot of critics being around Jerry being out of touch and being an awful heel commentator for a while already but it went out of extent last night on SmackDown.

During the match between Charlotte and Natalya (Which was a good technical match apparently spoiled by his commentary), he blamed Byron Saxton being "Jealous of the relationship between Charlotte and her father". He went wayward over the limits when he said "Come on Byron, you don't have a good relationship with your father. In fact when you took your first step, your father tripped you"

It doesn't seem funny does it? Is this just my verdict or you too presume the same as me that Jerry Lawler is an awful heel commentator? Let's discuss, shall we?

I thought it was pretty funny. It actually got an out loud chuckle from me. I know you don't know a world without the internet but let this old man tell you a story. Before we had the internet, and twitter, and forums like this there used to be a thing called jokes. Jokes were things that weren't meant to be taken seriously. They were meant to give a quick laugh and move on.

Don't get me wrong. Of course there are some jokes that are in poor taste and probably shouldn't be told publicly if you don't know your audience but I truly can't find anything wrong with the joke you mentioned above. You just need to lighten up sometimes.

Lawler has been awful on commentary for years now. Going back to his WWF announcing roots as the heel commentator is the best thing for him. His jokes as a face just make you cringe. He never was the best commentator but he could at least be entertaining back in the 90s. I'll take that Lawler over the Lawler we've had the past few years. He's only been back in this role for a couple weeks. We'll see if he's still capable of entertaining like he used to.

Curiously, does anyone know why he stopped being the a heel commentator?

I don't know but I assume over the years fans just came to respect Lawler and since he was no longer hated by the fans he stopped ripping all the favorites. I think the turning point was when he saved JR from an attack by Tazz. Even though Lawler and Ross were never best buddies Lawler wasn't going to let some bully wrestler attack the helpless Ross. Since then they had a new respect for each other and developed a friendship. Lawler would still support the heels from time to time but it wasn't as over the top obvious.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

That WWE is going with a proper Heel commentator again is a good thing. JBL was terrible in that role, but now his "knowledgable sportscaster" style, dropping in names and references from other sports works really well for him.

Lawler wasn't the best of all time - Heenan and Ventura tie for that honour ahead of him, but Jerry was the best heel WRESTLER commentator. There is a big difference. Ventura and Heenan were both retired and removed from the in ring side of things - Heenan pretty much stopped managing to become a commentator.

Lawler in 1993-1996 was still active as a competitor, so had a unique perspective and he was scumbag in the ring to people and on the mic about them. Sure he lost more than he won, but that he could back up his boasts and beat many of the guys on the roster on any given day was a new wrinkle. Remember how he used to commentate on the Rumble until his number came up and then get in the ring?

Once Attitude came in then fans came to love his enthusiasms for "Puppies" and his "lecherous old man" persona, suddenly he wasn't a bad guy any more, he was a fun guy and that persona stuck for a long time... people liked Jerry because he was clearly loving what he did... then he had the heart attack and saved Michael Cole's career as well.

Going back to it with him is a tryout for the position, rather than him being the guy. In fact, the guy most likely to take over is Wade Barrett... I can see him still remaining active, but picking his battles carefully... King Barrett vs Jerry "The King" with the loser having to leave WWE and the winner getting the permanent gig on Smackdown seems like a pretty smart way to give Jerry a send off and replace him. Wouldn't be much of a match now granted... but all it really needs to be is a League Of Nations screwjob, Bullhammer and bye bye Jerry... and it wouldn't be sad or disrespectful either.

Everything Jerry has had since his death experience has been a bonus, it's very cool he's getting to revisit his old self, but let's not keep it going too long...

 

[Piss Bucket]

That WWE is going with a proper Heel commentator again is a good thing. JBL was terrible in that role, but now his "knowledgable sportscaster" style, dropping in names and references from other sports works really well for him.

Lawler wasn't the best of all time - Heenan and Ventura tie for that honour ahead of him, but Jerry was the best heel WRESTLER commentator. There is a big difference. Ventura and Heenan were both retired and removed from the in ring side of things - Heenan pretty much stopped managing to become a commentator.

Lawler in 1993-1996 was still active as a competitor, so had a unique perspective and he was scumbag in the ring to people and on the mic about them. Sure he lost more than he won, but that he could back up his boasts and beat many of the guys on the roster on any given day was a new wrinkle. Remember how he used to commentate on the Rumble until his number came up and then get in the ring?

Once Attitude came in then fans came to love his enthusiasms for "Puppies" and his "lecherous old man" persona, suddenly he wasn't a bad guy any more, he was a fun guy and that persona stuck for a long time... people liked Jerry because he was clearly loving what he did... then he had the heart attack and saved Michael Cole's career as well.

Going back to it with him is a tryout for the position, rather than him being the guy. In fact, the guy most likely to take over is Wade Barrett... I can see him still remaining active, but picking his battles carefully... King Barrett vs Jerry "The King" with the loser having to leave WWE and the winner getting the permanent gig on Smackdown seems like a pretty smart way to give Jerry a send off and replace him. Wouldn't be much of a match now granted... but all it really needs to be is a League Of Nations screwjob, Bullhammer and bye bye Jerry... and it wouldn't be sad or disrespectful either.

Everything Jerry has had since his death experience has been a bonus, it's very cool he's getting to revisit his old self, but let's not keep it going too long...

League of Nations screwjob to Jerry Lawler? No, for the love of God, no! It's bad enough Barrett and Sheamus aligned with Mr Overrated himself, Alberto Del Rio, and the fat Belgian who does 3 moves in the first place IMHO.

 

[Hyorinmaru]

I hate it with a passion.

Like I thought back when Cole was heel a commentator should not be a full blown heel. Their job is to get the viewer immersed in the match.

Last week I tuned in to watch Smackdown for the first because I like AJ Styles. The entire episode all I heard was King and the new guy go back and forth with King throwing insults my 4 year old nephew would find childish and stupid. Totally took me away from the entire show. Outside AJ Styles beating Curtis Axel I can't for the life of me think what else was on the show and I blame King.

Like when Cole was heel on RAW I will not be watching Smackdown while King is heel.

 

[BillAlfonsos_Whistle]

It's time for the King to retire.
Not because he's "lost it" or sucks or anything...but because he doesn't fit the product of today. That is to say the watered down shit commentary that highlights anything and everything but the ACTUAL WRESTLING MATCHES. It's horrendous. JBL knows how to tap dance around being a heel commentators but it's repetitive and terrible. Thus it fits the repetitive and terrible weekly product. Simple as that.

 

[c71score]

Let Ranallo and Lawler call it alone and it would be a great pair. Some of us fans like it called like a sport. Thats what made Ventura, Heyman, Cornette, 90s Lawler, and Heenan so great. They had Ross, Schiavone, and Monsoon to balance the sports and entertainment.