Mike "Bland" Tenay

[Evenflow DDT]

Finally saw the Tag Title match at Turning Point between Team 3D and the MCMGs. A really great match. There was only 1 down side to me. Mike Tenay!!! The man is a walking encyclopedia which is great for play by play but the man has NO emotion.

I watched as D'Von kicked out of Skull & Bones, Sabin Kicked out of 3D, and then Bubba getting pinned to "end?" The Dudleys careers. Now I'm no play by play expert but shouldn't Tenay have reacted just a little???

I think back to all the play by play guys i watch growing up. Vince McMahon, Tony Schiavone, Joey Styles, and Good 'Ol JR. these men knew how to sell a big spot in a match. They knew how to bring emotion into a match for the fans at home. But Tenay lacks that very important ability.

 

[Cmac3311]

I watched some old Goldberg youtube videos from the streak in 97-98 and Schiavone and Heenan were awesome on commentary but I have to agree with you, Tenay is wrestling commentary tofu. He's bland, flavorless, and drenched with artificial flavors and facts.

I don't hate him at all, I just think he's pretty plain. Some emotion would be great once in a while. JR would have a heart attack when the shit went down and it would always emphasize the severity of the move/storyline when he showed emotion.

 

[blackmetalbuick]

I agree 100% and have for a long time. People always stick up for him because of the amount of knowledge that he brings to the table, and sure, he deserves credit for that. But when I want to be entertained and I get to choose between reading an encyclopedia or thrilling fictional novel, I'll go with the fiction despite not learning as much from it. Going to the completely opposite extreme of Tenay isn't desirable either, a guy could jump up and down and ooze emotion with his commentary, but if he has no idea about the wrestlers' detailed histories or the moves they are performing, that would suck too. But there's a wide open middle ground between those two extremes. Tenay's knowledge is great, but that doesn't make him enjoyable to listen to. He is totally boring. Even when he tries to act like he's getting upset when getting into a disagreement with Taz or whoever, he just sounds so fake. I would be more than willing to see someone else get his spot at the announce table for a while. Many of the factoids that he regurgitates aren't even that interesting or relevant to what's currently happening. It's wrestling. You're expected to go with the flow if they repackage a guy and start calling him by a different name after just seeing him last week. So we don't exactly need information about what was happening 17 years ago in someone's career.

 

[Kostaki]

Mike Tenay really has no business being the lead commentator of any program. He's always been a great support/tweener type announcer that's better when he has to work with both a face and heel announcer at the same table.

TNA does desperately need a new lead announcer, but the main problem is finding one. Much as I'd like to see it happen, Tony Schiavone already stated that he never did like to announce wrestling matches (aside from the ego others claimed he had) which rules him out. JR is loyal to the WWE, which rules him out. Joey Styles recently ragged on TNA and said he would never call another wrestling match. That doesn't leave much to choose from.

I'd be in WCW mark out heaven if the TNA announce team were Schiavone, Tenay, and Taz/Don West, but alas. Really sucks that Schiavone doesn't think highly of wrestling, but calling Baseball has always been his passion I guess.

As for Taz, he would be much much better with a strong face lead announcer so he could play the heel more.

 

[Strife3]

You know this is funny. Tna and WWE finally have something in commen. Bland Announcers. Micheal Cole and Mike Tenay are the same in alot of respects but the most is, they both suck and need to be taken off the air.

I never liked Mike Tenay even in WCW as I never liked Micheal Cole even interviewing.

If TNA is smart they need to remove Tenay and bring back Don West and team him up with Taz. I see that as a good duo.

 

[DangerousDave]

I don't really care for Tenay or Taz. Half the time these guys don't even follow the match. They ramble on about whatever is in their notes and don't call the whole match. When I'm in the Impact Zone and look over at them during a match they are usually looking down at their notes and flipping pages. Tenay is bland and Taz is the master of the stupid joke. They have two guys in the company that could do the job, Jeremy Borash, who has a good sense of humor, for play by play and Mick Foley as the heel color guy. I think the current announce team is one of TNA's biggest weakness right now. When you are trying to gain new viewers it would be to your advantage to have a great announce team that would draw you into TNA's product. These guys just don't cut it when it comes to creating interest in the match.

 

[AmazingRed]

ive always liked him

thought he did a great job in wcw and now tna

hes like the j.r. of wwe