One Big Mistake Taz and Tenay Make

[wwetv21]

ok i was watching the 4 way tag team match last night, and they were doing cool moves and all that. and tazz and tenay are talking about matt morgan vs. jeff hardy. totaly off topic. and i have seen them do this tones of time. they dont make the moves be amazing, because they dont put a a reaction and scream OMG!!!!!!!

in wwe they exaggerate. if its only a suplex, they yell out, WOW WHAT A SUPLEX!!!!!!,

and in tna they make a suplex look like a normal body slam, no reaction to it.

and even their ''shocking'' returns or debuts, taz and tenay dont put as much of a reaction as the fans do.

thats one of the things that made Jim Ross so great, or should i say the best. He reacted so well to the hard moves, returns, finishers, he would raise his voice and to this day i still can hear him say The rock bottom!!!! stone cold stunner!!!! or the double reaction--> THE LAST RIDE!!!! THE LAST RIDE!!!!!!

or like joey stylez, "OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!"

thats what made moves look cool like jeff hardy jumping of the ladder, jr's reaction, and in tna they only go wow, did u see that, that was amazing, talking about high risk!!

even though jr's gone king and micheal still give a good reaction to cool moves, and with king, he loves the puppies.

do you se tna's announcers doing this, making cool moves more boring.

 

[Rasha]

The problem is much more Tenay than Taz; he's the play-by-play man and it's really on him to sell the in-ring action. I agree with you that he does a bad job of hyping the moves and, when he tries to, it sounds very forced and fake. Tenay worked so much better as the analyst on Nitro's three-man booth with Tony and Brain doing the heavy lifting. The sucky thing is that there's probably no way he could go back to that as it would be a demotion, so any chance to the team would just push him out completely.

Another problem I noticed in last night's commentary; why was Tenay laughing and being buddies with Flair and Fortune when Flair was at the booth? Isn't he the guy who gets outraged when heels do heelish things? Aren't those guys part of the biggest heel faction in wrestling? Tenay went from clearly laughing at Flair's jokes one minute and saying he wanted to go hang out with them in a bar to being upset when they bulllied the referee. It's one thing for Taz to do it because he's a total tweener. But it was a terrible inconsistency on Tenay's part and I found it very disappointing.

 

[Bain]

To me it seems recently that neither Tenay or Tazz want to be there. There are huge gaps in the commentary, off topic spiel (as you rightly point out) and ZERO emotion or reaction to some pretty plot line revelations. Both of them, especially Taz, seem very uninterested in the in ring action, and the segments where the camera is on them is painful to watch.

I can only agree with you that the duo have as little reaction as the fans - I have been watching some old WcW circa '97 and the fans/commentators reactions help make the show!

The main problem with the 'Impact zone' (Ironic name these days) is the fact there is about as much atmosphere as a doctors surgery waiting room.

 

[Tugboat77]

I've also noticed them too often completely ignoring what's actually going on in the ring to discuss something else. My biggest complaint, however, is that I'm really getting tired of hearing the following phrases every single Impact: "yambag", "goozle", and "the pigeons are loose". These are really starting to get on my nerves. Yes I know Michael Cole says "vintage" a lot but it's not as often as it used to be and it's not idiotic.

Also, who the heck came up with the name "Immortals" for the Hogan-Bischoff group? Was someone watching Highlander when they came up with that one? Next thing you know, when a member of Immortal turns on another one, there will be a quickening. If you don't know what I'm talking about, shame on you, google it.

 

[Dzone]

I see your point but in WWE (or any sports entertainment for that matter) JR was THE best commentator because of the fact that he put so much into it. Your kinda stuck in the JR days, if you look at WWE or TNA *like you pointed out* they don't put any emotion into it.

*As a side note, loving CM Punk's commentary and so is McMahon, hope he doesn't decide to put CM Punk on commentary for ever xD*

 

[Genius_Deadman]

i agree, they kind of call a match like they're buddies watching a match on tv and talk about whatever else at times.

as far as emotion, they suck, but they're totally better than any WWE person (especially Grisham and his famous "it's Christian" announcement when Christian returned to WWE).

i think they need to have a 3 man team, bump Tenay down to #2. he was decent in WCW as the 3rd guy because he gave the history of stuff/moves i guess, but he's not a #2 guy (especially not a #1 guy like he was with West). they need someone who can carry the announcing or at least bring some excitement to the TNA booth. hell, i think Schiavone would be gold with them (as much as i hated his commentary). if they want some livelier commentator, pry away Dusty from WWE and have him scream his Dusty-isms:

"Samoa Joe bay-beh, givin Fortune a clubberin!"

but they need to get rid of one of them or add someone else, they can't stay the same with those 2. also stop giving Tenay acting stuff, like when West turned heel and when he "called out" Jarrett because he's totally, utterly horrible

 

[LegendKiller716]

The announcers are part of the problem, but it also has to do with booking.

TNA needs to book a garbage time match right after a Jeff Hardy segment so that they can hype the ppv during an unimportant match.

More effort was put into calling the fist bump battle than the tag team 4 way.

 

[bigbootydaddyV]

They are not nearly as bad as matt stryker and todd grisham and josh matthews and mike adamle was and to some extent michael cole... They all have NO emotion either, its very frustrating. It's funny I was thinking of something related to this yesterday, how Bobby Heenan and Dusty Rhodes, and a little bit Tony Schiavone really helped to sell Hogan joining the NWO, their reactions were priceless and are just as memorable. I still remember Bobby wondering what side hogan was on and then yelling i told you so and dusty and tony in shock then asking for everyone to come out.... Well anyways how many of todays announcers would react like that? If Cole was announcing still during the Nexus attack it would have been so monotonous and boring. Only recently has he gotten a bit of an angry side but it feels forced. As for Tenay and Tazz missing the match to hype the main event, didn't Joey Styles get in trouble for not doing something similar when there were reports of Vince yelling in his ear to promote the ppv rather than call the match.. at least thats' what i remember reading... I get the reasoning behind that but i agree it takes away SO much from what you are watching. They do need to spend time calling the match and showing emotion and all, it adds to the story, but then again WWE needs to as well and for my sanity's sake PLEASE remove stryker from anything!

 

[Hellacious Onslaught]

much like legendkiller said, its not just the announcing. All of TNA is second rate in my mind. Excpet the diva division, which WWE still does better cause theres less of it. But yeah, the best ever was monsoon and heenan and the best there could be now would be JBL THe king and good ol JR.

 

[LSN80]

The reason they have to do this is they rarely book Morgan and Hardy together at the same time. So in order for the "hard sell" of the PPV to take place, they have to focus on things like this to drive home the importance of the title match. Especially when you're kicking off the show. If you dont devote some part of your first segment to the main feud within the company(the world title), then youre missing an opportunity, honestly.

As for the announcers not showing emotion during moves, it takes away from the product if you call every move like its iconic. They do attempt this during the the PPV's especially the more significant matches. Tenay showed a ton of emotion during the MCMG/Beer Money feud, as did Taz. Joey Styles typically never screamed "OH MY GOD" more then once or twice a show, or PPV. You need to save those calls for the biggest moves in the highest profile matches, to make them feel truly special. As for King, I havent see him make a "puppies" reference in years, my friend, or show much emotion at all. Tenay and Taz are doing a good job at picking their spots and making the most important moments feel special.

As for the surprise returns, I have to agree with you. Both the reaction to the return of Mr Anderson and Kurt Angle were entirely underwhelming. TNA never even planted a seed, honestly, that either would be returning, so its up to the announcers to sell true shock, and I didnt see it in either. When two big players return in one night, its up to the commentators to make it feels special. Thye didnt, which takes some of the luster off of a big return.

But as a whole, Tenay and Tazz are doing a great job. Tenay is quite knowledgeable, and Tazz still knows what it takes to be successful at working the crowd, and making a match feel special. The tag match at the beginning was a spot fest, which would be hard for any announcer to call. It was a perfect time to talk about the biggest prize in the company. Theyre not flawless, but theyre doing a good job.

 

[Rasha]

Also, who the heck came up with the name "Immortals" for the Hogan-Bischoff group?

Ever heard of "The Immortal" Hulk Hogan? He only used that nickname for over two decades. The group's name is obviously borrowing from his legacy. But at least you got make your hilarious Highlander joke. I hope you didn't strain anything coming up with that brain-buster.

 

[GetsHeat]

I'd agree, they are TERRIBLE at selling emotion, big moments, and in the end it makes the product seem terrible.

There will be a huge move Taz will spout "Heh, that's pretty cool!" Mike at least tries but it's obvious he's forcing it out rather then being genuine, which is what West actually did well, he sold emotion.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Part of the issue here might be that the men already know what is going to happen, or at least know to an extent, because Tenay showed spurts of what came off as genuine surprise in WCW who obviously shot live.

Taz, I agree, rarely shows the emotion you'd expect/desire from a commentator, but his job is also color, so selling those moments isn't really on him, IMO, as much as it is on Tenay in this case.

Man, I miss Tony Schiavone...

 

[harrythem]

See I think this is kinda unfair on the TNA announcers as, to me, they've improved a helluva lot from a year or two ago. By that I mean you'd get an opening match act throw a drop-kick and they'd oversell the hell out of it which would then make the upper-card guys version of the same move less important. They could sell a bit more, granted, but it's a vast improvement over how they used to roll!

 

[Chauncy Talon]

LMAO. Most of you guys don't realize that Tony Schivane use to do the same thing. I use to laugh my ass off when watching WCW. Sometimes somebody would do a fantastic move and get the pin, and they act like that not suppose to happen. Stumble over the play-by-play, fumble on staying on the match and not what the nWo are doing. But sometimes you have to build up the main event for the pay-per-view so people can watch it.

 

[Tugboat77]

Ever heard of "The Immortal" Hulk Hogan? He only used that nickname for over two decades. The group's name is obviously borrowing from his legacy. But at least you got make your hilarious Highlander joke. I hope you didn't strain anything coming up with that brain-buster.

Wow, you are really touchy about the subject seeing as you felt the need to get personal. I understand that Hogan used that monicker for a long, long, time but my issue with them is that I would hardly consider anyone else in the group, with maybe the exception of Flair, to be "immortal".

Also, I can't POSSIBLY be the only person to think of Highlander every time I hear them called the "Immortals". They could have come up with a more original name for the group in mere minutes if they had tried.

 

[shattered dreams]

I think people tend to exaggerate the deficiencies of Tazz/Tenay but there is something to this criticism. The talking about other stuff aspect is exaggerated because every announcer ever does this from time to time. That is just part of how the show works. I do agree that the team is not great at selling big moves. However, I think selling the action is basically a lost art with J.R. gone. There are not any commentators around that do it well anymore IMO.

 

[GetsHeat]

Perfect example was this match with MCMG and Gen Me, huge spots through a table.. Tenay just says it in a matter of the fact tone.. or a monotone "Oh my" and then "that's pretty cool" and laughing during the match.

Terrible selling, made the match seem terrible.