Regal/Riley/Lawler Should Be RAW The Announce Team

[I_Like_All_Wrestling]

It's my opinion that the RAW announce team should be William Regal, Alex Riley and Jerry Lawler instead of Michael Cole, JBL and Lawler.

I don't care for JBL and I don't know many people who do. I do think he's better behind a mic than in the ring, but I find him boring and think Riley or Regal would be much better. Michael Cole. Does anyone like Michael Cole? I don't think he adds anything at all, and actually find him rather annoying. Not "boy I hate this guy, I sure hope he gets it" annoying, but "I legitimately consider turning the sound off" annoying. But, he's simply a pawn to say whatever WWE wants to get out there.

The current team serves its purpose and seemingly does what WWE wants (which is why they probably won't be replaced), but I do think a Regal/Riley/Lawler team would be much better.

What do you think?

 

[Y 2 Jake]

I don't get why people dismiss Cole. He's better than Jim Ross was in his later career.

WWE could do with ditching Lawler and putting JBL on Smackdown only. Replace either of them with Regal or Riley. It doesn't matter.

 

[laodaron]

Cole and Regal on Raw. Lawler and JBL on Smackdown. Riley can stay on ppv preshow panels.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I still don't know why so many people hate on Michael Cole. When he's not acting like a complete tool, like dancing with Adam Rose's Rosebuds, I think he does a great job. I know people are pissed that he's in Jim Ross' old spot, but it's time to friggin' let it go. Hell, even Jim Ross continues to sing his praises and Ross hasn't even worked for WWE for close to a year. I've got no problem with Michael Cole with the one real exception, which plagues all WWE commentators, and that's when they're told to start joking around & generally goofing off when there's a match going on.

I think JBL is a great heel commentator and the fact that he's an accomplished tag team and singles star in WWE gives him a lot of credibility.

I'd absolutely love for William Regal to be added to the announce team, for Raw or SD!. He does a great job in NXT of being the voice of an old school veteran who loves the business.

I also think Renee Young does a damn good job whenever she's on commentary in NXT. She's able to hold her own with the guys who're there, she's offers insight, she's worked hard to prove herself to management and she isn't treated in a condescending sort of way just because she happens to be a woman.

Personally, if I was gonna absolutely replace anyone, I'd have to go with Jerry Lawler. Jerry's a legend in the ring and his time as a commentator in WWE has genuinely been great at times. However, it's downright painful listening to Lawler try to be funny with his flat, outdated jokes and one liners. Every now & then, he'll say something that'll deliver a few chuckles, but his attempts usually come off as something that may have been funny when he himself was a young man.

 

[Blade]

Cole doesn't bother me a huge amount. I actually have sympathy for him due to the bullshit he has to put up with from JBL. I find JBL to be completely unbearable. A heel announcer should not be that aggressively confrontational. They should be beta males, making weasel-y excuses for the heels, not shouting at the face announcer until the face concedes.

William Regal knows what he's doing. He's an entertaining, funny heel who doesn't repeat the same five lines over and over again. Byron Saxton, who I think is the other heel commentator on NXT, is also pretty good.

More than anything, I just want a little chemistry in the announce team. Which the NXT have a lot more than Raw's.

 

[WarroBODFan]

I don't mind Michael Cole at all. I don't think he's amazing by any stretch of the imagination, but he's been around a long time so he knows the business. In the extreme situations where something has gone wrong, ala Lawler's heart attack, he handled it exceptionally well. I'd like him even more if he stopped plugging the damn WWE app. I hated the guy as a heel, which clearly means he was pretty damn good at it. I had much more disdain for him as a heel than most of the heel superstars.

I like JBL for many reasons, but not for his commentary sadly. He could be a much better commentator heel if he added a little more explanation to his "theories" rather than just shout "HE'S THE COO OF THE COMPANY, HE CAN DO WHATEVER HE WANTS, MAGGLE" pretty much every show. I dunno. For me, he doesn't play devils advocate with Cole, he just shouts at him because he's supposed to, sorta. As for Lawler.....again I like him, but I don't notice he's missing when it's just Cole and JBL on Smackdown.

I'd like it if they mixed up the commentary team every so often. Not saying a new team every single show, but why not give an Alex Riley, a Tom Phillips, a Byron Saxton a go as lead or co-commentator? Speaking about Saxton and Phillips, they both do a nice job on Main Event I think. They're not outstanding, but they're not bad either, and they're still pretty new to the main roster. Hell, you can throw The Miz in sometimes too. I can see him being an irritating heel commentator once his in-ring career is over with.

Tl;dr - I don't mind the current commentary team, but I'd like to see some of the newer broadcasters get some time in the booth every so often, and not just NXT/Main Event.

 

[~Heup©~]

First off I feel that the raw team is good just the way they are. Cole in a face now so he's not as annoying as he was, Lawler is more like a staple for raw commentary and jbl is just plain awesome in the spot he's in. I do like Riley and regal both as commentators but I don't think they will be as entertaining as jbl and Cole. I guess I wouldn't mind seeing Cole get rotation with Riley and regal but only on smackdown, let's keep raw the way it is.

"I don't get why people dismiss Cole. He's better than Jim Ross was in his later career." I agree with this statement and it's absolutely true that JR praises Cole all the time which in my book is saying something.

 

[willross]

I like Regal but Lawler staying would be detrimental. Switch out Lawler for Regal and I think you got something.

However, we don't know what is going on, on the other end of those headsets. Michael Cole is perfectly fine as the Lead. Lawler is incapable of being his old self because of the content and perhaps the amount of micro-management going on in "Gorilla".

Lawler seems to be the only one lacking. He seems to mail it in now and is just satisfied with a pay cheque. So if any changes are going to be made, it should be swapping Lawler for A-Ry or Regal.

I almost don't want Regal just because NXT needs good commentary and Regal does a great job. No way of knowing how much more freedom he gets with HHH in his ear in comparison to if he had Vince or Chipmunk in his ear.

 

[MartialHorror]

I like JBL as an announcer, but I think Lawler has gotten bored of it. I liked him the heel commentator and even liked when they turned him face for the first time as a commentator, but his neutral side is kind of boring.

I think Cole is a good announcer, my problem is that he's too much of a face and comes across as hypocritical. He'll justify cheating from the good guy, but will criticize the bad guys for doing the same thing. I tend to agree with JBL whenever he calls out Cole on this.

 

[NegativeFeedback]

Alex Riley and Jerry Lawler are the two worst announcers WWE has. You are INSANE.

If anyone should be announcing on Raw it's Scott Stanford, William Regal & Paul Heyman.

Scott was fantastic on Superstars and he had great chemistry with both Matthews and Punk. I bet he could easily find chemistry with Regal and Heyman too.

If I would rank all the announcers WWE has under contract, they would be:

1. Paul Heyman
2. Joey Styles
3. CM Punk
4. William Regal
5. Dutch Mantel
6. Scott Stanford
7. Vince McMahon
8. Booker T
9. JBL
10. Jason Albert
11. Brad Maddox
12. Tom Phillips
13. Renee Young
14. The Miz
15. Byron Saxton
16. Michael Cole
17. Bill DeMott
18. Jerry Lawler
19. Alex Riley

 

[MrHashasheen]

Michael Cole/William Regal/Renee Young

That's all I need.

 

[LBGetBack]

They definitely need fresh blood, and I do not like any of the current announcers.

Lawler has been horrible for years at this point. He adds nothing.

Cole is annoying. He's competent, but I've never cared for him. Generic and mediocre.

JBL I don't enjoy either. His persona as JBL is that of an arrogant, asshole.....who wants to listen to that? he's not funny, not really a good heel as a commentator....is he even a heel? I never know. He's all over the place. He's not informative.


I agree that Regal would be interesting. Would love it. Bring back JR. Reality is, he's still the best. The lack of respect Vince has shown him over the years is absolutely insane and shows that Vince really isn't that sharp of a wrestling mind anymore.

Just go with a 2 man booth. 3 really isn't necessary. Regal and JR. JR the play by play type of guy, and Regal the color commentator. Go with it!

 

[Dagger Dias]

Adding Regal I can fully understand. He adds a lot to NXT when he is on the announcing team, have him replace Lawler. Riley would certainly be better than Michael Cole. Why would you replace JBL though? He's the one person from the current announcing team who should remain. Most fans dislike Cole or find him boring and Lawler hasn't been good in years. I had hoped that Matthews would one day replace Cole, or even for Striker to be on the Raw announcing team. Both of those ships have obviously sailed now. I disagree with keeping Lawler in the thread starter's post as well as disagreeing on removing JBL. Riley replacing Cole I'd be fine with, but it's not hard to find someone better than Cole. Regal could use a promotion to Raw/Smackdown announcing however.

 

[ADLegend21]

god no, get lawler off the announce team. Cole stays where he is because he's perfect for what WWE wants for their commentator, he gets tons of information out during the broadcast based on what he's given in the headsets. JBL is fine too as a heel to counteract Cole as a face, but Lawler? doesn't add anything and should be silent during any and all segments involving divas so he doesn't say anything gross or sexist about girls young enough to be his daughter. He needs to go, period.

 

[JPiSWAR]

Jbl heel ? Really lmao. Cole ? Heednip. Lawyer ? I'll sit back and take the paycheck. Fans/tv viewers ? When does freeview start.

 

[Headman]

Jerry Lawler needs to retire or go into managing or something. And Vince Mcmahon needs to get out of Micheal Cole and JBL's headset. Let the announcers call the damn matches and stop force feeding all this random ass pointless banter and social media plugs. As for Riley, he's awful. What is it that people see in him?

 

[Judah's Lion]

I agree that Regal would be interesting. Would love it. Bring back JR. Reality is, he's still the best.

Just go with a 2 man booth. 3 really isn't necessary. Regal and JR. JR the play by play type of guy, and Regal the color commentator. Go with it!

absolutely this!! and not just cuz you said it, but also because Mark Madden has said the exact same thing in very recent memory. say what you want about the guy, but he does in fact know both the wrestling and the broadcasting businesses.

and this would be a great team. they'd play so well off of each other. used to love the old JR and Jerry Lawler two-man announce team. it worked great at the time and i never felt that there was anything missing by having two instead of three guys doing commentary.

having two old school veterans of the business doing what they do best and what they do better than anybody else in the sport today just makes good sense.

and note that this does not mean that i have any dislike for any of the other announcers/broadcasters that are currently employed by the WWE or recently released or working in other companies, etc. just think that JR and Regal are the best and should be the announcing team for Raw.

for Main Event, NXT and Smackdown, you could switch up the teams and see what works. but for the primary broadcast, put your best feet forward.

 

[Brushfire]

I feel like the only person that actually likes JBL. I also feel that there isn't any real need to be switching the announce teams any time soon.

 

[nbieclkl91]

Lawler should retire. He doesn't seem to care any more and sometimes seems like he doesn't even know what's going on.

RAW & Main Event should be Cole & JBL. They are the perfect team and their styles mix well together.

Smackdown! and Superstars should be Regal & Riley. Really like them on NXT.

As for NXT, I'd have Jason Albert & Renee Young. The only reason I wouldn't put Renee as a commentator for Raw/Smackdown is because she's too good of a backstage interviewer.