Should Booker T do more commentating?

[MartialHorror]

I've heard mixed things on his abilities as an commentator, but I can't recall ever seeing an episode where he acted that role. But as of the last RAW, I thought he was pretty terrible, giving me a new respect for our current triad of terrible announcers. He seemed bored, his usual charisma didn't transfer into the position and I thought he tended to bring down the talent instead of putting them over.

Granted, JBL was worse when it came to crapping all over the Ascension, which makes me wonder if Vince had planned that for some reason. But I was annoyed when he kept bringing up Barretts weaknesses, from calling him injury prone to feeling he never reached his full potential. It's true, but that should only be brought up from a backstage perspective, not something that should be acknowledged on air. I'd be perfectly fine if they just brought in the third wheel from Smackdown, who might be bland but at least seems competent. I wish WWE would use Booker T more effectively, but his work as an commentator did not impress me.

But what do you think? Was it just an off night for him? Or do you think he did good? Or do you agree?

 

[MERPER]

no, he was terrible last night... then again the entire announce team was terrible...

JBL and Cole couldn't get more than a few sentences out without screwing something up last night.

I normally just tune them all out but last night was so bad it was hard to ignore it.

JBL's Johnny Manziel remark at the beginning was pathetic, too.

 

[Reflection]

Booker-T is hilarious when he gets excited with all the Shucky Ducky Quack Quack, That's Mah Boy, Wut Da Hayel! and so on. I also like that he supports guys with zero chance of winning in battle royales (I was watching the 41 man battle royale from couple of years ago, where he was supporting Striker, JTG and McIntyre)... But apart from these, yeah, he is awful, and that really shows when he does commentary for more than a couple of weeks in a row. I'll be fine with him doing commentary at Royal Rumble, but I don't want to see him in the announce booth in the longer run.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I thought Booker T did pretty well last night. Personally, I got tired of his over the top antics, the Shucky Ducky Quack Quack and all that other stuff. He seemed to be the one that was more grounded last night. If he's more in that mode, I wouldn't be adverse to him joining the commentary team of Raw.

However, there are always gonna be some fans, mostly internet fans, who'll crap all over the announce team because Jim Ross is no longer doing commentary, or part of the company for that matter, and they just don't wanna let it go. One of the chief reasons Michael Cole gets so much hate is because of the simple fact that he's the one who took Jim Ross' spot.

 

[MartialHorror]

I actually think Michael Cole is somewhat under-appreciated. My only issue with him probably has more to do with Vince or the writing, as I feel he tends to excuse questionable actions by the faces whereas he'd condemn the same actions if a heel was doing it. Also, his tendency to try so hard to put over people like the New Day and Adam Rose because "they're fun". JBL is inconsistent, sometimes he can be entertaining and other times he can be annoying. Jerry the King used to be great, but his indifference has become too apparent.

So as someone who doesn't necessarily hate on the announce table, I still thought Booker didn't work last night.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

First off with the BNB comments, I think in a roundabout way his comments were actually beneficial... because it made the fact Barrett won his IC title back in a week more impressive and "shut Booker up" so to speak. Regardless of how it happened, that match made Barrett a force again...that the commentry had underestimated him only gives him ammo for his "Bad News" next week or on Smackdown...

Booker is not a great commentator but passable. He's not a long term solution and they know it, but a lot will come down to what is actually happening with Lawler. Regardless now, his 2nd hospitalisation in 2 years or so means they have to "move him on" sooner rather than later, so I can see them trying someone else next week if King isn't fit... perhaps Renee, Riley or Albert or even Cory Graves... the change this week was pretty last minute, guys like Regal might not have been at the arena/practical to get up at that short notice but Booker is there anyway so the easiest, if not the best option.

Booker is a pro, he does as he's told and can clearly handle Vince's style of "in your ear" direction and I think can work "on his feet" a little better than JBL can, you can tell the "rewrites" caused some problems for both Cole and JBL last night whereas Booker seemed more able to "roll with it".

The point above about Cole being an "excuser" for faces I think comes from keeping a bit of his "character" from that heel run, but making him more repentant for that time... how he talks about Bryan now compared to when he was a "geek" etc... they're presenting Cole as a good guy but who is capable of hubris... like when he still occasionally mentions his Mania moment... in truth though it's no different to Gorilla... he would call a face cheat "resourceful"....

Much as I hate to say it, King really might not come back this time... if they're worried about other injuries etc then he must be their biggest "risk" onscreen. If he does come back he'll be gone by the end of the year guaranteed...one way or another...

 

[hollowpoint]

I had no problem with Booker T last night. He wasn't over the top and most of everything he said was insightful and had some substance to it. JBL's only passion about the matches showed up when he buried the Ascension. I think Booker's time as an "analyst" has helped him improve his commentary.

 

[rbv13]

I usually can't stand Booker T, reminds me to much of an over the top Shannon Sharpe, but last night I found him tolerable. He remained grounded, talked up the talent and hyped the in ring action. His act was a bit refreshing.

 

[BuriedByCena]

Michael Cole, JBL and King have all become worse at commentary over the years. Go watch an old episode of smackdown from 10 years ago, Cole actually called the moves in the ring and was super excited whenever something happened in the ring. He was JR level/God Tier back in the day.

Now Michael Cole, King, JBL are boring. They don't even talk about what is happening in the ring and they can't even remember simple move names. They resort to "OH MY....WHAT A MOVE!".....when all they did was a kick. LOL

It just shows how bad commentary has been since JR left. Cole/Tazz were actually good on smackdown at first but Vince keeps on pushing the boring "Story" instead of the in-ring action which makes the product suffer.

WWE is like Nintendo. They appeal to kids, refuse to change and be stuck in the 80's mindset. We the fans tell them how to succeed....and they do the opposite. I don't get it.

 

[LDubz]

I hate the three of them on commentary these days, JBL mildly acceptable.

King:

• Way past his use by date
• Probably would be best used in a short lived GM role before he finally retires, there's a story there for him to write him off and I think he deserves it. I'd probably use Tyson Kidd and Natalya to feud with King and an ally, they can mention all the old stuff with Bret Hart back in the day.

JBL:

• I find him smug and annoying sometimes.
• He can be great at pushing new stars like he did with Bo Dallas.

Michael Cole:

I've never thought the guy had it since day one. Maybe it was JR back then, but I never agreed with Cole's voice and his excitement seems forced. Now he barely seems to call moves and educate people and just talks rubbish all the time with the odd "Vintage <this>" somewhere in the dialog

Also, three's a crowd, especially when Cole is still acting as a face rather than being neutral. If he was strictly play by play and let JBL/King add face and heel colour, I would be fine with that. But it gets worse when there are guest announcers as well. I find when this happens, King says nothing at all as there is five of them at the table.

I want a commentary team that tells me the names of moves, talks about the characters in the match and not prattle on about stuff not relevant to the match at all. I find it insulting to the wrestlers actually performing, it's as if they don't care. And if they don't care, why should we?

 

[blueskyy]

I disagree with the OP as well. I thought "last night" was one of his better nights.

 

[TheICChampion]

If I were to pick a commentary team, I would go with Regal, Riley and Renee. Regal because he is neutral and knows about what's going on in the ring, plus he knows how to get people invested in what's going on and the characters. Riley can be a heel commentator who doesn't flip-flop every few minutes between cheering for the bad guys and cheering for the faces but he does give the wrestlers credit when it's due. Renee can be the face commentator and she can also bring a fresh woman's perspective to what's going on in the ring.