Lawler should become a Heel commentator again

[jayteeERA]

I read a lot of threads about commentators. But about 10 years ago Jerry Lawler was more entertaining to listen 2 as a heel commentator. He defended the heels and bash the face.

It sickens me today that a heel like Orton do heel tactics and Lawler would bash him for it. But 10 years ago a heel wrestler like HHH would do the same thing and Lawler would defend him. Vice versa with faces he use to bash them and laugh when they were hurt, now he acts concern which I find very out of his character. I though Lawler was going back to his old was when he defended a heel Matt Hardy during a match with the broken hand but I was wrong.


I know what some ppl are gonna say.
1.Lawler running for mayor or something (not sure) and not a good look.
2.Vince has control over the commentators on what to say.

On raw I can put up with some of lame comic relief but they couldn't even compared that to the old Lawler commentating. IMO I think the old Lawler gave heel wrestlers more heat back then.

What do you all think?

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

Actually if you remember it was only a couple years ago when he was still defending heels like Chris Masters... There was even an episode where he called himself out for supporting heels. This was obviously after he'd gone face supporter.

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

I'd definitely like to hear Lawler go heel again. Coincidentally I was watching The Rock's "Electrifying..." DVD last night and Lawler bashing The Rock coupled with JR supporting him added an extra dimension to the matches which is lacking in the WWE just now. Striker is trying to do something similar on SmackDown at the moment but he comes across as too condescending to not only the fans but to Todd Grisham as well, whereas Lawler was almost more childish in his retorts which garnered more heat as JR wouldn't stoop to that level.

I'd much prefer to hear Lawler doing his old laugh whenever Orton punts anyone for instance and come up with zingers rather than just join Michael Cole with their sombre tones whenever anyone gets hurt. I doubt this will actually happen but it would be good to hear Lawler return to that mode and start to turn on Cole for over-using 'Vintage.'

 

[MizMark]

I'd definitely like to hear Lawler go heel again. Coincidentally I was watching The Rock's "Electrifying..." DVD last night and Lawler bashing The Rock coupled with JR supporting him added an extra dimension to the matches which is lacking in the WWE just now. Striker is trying to do something similar on SmackDown at the moment but he comes across as too condescending to not only the fans but to Todd Grisham as well, whereas Lawler was almost more childish in his retorts which garnered more heat as JR wouldn't stoop to that level.
I'd much prefer to hear Lawler doing his old laugh whenever Orton punts anyone for instance and come up with zingers rather than just join Michael Cole with their sombre tones whenever anyone gets hurt. I doubt this will actually happen but it would be good to hear Lawler return to that mode and start to turn on Cole for over-using 'Vintage.'

I agree, Lawler was far more entertaining as a heel, although I realise that the WWE product has changed and maybe it is in their best interests to have it like it is for PG programming.

Striker does a good job whenever I hear him, but he can come across as cocky some of the time with his 'facts', whereas Lawler as you point out was very childish in how he came across. He's still a little childish now, only as a face instead.

 

[Dre Guevara]

I gotta agree with U's guys, Jerry Lawler IS better as a heel commentator, since Bobby Heenan left years ago, no other commentator even comes close, well except maybe Jim Cornette back in the days of the Crockett promotion.
the only one that EVEN comes close 2 day is Booker T when he did the "Black Snow" personality on TNA, the voice alone was hilarious.

 

[thepalaceprince]

I agree completely king was alot better as a heel. It made matches more fun I think its part of the reason smackdown is better right now. I love the banter between striker and grisham and altho striker is cocky it makes people hate him more which also makes people hate the wrestlers he supports.

 

[J-Wunn]

Lawler for heels all the way! I was just thinking about that the other night while watching some older WWE DVDs and Lawler would have me laughin out loud as opposed to now. Now I just kinda smirk.

Raw needs it honestly in my opinion. I find myself drawn to Smackdown more due to Lawler's face turn & the whole guest host thing has its moments (I attended the Bob Barker episode), but at the same time, I feel like Raw is being '****ed' out.

 

[JGlass]

Being a good heel commentator is a very rare gift it seems. To be honest, I can't think of anyone besides Lawler, and maybe Jesse Ventura, who can really pull it off.

In my opinion, the heel commentator needs to make you hate the heel even more and make you laugh at their obvious hypocrisy. Matt Striker is the only real heel commentator right now, and he doesn't manage to do this. While I appreciate his vast knowledge of wrestling, I find him more likely to annoy me than anger me. JBL was a better in his short run as commentator, mostly because he was already established as a heel wrestler, but even he I found to be lacking a certain something that made me appreciate his heel announcing skills.

The King has been a good heel commentator in the past, but can he pull it off now? His quality of announcing has declined in recent years, even sinking as low as to needing a cheat sheet about Smackdown and ECW wrestlers. Additionally, he is sitting alongside an even weaker announcer in Michael Cole, whom has a better knowledge of what's going on around the WWE, but is not as entertaining or seasoned as Lawler.

I have pondered the possibility of making Lawler a heel commentator in the past, and I have gone back and forth on it. In light of recent events, such as JR's leave of absence, the pairing of Lawler and Cole, and Lawler's decrease in ability, I'm going to have to disagree with you and say that Lawler should not turn heel. I think having him defend a couple heel's, like he did with Matt Hardy when he had the cast, would certainly be good, and even amusing, but I have my doubts that Lawler could carry a full fledged heel commentator role.

 

[unique.enigma.666]

I agree completely. Its great watching the WWE DVD's and they've got matches off of the Attitude Era and you hear The King as a heel commentator. I like Striker as a heel commentator but hes nowhere near as good at being a heel than The King or even JBL. He has incredible mic skills but his heel side is lacking a bit. As for King, a combo of a nerdy goody two shoes in Cole and a heel King would be great.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

I would also like to see the King become a heel commentator again, I personally loved him as a heel commentator (Especially after the match and he used the teleprompter to draw on the faces and make fun of them) and I feel even as a heel he did a great job of putting over both the face and the heel (he always made fun of Bret Hart and Diesel, but he always put him over while doing it) which is very hard to do for commentators these days, but Lawler made it look easy.

Even though I would like to see Lawler a heel commentator again, his real problem is he just sounds so fake and robotic these days (obviously not Lawlers fault) you can just tell when he talks he's reading off a script (or someone is constantly screaming in his ear). Lawler's a sharp guy all he needs is a few bulletpoints and he'll be fine as a face or heel, but all in all he was absolute gold as a heel commentator and I would love for him to be one again.

 

[mral82]

the King as a heel commentators will never........ever happen agan as he's the one who sticks up for the divas or gets beat down by a up'n'comin heel as in Orton, Carlito, & Sheamus/ Santino or The Masterpiece when the was heel but him goin to back to a full blown heel commentator won't happen. I loved when Striker got onto Lawler and Cole.

 

[sukhbirsl]

Definitely. I loved Lawler as a heel. I also think they should replace Michael Cole with Matt Striker (who is imo one of the greatest commentators today) or maybe even put all three of them together in a show (or two). I would love to hear them debate about the wrestlers as heels and faces because their opinions would be so different.

 

[goodlay]

I've been watching a lot of Attitude and Post-Attitude Era matches lately and that was the main thing that struck me. I forgot how great Lawler was as a heel commentator. He's so believable as a heel, and the things he says to defend the heel wrestlers are just hysterical. I think a big problem is just Lawler being with Cole though. At least give us JR/Lawler as a team, they have such great chemistry together. Another problem with Lawler is that without his heel gimmick, he's forced into a pure analyst role, which he is not good at. Lawler was never the guy to give insightful comments on the match ala Matt Stryker.

JR/Lawler with Lawler as a heel and JR being the voice of reason was just pure gold though. They easily go down as one of the best teams ever, in a class with teams like Monsoon/Ventura and Monsoon/Heenan.

 

[Da Prophet]

King as a heel com is Awesome.When he and JR would fight over orton and how jerry said he had model looks and he was golden JR always shut him do on how orton held onto the IC title and how shit he was.It was great to hear them fight.

Thats just me!

 

[Dagger Dias]

I know what some ppl are gonna say.
1.Lawler running for mayor or something (not sure) and not a good look.
2.Vince has control over the commentators on what to say.

It's the 2nd choice in my opinion. Vince should let someone who he trusts be the announcer. If the guy is talented enough to be in that position, and Vince trusts him to not mess up too much or say anything controversial, then he wouldn't have to feed them lines. Lawler doesn't suck because he's a face, he sucks because the lines aren't him.

On raw I can put up with some of lame comic relief but they couldn't even compared that to the old Lawler commentating. IMO I think the old Lawler gave heel wrestlers more heat back then.

What do you all think?

I disagree there. I'm sure many others will disagree with me as well, but I don't like heel commentators. There. I said it.

When I watch wrestling and hear the commentators, it's sort of like listening to someone sitting there watching it with you. Hold on, let me finish. Now.... would you rather sit and watch wrestling with two friends who are usually in agreement but sometimes argue a little, or two bitter rivals who argue over EVERYTHING when one of them is calling the other a wimp or a loser and the other is called a jerk? I would be too busy telling them to shut up instead of being able to enjoy the match. A heel can get heel heat even from a face announcer if the announcer says things like "How terrible, why would he stoop so low?", etc. That being said.... Tweener announcers aren't a bad idea. They can side with the face announcer and sometimes disagree with them.

However.... in Lawler's case.... I think he should remain the way he is, but he should not be fed lines by Vince. Even if they turned him heel again people would still complain because Vince would still be telling him what to say, this wouldn't solve the problem. Letting him talk for himself might.

 

[HitmanAndRKO4Life]

I was just watching "The Rise and Fall of WCW" a few nights ago and when I heard Bobby "The Brain" Heenan doing commentary as a heel, I just loved it. When "The King" was a heel he was hilarious also. Loved the skits with himself and Brian Christopher. He'd be denying that that was his son but at the same time he'd be throwing compliments at him. I miss those days.

Now we have to deal with the robotic, repetitive Michael Cole and a neutered Lawler.

 

[jayteeERA]

I understand where you coming from Dias, I really do. I understand that the wwe has change over the years. But to me it has always been about the little things like Lawlers commentating. He has changed his ways and i m sure Vince is part of it. He can still get excited from the divas but when heels like swagger or the miz do heel tactics he puts them down. Now I say Swagger and Miz becuz if they were in the attitude ERA, Lawler would be praising them like crazy. Don't get me wrong he has the right to be concern when a heel hurts a face. But aleast be concern when a heel is about to set a face on fire or a face is seriously injured.

Now say what you want Lawler gave heels heat and it was funny. He would call fans idiots if there were chanting "you suck" or "ass hole" to heels like Kurt Angle or Vince. Sure J.R or Cole would say "How terrible, why would he stoop so low. Lawler would replied "What! Terrible! That was pure genius" with a nice heel laugh.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Now say what you want Lawler gave heels heat and it was funny. He would call fans idiots if there were chanting "you suck" or "ass hole" to heels like Kurt Angle or Vince. Sure J.R or Cole would say "How terrible, why would he stoop so low. Lawler would replied "What! Terrible! That was pure genius" with a nice heel laugh.

True.... That version of Lawler leaned toward being a tweener sometimes. I actually like tweener announcers the best because you don't always know what they are going to say, and they don't resort to being rude to their announcing partners (Like JBL towards Cole).... and I do agree that attitude era Lawler was great.

I still stand by my statement though that Lawler turning heel would still be bad if he can't be himself. The problem is with Vince making up most of the lines. Lawler, if he can just be himself, would be great as either a face or a heel because he's had the job long enough to know how to do it perfectly, plus he was very good at it before the Vince line-feed situation became an issue.

 

[VintageWWE]

I am for a heel turn for Lawler. I believe that a heel commentator can help bring heat to heels. It's boring hearing Cole and Lawler say the same thing about everyone. At least Lawler can occasionally side with some heels even if he doesn't have a heel turn. It's not like Vince actually lets Cole call the match like a real wrestling match anyway. I don't mind some argument in the background while I watch the match, better then hearing stupid jokes and the occasional couple seconds of silence. I got to say I don't remember there being as much silence as there is now. JR and Cole use to call everything if King and Tazz isn't talking, no it's like they are exchanging stares to decide who should say something.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

What you have to remember about heel Lawler is that he didn't have the PG era to restrain him from what he could and could not say. We won't be hearing him say "puppies" anymore or some of the other "push the envelope" stuff he used to say. Him being a heel commentator now would just be a watered down version of what we used to know.

I have no problem with how Jerry Lawler is now. I still think he's entertaining, and is able to throw in some funny punchlines during a Raw broadcast every now and then. Sure Cole/Lawler might not be as great as Ross/Lawler was in their prime, but they're not bad either.

 

[hArdyPUNKmArk]

The Lawler of old was a great heel commentator but now times have changed and we're stuck with his bland old commentating beside Cole. The King and JR should never have been broken up, I think Lawler's gotten worse since the breakup.

To be honest I don't know if Lawler has it in him to turn fully heel. I think he's too comfortable in his cushy face role at the moment. To see an old heel Lawler would be great, but I don't see it happening.

 

[Tastycles]

People confuse "heel" with "good". Listen to Lawler's performances immediately before he started his journey to facedom and you hear a whingey, irritating and stale performer. If he turned now, you could probably expect much of the same.

Just because someone is a heel and someone else is a face doesn't give them instant chemistry in the booth, and it doesn't mean the broadcast will be better. People remember Heenan and Ventura, rightfully, because they were so good with their partners, and happened to be heel. A quick watch of Vintage Collection shows that there was also a large swaithe of shit duos then too. Even JR and Heenan weren't very good together. What needs to be found is chemistry, and Lawler doesn't have that with Cole. That being said, few people have had chemistry with Cole on their own, he is more of a three man team man, and perhaps that is the problem.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

People confuse "heel" with "good". Listen to Lawler's performances immediately before he started his journey to facedom and you hear a whingey, irritating and stale performer. If he turned now, you could probably expect much of the same.

Just because someone is a heel and someone else is a face doesn't give them instant chemistry in the booth, and it doesn't mean the broadcast will be better. People remember Heenan and Ventura, rightfully, because they were so good with their partners, and happened to be heel. A quick watch of Vintage Collection shows that there was also a large swaithe of shit duos then too. Even JR and Heenan weren't very good together. What needs to be found is chemistry, and Lawler doesn't have that with Cole. That being said, few people have had chemistry with Cole on their own, he is more of a three man team man, and perhaps that is the problem.

And nor was a Face Lawler all that great with a Face Jim Ross. It was absolutely stale as they've been doing it for far too long.

However maybe what Raw needs is a whiny Heel. Who says "whiny" is necessarily bad? If they can't find anyone better than Lawler to put in the booth, then I would suggest that a Heel turn would definitely be in order.

But we all know that Tastycles likes his wrestling realistic, so that would be a "no no" ... because it would "take away his focus from the action in the ring, and would be distracting to him".

You can not honestly say that Lawler as a Heel wouldn't be more entertaining than the Lawler of today who adds absolutely nothing to the broadcast.

Controversy creates cash, Tastycles. A controversial broadcast makes for a more interesting broadcast. And I agree with you that JR and Heenan were not as good together as Heenan and Monsoon. Heenan and Vince were also not as good together. But the Face/Heel concept still was more entertaining to a broadcast than the Face Play by Play/Analyst concept, which quite frankly, is boring.

 

[Tastycles]

And nor was a Face Lawler all that great with a Face Jim Ross. It was absolutely stale as they've been doing it for far too long.

Yes. That relationship had reached the end of its shelf life.

However maybe what Raw needs is a whiny Heel. Who says "whiny" is necessarily bad? If they can't find anyone better than Lawler to put in the booth, then I would suggest that a Heel turn would definitely be in order.

It's bad because it's irritating to have someone shout "Get him, Test!" about 500 times, especially if they have Jerry Lawler's voice. If you are entertained by that, good for you, but I like a bit more intelligence to the performance.

But we all know that Tastycles likes his wrestling realistic, so that would be a "no no" ... because it would "take away his focus from the action in the ring, and would be distracting to him".

Can you read? I haven't ever said anything distracting about in ring competition. It's a sad fact that you are so inept at engaging anyone in convorsation that you have to invent opinions that they have to try and gain a foothold. Give yourself a big pat on the back for arguing a point that nobody made.

Oh, and for somebody who makes threads criticising other people's grammar, you might want to learn how to use quotation marks. If I didn't say it, it isn't a quote.

You can not honestly say that Lawler as a Heel wouldn't be more entertaining than the Lawler of today who adds absolutely nothing to the broadcast.

I don't think it'd make a difference. Lawler is over the hill. Maybe, for a short period, the fact that it was new may make a difference, but ultimately no, I would have no long term change of opinion. Lawler was crap towards the end of his heel run, is crap now, and I have no doubt he'd be crap again.

Controversy creates cash, Tastycles. A controversial broadcast makes for a more interesting broadcast.

What's controversial about an old man shouting "get him!"? That's how you use quotation marks, by the way.

And I agree with you that JR and Heenan were not as good together as Heenan and Monsoon. Heenan and Vince were also not as good together. But the Face/Heel concept still was more entertaining to a broadcast than the Face Play by Play/Analyst concept, which quite frankly, is boring.

There were plenty of crap heel/face ones too, you just don't remember them. You have surely noticed that Grisham/Striker and even Cole/Tazz were much better than Cole/Lawler? It is not blanketly the fault of analysists, but a lack of chemistry in the booth.

I agree that the commentary now is by and large not as good as it was 20 years ago, but that is because there are more commentators, more teams, more shows. If Grisham and Striker were the only commentary team, there wouldn't be a problem.

Personally, rather than change Lawler, I'd put a third man in there full time. That way you can have heel, face, analyst which is what was the norm on Nitro, and in WWE programming for most of its history. Three men get chemistry a lot easier.

I don't know why people cream their pants over heel commentators so much, especially when all you have to do to find a shit one is look in the editorial section of this website.

 

[Suneeboy]

Tastycles, you make very valid points but the OP and other make a valid point about the Lawler character. He is stale and needs some freshening up. If they aren't going to take him out of the booth he needs to do something about his commentary. A heel turn may be just what the doctor ordered.

Based off how things play out on television I have drawn the conclusion that Vince doesn't like to admit when he is wrong. JR and King had run its course, but King and Cole is a failed experiment. He's reluctant to admit this by making changes or adding Striker as a permanent fixture, and the commentary becomes more boring with each passing week. I say it has crossed the line of boring and has become annoying, most notably when it comes to calling John Cena matches or putting over "surprises" that occur on the show.

There is no one who puts the heels over as a credible threat, nor is there anyone who puts the heels over as doing what is necessary to win. The commentary is cookie cutter, and forced. We are told who to cheer for and who to boo which is not entertaining. We should be given a choice, and there should be a constant struggle between the good guys and the bad guys. Not only in the ring, but in the booth as well.

King as a face has run its course. He is boring, stale, and has lost all charisma. He sounds like a dad who hasn't seen his kids in years trying to relate to them and act like he hasn't been gone for the last 10 years of their life. A heel turn may not be the ultimate answer, but it is a change and a change is needed.