Stale commentary.

[timmy872]

Has anyone else noticed how BORING the WWE Commentary is since they have got rid of the color/heel backing commentator?

As far as I am aware, JBL was the last real heel backer of the commentary team in WWE.

I know it's hardly a comparrison but TNA's Tenay and West are a perfect example of good balanced commentary, they depict the fans, Tenay backing the good guys like the kids and mothers. And West backing the bad guys liked by the rebellous teenagers and fathers. Telling each other to Shut up on air.

Where as in WWE right now, you have Stale Cole and Staler Lawler on about puppies, smart, sexy, powerful, the viper striking, Cena evoking emotion, WWE Universe and blah blah.

Smackdown has Jim "bore" Ross and Todd "bore more" Grisham. Credit to JR, he hasn't really changed, it's just its hard to work with two guy who both seem to be trying to do the play by play, and no color. Grisham could be good, but in my eyes he is trying to be too similar to Michael Cole. I prefered and was interuiged by the JR/Striker team they had going for a while.

ECW is actually alright in my opinion shockingly. I really like Striker's commentary, if only he was a heel as well it would be ten times better. I mean in this past weeks ECW with the Ask the Diva's section, I was wondering WTF are you on about when they segwayed over to being bad with girlfriends from a wrestling match. Matthews could be a good play by play or color in my mind.

Change it up, bring back the heel commentator, have a guest commentator. I'm not sure how to solve it. I just remember when JBL talked on Smackdown as the color I would actually listen, now all do is watch the wrestling, giving a fraction of my attention to what the commentators are saying, because usually I have already heard it.

Thoughts..?

 

[Cracka Jack]

They should be using heel anouncers right now, but I have a feeling the PG Era has something to do with it...

I thought Grisham and Striker were great on ECW, which is likely due to Vince not caring as much about that brand and thus not controlling what is being said. Vince's input on commentary is why it has been so boring lately, pretty much making them his puppets.

Teney and West are actually entertaining and add to the match, giving the perspective of both the faces and heels. Announcers squabling gives a realness to the feuds, having them emotionally invest in what's ocurring, making the viewer care more.

I would love if WWE went back to having heel announcers (along with bringing back managers, but that's another topic for another forum). It could vastly improve the viewer's experience, and make the product better.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

Again which has been discussed at length, the problem is with Vince and his new vision for what he feels the commentary style "should be like".

Vince has been on this kick for the past couple years where he feels that anything ... absolutely ANYTHING at all that takes emphasis away from what is going on in the ring, is nothing but a distraction. That is why you don't have Heel commentators that argue anymore. And that is also exactly the same reason why we don't have ringside managers anymore, either. The reason both of these things have been eliminated over the years is intertwined. He wants 100% of everyone's focus on the action in the ring, as if it is a real, legitimate sport. We mine as well all be watching Amateur Wrestling.

He feels that the old school commentators were too much of characters themselves, and felt they put themselves over, instead of the action in the ring. Hence, orders were given to the announce teams to act like the way you see them today, which is exactly the reason Ross acts more subdued than he usually does, as well. Hell, Ross even mentioned on his blog that he gets yelled at occasionally for acting "too excited". It's ridiculous. Which is why for as much shit as the IWC gives Michael Cole, I take up for the guy because I know it isn't his fault. I've seen what he's capable of doing on Smackdown for several years, and I've had no problem with him until he switched over to Raw. But again, that isn't his doing. He's simply doing what Vince the Dictator tells him to do.

It has absolutely nothing to do with the commentators and everything to do with Vince obsessing over the viewer concentrating on what is happening inside and only inside the ring. I guess he assumes that his viewers can't walk or chew gum at the same time, either.

 

[rko2779]

I always liked the old school commentary, it added to the match. I always got more into it when JR or the King would fight or show some kind of feeling or emotion. look at the whole dumpster angle with the new age outlaws, foley and funk, if the emotion was not as high as it was or the commentators were not as in to it, the angle would have sucked. as most everything in wretling does now.

 

[Panic Switch]

WWE made a big mistake with the removal of heel commentators. A balance is needed. They should take a page from TNA's book and have someone turn like Don West. Right now most of the commentators are mirror clones of eachother. Michael Cole, Todd Grisham and Josh Matthews are so similar I sometimes wonder if they are related somehow. The only relatively interesting commentator is Matt Striker and even he can be a bore at times. JR has also lost his touch. But the biggest travesty is that Michael Cole is still under employment of the WWE. He is complete crap with his rubbish catchphrases like "Here comes the animal!", "Here comes cena!", "That is vintage *insert random wrestler here*", "The viper is about the strike!". The guy just makes the whole show seem childish. Guess WWE must love his take on the PG era.

 

[Spunky]

You have to kind of agree with Vince, He says "The story should be told in the ring", And he's right, If the wrestlers are not doing that, They are not doing their jobs properly. After all, Isn't that what the WWE is all about?

Still, You have to also agree with the thread maker, The commentary table has lost nearly all of it's personality, And what it has left(Lawler, And Jim Ross) are being restricted. How many catchphrases, and terms did Jim, And Jerry coin together? A shitload to anwser that question. Yet these are the very people that will add some intensity, And excitment to a match that is lacking. People like Monsoon, Ventura, Savage, Heenan, Tazz, John Layfield, And of course Jim Ross, And Jerry Lawler, Are a dying breed. It's a shame too, How many matches have you watched that at the time you thought were amazing, Then re-watched them, And say "Why did I like that?"

 

[hitmanhart]

I completely agree with you. A question was asked to JR on his site, JRsBarbq.com and he responded to the lackluster commentary these days. Here is the question, followed by his response:

"Question: Hi JR, My question is about commentating. I was thinking the other day of how commentating in the WWE isn't as entertaining as it once was. This is by no means a complaint about you- you truly are the best in the business and in my opinion I believe the WWE shipped you to Smackdown to garner higher ratings (yes, you are that good). However, I was watching some old footage of you and King commentating back in the pre-attitude and attitude era. I must say that the two of you work brilliantly together, each complementing one another. It then hit me that what I liked (and many others) was that the WWE consistently had one announcer (the King) who would always cheer for the heels, while you provided more objective commentary that was usually in favor of the faces. It created a great dynamic and kept the commentating interesting. I acknowledge that the actual match should be more entertaining than the commentators, but I feel nowadays the 'zip' seen in the 90's and early 2000s is all but gone. I must reiterate that you are the best in the business, and always will be. But wouldn't you like to see contrasting opinions between the announcers? It just seems all to boring when both are in agreement. I know you have very little input on creative decisions, but if the opportunity knocks for commentators to disagree on RAW/Smackdown!, I hope you kick the door down and entertain the viewers. Thanks again, and all the best."


JR's response: "As I wrote in a recent blog, it is better when the announcers have differing points of view and philosophy without becoming the show. I'm not sure how everyone got seemingly away from that ying and yang that always seemed to work. "



As you can see, JR is in complete agreement with us (the so called "WWE Universe") that commentating should have personality. If they want Raw ratings up, put Lawler and JR back on RAW and have Lawler go back to his heel cheering days, and put those two boring cartoons of personalities Michael Cole and Todd Grisham together for WWE's 'PG' Smackdown.

I'm sick and tired of WWE getting run into the ground by WWE's ideas.

 

[Jonnie Walker]

Grisham and Striker were absolutely great when they were a team,but then Tazz quit and left Grisham to go to Smackdown,and you have two play by play guys on one show,on Raw,Cole is the same as he always has been,"Vintage","OH MY!","The animal BATISTA!",and "The Viper Randy Orton",and King being annoying,talking about heels being heinous and faces being righteous, and ECW commentary is still pretty good,the best in the business now.I remember I was watching smackdown, and Jericho was in a match against Jeff,where Rey interfered with a hurricanrana into the ringpost,and was applauded,with Grisham saying,"Well Jericho will never find out which Rey Mysterio it was." due to Rey being a coward sitting next to two people wearing the exact same thing.Nothing like,"what a cowardly move" or "what heinous actions",no he gets applauded.Later on in the night,it was Rey against Punk with Jericho on commentary.Jericho interfered and threw Rey into the steps,and J.R. said "how can you explain those actions",with Jericho replying,"He did the exact same thing to me."J.R. called it Heinous,as did Grisham,and Rey lost the match.Slanted commentary is bullshit and I hate it.

 

[Kenny Powers]

I feel WWE could benefit from more excitement from the announcers instead of acting like robots in and out of the ring. Vince is a hypocrite, he feels that being a more colorful announcer takes away from wrestling? Then why in god's name would he have Hornswoggle in matches and skits for most of the show along with ZZ Top and Santino lip syncing? I think that crap took away more viewers from wrestling then anything. We give a lot of shit the announce team but I feel if they were allowed to show emotion then maybe it might be a show worth watching. 10 years ago they could have Doink the Clown/ Chris Nowinski match and it would still be entertaining just by the commentary. Vince is also losing his mind when it comes to divas, just showing them dance around without wrestling. When they do wrestle they have the worst ones do it. I don't think the problem is PG I think the problem is the McMahon's wanting a boring circus show instead of a wrestling show.

 

[friarferguson]

Just watching an old match from 1997 with JR calling every move being executed by each wrestler nowadays hardly any commentators call moves.
Matt Striker is clearly the best announcer, he gives background on matches and tries to give every wrestler a character using colourful adjectives and hyperbole. The Grish and Josh Matthews both work very well with Striker as they can call on the more knowledgable Striker who will lay out the strategy for each man.
If you watch Grisham try to do this on Smackdown with J.R. he often gets nothing and often J.R. is too concerned with calling the storyline.
Michael Cole and The King have both become stale, listening to The King this week telling me he didn't know the move that Kofi Kingston was executing made me laugh because surely this should be the commentators job?

As regards the heel/face commentary it does add an extra element to the show but for now I think they need commentators who can call moves as well as narrate the stories to the fans. They desperately need to recruit new commentators, the fact that they bought back Josh Matthews after he was shot in the face by Tim White three years ago smells a bit like desperation.

 

[hitmanhart]

Go watch DVD 'THe greatest superstars of the 90's and you'll see how great the commentating was in the mid-late 90's with King and JR together. Even when Vince was commentating they still had that 'ying and yang' that JR referenced in my earlier post on this thread. Commentating has become SO boring and drab these days. I want JR to scream "OH MY DEAR GOD!". We need that entertainment back. Not Michael Cole repeatedly yelling "VINTAGE" all the time while King replies "Yes, Michael.. good point"

Dear God I miss commentating from the day. It made any match exciting.. especially with King cheering for the heels.. he was so good at clever one-liners.

 

[Vito_81]

I don't even want to imagine what it would be like if Bobby Heenan was around and having to tone it down while rooting for the good guys.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

I don't even want to imagine what it would be like if Bobby Heenan was around and having to tone it down while rooting for the good guys.

Actually, if you want to know what that was like, just watch him on WCW Nitro, where as the years went by, he was told to "stop announcing as a heel, and start announcing like he was John Madden", by Eric Bischoff.

Heenan was having his legacy in the Broadcast Booth destroyed, and he knew it. He said he was absolutely miserable and unmotivated with announcing in WCW, after this change was made. They eventually replaced him with Mark Madden because his announcing wasn't up to their standards anymore.

But it was lousy. But just like today's commentators, it wasn't his fault. It was Bischoff's fault. And it's just unfortunate that Vince has now made the same mistake.

 

[Baximus]

Anyone else even laugh out loud at some of King's heel commentary? Remember the Invasion where Ross and Heyman were commenting and Rock was deciding his side in the battle and both were going after each other verbally? When the Great One said, "to the WWE" Ross went ape shit "YES! YES! YES!". It made the moment so much bigger.

Yet another thing lost in recent years.

 

[hitmanhart]

Baximus: you are so right- that's what I've been saying all along. Where has the commentator's emotion gone? When someone falls of a ladder, I want JR to scream "OH MY GOD HE'S BROKEN IN HALF. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!". I want King to cheer for the heels- he was SO good at one-liners that would make you laugh. I also hate how everytime there is a match that younger kids wouldn't be familiar with like the 6pack challenge at NOC, they explain like it they were talking to 6- year olds. "Now, remember boys and girls, Kofi doesn't need to get pinned. Anyone can pin anyone. Oh my goodness that's not good for Kofi". It doesn't even feel like I'm watching wrestling anymore.

Some funny quotes of back in the day I found on the web:

(Talking about Jerry Lawler)
"Do your lips get chapped from all your corperate butt kissing?"

(Talking to Jerry Lawler)
"Don't talk to me like a jabronie."

Jim Ross: "That Lowblow should be a disqualification."
Jerry Lawler: "I didn't see anything."
Ross: "You never do."

Jerry Lawler: " You know what they say about guys with big feet."
Jim Ross: "They have big socks."

Jerry Lawler: "Maybe he can beat some sense into Al Snow."
Jim Ross: "We don't have enough time."


(Talking about Debra's outfit)
Jerry Lawler: "That might be my favorite Pay-Per-View attire."
Jim Ross: "What, that 'Don't Piss Me Off' T-Shirt? I can get you one of those."


(After Trish Stratus does a bridging move)
"There's one bridge I'm sure you'd like to cross over it again and again."


As you can see, where as the ACTUAL ENTERTAINMENT GONE FROM THE COMMENTATORS BOOTH? Vince talks about WWE being 'entertainment'.. but I haven't seen any in a long time.

 

[Vip3r L3g3nd Kill3r]

Agreed. A heel commentator needs to comeback. I thought that JBL, did it very good, but I think towards the end his commentary run, he started to back the faces more.

Like many of you have said, I also think that Matt Striker is THE best commentator in the WWE at the moment. He puts over the faces, as well as the heels, in a good fashion, calls the matches with real emphasis, and also commentates, on the little things, that nobody else would say or spot.

In order the best commentators in the WWE at the moment

1. Matt Striker (ECW)
2. Josh Matthews (ECW)
3. Jim Ross (Smackdown)
4. Todd Grisham (Smackdown)
5. Jerry ''The King'' Lawler (Raw)
6. Michael Cole (Raw)

 

[GameOver]

You mnay be right that Vince don't want anything that distracts from in ring action, though thats jsust dumb cause all that does it take out half the entertainment and put more emphasis on the bad stuff that happens in the ring.

IMO nanagers not at ringside has nothing to do with taking attention away, back during the monday night wars and into the end of WCW they phased out unnecessary talent and when WCW finally went under, WWE copped all these contracts and bills they had to take on that WCW were left with at the time of purchase, ie Goldbergs contract to name 1, ever think they may have been just cutting the unneccesary people off the TV roster to save money and managers didn't serve a direct purpose anymore some of which went onto be backstage assistants, then the stars that were built up during the attitude era and beyond have no use for managers cause they are self sufficient.

ergo no need for managers. Back in the days of the managers the wrestlers were stupid on screen (not literally but characterwise) most of em couldn't tie there shoes without a managers influence or have any mic skills. Now guys do there own talking and cheat by themselves so once again what is the point of a manager.?

As for stale commentary i do agree that the good guy good guy commentary is lame u need that anti-hero viewpoint. but the current commentary has nothing to do with PG rating cause during the Hogan era Jessie Ventura/Gorilla Monsoon/Bobby The Brain portayed the anti-hero vs hero mentality perfectly and that was far less provocative then now

The people they have in WWE commentary are head and shoulders above any crap that comes out of Don West's boring mouth Tenay is atleast half decent. But i guess thats IMO

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

You mnay be right that Vince don't want anything that distracts from in ring action, though thats jsust dumb cause all that does it take out half the entertainment and put more emphasis on the bad stuff that happens in the ring.

IMO nanagers not at ringside has nothing to do with taking attention away, back during the monday night wars and into the end of WCW they phased out unnecessary talent and when WCW finally went under, WWE copped all these contracts and bills they had to take on that WCW were left with at the time of purchase, ie Goldbergs contract to name 1, ever think they may have been just cutting the unneccesary people off the TV roster to save money and managers didn't serve a direct purpose anymore some of which went onto be backstage assistants, then the stars that were built up during the attitude era and beyond have no use for managers cause they are self sufficient.

ergo no need for managers. Back in the days of the managers the wrestlers were stupid on screen (not literally but characterwise) most of em couldn't tie there shoes without a managers influence or have any mic skills. Now guys do there own talking and cheat by themselves so once again what is the point of a manager.?

As for stale commentary i do agree that the good guy good guy commentary is lame u need that anti-hero viewpoint. but the current commentary has nothing to do with PG rating cause during the Hogan era Jessie Ventura/Gorilla Monsoon/Bobby The Brain portayed the anti-hero vs hero mentality perfectly and that was far less provocative then now

The people they have in WWE commentary are head and shoulders above any crap that comes out of Don West's boring mouth Tenay is atleast half decent. But i guess thats IMO

I appreciate and agree with your thoughts on the commentary situation, in that Vince's new philosophy that "commentators who show excitement or argue with each other take concentration away from the in-ring action" is ridiculous. Face/Heel broadcast teams had the ability to bring life to a broadcast. They made boring matches fun to listen to. It was just another tool that WWE once had to turn a boring match into a good one, and a good match into a great one.

Just listening to Heenan and Monsoon at Royal Rumble 1992 or Wrestlemania 8 were perfect examples. They argued for virtually the entire broadcast, with Heenan belting out one-liners left and right ... and both of those broadcasts were actually better with their banter than if we had replaced it with today's commentary style.

However, as far as the managers go, the same mentality applies on the part of Vince, that they distract from the action in the ring ... in his misguided philosophy, of course. This was specifically reported on why they removed Daivari from the Great Khali several years ago, because it was reported that Vince felt that "Khali having a manager took people's attention away from the Great Khali, as a wrestler."

Now, a while later, they brought in Ranjin Singh as only a Translator, because they finally figured out that Khali couldn't communicate to the audience due to not speaking English, and therefore he needed someone ... however when they first brought him in, he was not at ringside. Again, because that would be "distracting" at ringside. Then, he came down to the ring with Khali, and walked to the back once the match began. Then, finally they let him stay at ringside, however he basically does nothing. Same with other people at ringside like Tony Atlas.

Whoever stays at ringside nowadays (which is few and far between when anyone is allowed to anymore) essentially does nothing in the matches. And that is obviously because Vince feeling that they take away from the action. Why he thinks the action in the damn ring is so fucking critical, as like it is actually a real sport, is mind-boggling. What made me interested in wrestling was the total package ... not just what went on inside the ring.

That package for me included both what went on inside AS WELL AS what went on outside the ring, the quality of the feuds and stories, the colorful personalities (of which managers greatly contributed), and all the other stuff. For me, it was never about just the action in the ring, because wrestling simply is not a real sport. If I wanted to watch people actually wrestle for real, then I would watch UFC or Amateur Wrestling.

It saddens me that over the years, people have adopted Vince's ideology that managers should ONLY be used for people who have trouble speaking. Therefore, people who think this way, view managers as unnecessary. Managers added a whole new element of entertainment to wrestling, that one probably does not appreciate unless they lived through and were a fan of the Hogan Era. The Attitude Era was when Vince began eliminating male managers and replaced them with Divas at ringside.

But ringside managers like Bobby Heenan and Jimmy Hart are a lost art. Not only do they help the wrestlers who don't speak well on their own, but they add an extra element to those that actually did (like Heenan and Rick Rude or Hart with Honky Tonk Man) and make them even better. Again, it was the package deal that I liked. Some guys didn't NEED managers to talk for them like Rude and Honky, but managers still added even more interest to the feuds, through their antics.

Not only did they add to promos, but perhaps even more importantly were their shenanigans at ringside, which made the matches much more entertaining then they are today. The element on whether or not the third man was going to interfere or not, and then the enjoyment the crowd sees of seeing that individual perhaps take a bump at the end of the match, simply made things that much more enjoyable. Match outcomes had a lot more variety with managers, than without them, which kept the matches even more interesting.

 

[YoYoYumba]

I'm glad there's been a post on this subject and I definately agree how pathetic and boring the commentary is at the moment and has been for quiet a long time now. The heel-face commentary needs to come back. I feel the commentary is very important for really engaging the viewers and when the commentators weren't so robotic and actually showed some emotion, you really actually took more notice of what they were saying and it actually made you want to keep watching. Two guys just sitting there agreeing with eachother....BORRRRRRRRRINGGGGG!!!!!! It's bad enough they've taken away all the violence, blood, sexual references with this PG crap but atleast just make the commentary some what interesting. The King and JR together is a great example of a classic heel/face commentary that really engaged the audience. Having personalities in the commentary booth is what the WWE needs because lets face it WWE is not a legit sport and I can only hope someday they realise that. If your watching soccer,football,baseball....wateva, you don't expect the commentary to be someone cheering the bad guy because there really is no bad guy in a legit sport. WWE is all about the good guys v the bad guys so therefore there's no need to just focus all on the wrestling. It's not all about what happens inside the ring that's important to me, I like other elements such as funny backstage interviews, guys fighting eachother outside of the arena and yes commentators actually arguing with eachother or having differing views...wateva. Wake up already Vince and make commentary enjoyable to listen to...and i'll repeat WWE is NOT a legit sport!

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

I'm glad there's been a post on this subject and I definately agree how pathetic and boring the commentary is at the moment and has been for quiet a long time now. The heel-face commentary needs to come back. I feel the commentary is very important for really engaging the viewers and when the commentators weren't so robotic and actually showed some emotion, you really actually took more notice of what they were saying and it actually made you want to keep watching. Two guys just sitting there agreeing with eachother....BORRRRRRRRRINGGGGG!!!!!! It's bad enough they've taken away all the violence, blood, sexual references with this PG crap but atleast just make the commentary some what interesting. The King and JR together is a great example of a classic heel/face commentary that really engaged the audience. Having personalities in the commentary booth is what the WWE needs because lets face it WWE is not a legit sport and I can only hope someday they realise that. If your watching soccer,football,baseball....wateva, you don't expect the commentary to be someone cheering the bad guy because there really is no bad guy in a legit sport. WWE is all about the good guys v the bad guys so therefore there's no need to just focus all on the wrestling. It's not all about what happens inside the ring that's important to me, I like other elements such as funny backstage interviews, guys fighting eachother outside of the arena and yes commentators actually arguing with eachother or having differing views...wateva. Wake up already Vince and make commentary enjoyable to listen to...and i'll repeat WWE is NOT a legit sport!

Blasphemy!

You are going to have the ROH-bots coming after your head with a statement like that.

However you mentioned Face Ross and Heel Lawler being paired together, which I would be in favor of.

But ... I just want to comment to those asking simply for Ross and Lawler to be put back together, that won't solve a thing in this day and age. The fact is that the commentary style has changed across the board in the company. Ross and Lawler were terribly boring even before they were split up, because of that. Simply putting them together isn't enough to make a significant difference in the way things are done. If they are going to be put together, they should be both Face and Heel.

But we all know that the Dictator will not allow that to transpire. After all, "it distracts people from the "sport" of wrestling and what is going on inside the ring."

 

[BWRBrett]

I watched Raw for the first time since March during the last 10 minutes on Monday (was curious about Shaq) and after 15 seconds I had to mute it, Cole and Lawler are both unbearable, Vince is feeding them lines that sound so insincere coming out of their mouths, and Lawler is a natural heel.

 

[Tastycles]

The commentating in WWE is stale, but don't blame Vince McMahon. Both Michael Cole and Jim Ross are guilty of having zero diversity in their use of language. Cole thinks everything is vintage, and Jim Ross thinks that business picks up every time someone interrupts a promo. This does not require much thought to make thinks better, just buy them a thesaurus.

Lawler and Ross should not be together, they are stale, and Michael Cole actually has a different dynamic with Lawler, but they should probably be on Smackdown. Striker should be more heelish and the colour commentator on Raw with Jr. They could have a higher end analytical convo, but still with Striker saying how great Orton is and JR saying how he cheats. Matthews and Grisham had good chemistry on Heat, so let them call ECW together and develop that.

As for the play by play commentators having personality, I'm not sure they particularly need them. Monsoon had no more personality than Michael Cole and Vince McMahon was as plain as paper. In reality, the expectation has been raised by Bobby Heenan, Jesse Ventura and Lawler being exceptionally good at what they did. However, think back over the years to all the commentators you've forgotten, they are all as bland as the current crop. Lawler is old, and although he still comes out with the occaisional gem, there are only so many insults a guy makes up. The product would be in no way improved if Lawler started bumming Randy Orton now.

People *********e over the Attitude era but the three commentators who have been in a top commentating job for over a year Cole, Ross and Lawler were the commentators then. Striker is the best new commentator for 20 years, and there's nothing inherently bad about Grisham or Matthews. Is commentry stale? Yes. Does it matter? No.

 

[tcizthechamp]

like everyone above me has sed vkm has gone insane over the quality of his product. He believes that the announcers should all be face instead of the old days wen one wus a heel and one was a face. like sum1 above me said, he thinks its distracting the viewer. seriously.... distracting the viewer?? thts gotta be the dumbest thing vkm has ever done. now instead of some fair, balanced commentary, we get 2 mindless robots who are biased with whos clean in the match. AND y did they ever break up jr. and king? for a change? u cant just break up the best announce team. so now basically we have 2 shitty announce team on the 2 best shows and 1 decent announce team on the shitty show.

 

[Steamboat Ricky]

ECW is hardly a decent announce team. Josh Matthews cannot be considered decent, IMO. Striker is the best announcer currently in WWE, but he still does not elevate the team to decent status.

And yes, the announcers NEED to have personalities. That is what makes us want to listen to what they say. Otherwise...we might as well just not have announcers.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

The commentating in WWE is stale, but don't blame Vince McMahon.

You couldn't be more offbase with your assessment of why things are the way they are in the Broadcast booth today. It has EVERYTHING to do with Vince McMahon. And Ross even states as much (without outright naming names) in his blog.

Both Michael Cole and Jim Ross are guilty of having zero diversity in their use of language.

Things are like that for a reason. Vince doesn't want his commentators standing out or distracting people from the in-ring action. He doesn't want his commentators being characters any longer.

Cole thinks everything is vintage,

That is obviously a running joke that is done each week ... almost a shout-out to the IWC. Ross and some of the other commentators even joke about Cole's use of the word once in a while.

It amazes me to think people don't think he's doing that on purpose.

and Jim Ross thinks that business picks up every time someone interrupts a promo. This does not require much thought to make thinks better, just buy them a thesaurus.

They have to get approval first from Vince.

Lawler and Ross should not be together, they are stale,

Putting them together given the way McMahon wants the style of commentary today, that would be pointless. We saw what it was like just before Ross and Lawler were split up, and it was almost as bad to listen to with Cole and Lawler today. But again, that isn't Ross' fault or Cole's fault. It's what Vince has done to the style of commentary in the company, that is the problem -- this concept that the announcers have to be watered down so they don't distract from the in-ring product.

and Michael Cole actually has a different dynamic with Lawler, but they should probably be on Smackdown. Striker should be more heelish and the colour commentator on Raw with Jr.

Why do you think we don't have Heels in the Broadcast Booth anymore? Do you honestly think it is because Vince simply can't find any Heel characters to do it? If McMahon wanted Matt Striker to be a Heel, than Striker would be a Heel.

They could have a higher end analytical convo, but still with Striker saying how great Orton is and JR saying how he cheats. Matthews and Grisham had good chemistry on Heat, so let them call ECW together and develop that.

You'll have to talk to Vince about that one, since he does not agree with Face/Heel broadcast teams anymore.

Why people are so afraid to lay any blame on Vince, when Vince is clearly the one that needs to be blamed in almost every Creative situation with the company given how hands-on he is, is really beyond me. Ross even stated in a Q&A that there is "only one person in charge of Creative within the WWE, and his name is Vince McMahon".

As for the play by play commentators having personality, I'm not sure they particularly need them. Monsoon had no more personality than Michael Cole and Vince McMahon was as plain as paper.

What WWE show were you watching? Gorilla Monsoon and Vince McMahon had no "personality" as broadcasters? I'm sorry, but that is one of the most asinine things I have ever heard related to the broadcast booth.

In reality, the expectation has been raised by Bobby Heenan, Jesse Ventura and Lawler being exceptionally good at what they did. However, think back over the years to all the commentators you've forgotten, they are all as bland as the current crop. Lawler is old, and although he still comes out with the occaisional gem, there are only so many insults a guy makes up. The product would be in no way improved if Lawler started bumming Randy Orton now.

Having the announcers have differing viewpoints would unquestionably liven up the broadcast two-fold. Bobby Heenan is typically regarded as the Top Color Commentator of all time, with both Jesse Ventura and Jerry Lawler right behind him. All 3 of those guys made the broadcasts far more entertaining to listen to, than any of today's commentators. And it's because not only were they great, but there were allowed to be great because of the Face/Heel team concept.

Are you telling us that Heenan would have been just as entertaining if he were a Babyface? Look at his work on Nitro compared to WWE, where he was turned into "John Madden" for your answer.

People *********e over the Attitude era but the three commentators who have been in a top commentating job for over a year Cole, Ross and Lawler were the commentators then.

And the style of commentary was ten times better back then, compared to today. Again though, that is out of their hands. Those guys can't just change their style of commentary at a whim.

I can't imagine that many people are going to fail to acknowledge that the style of commentary has changed since then. Obviously, that change came from somewhere, and it certainly isn't the announcers themselves.

Striker is the best new commentator for 20 years, and there's nothing inherently bad about Grisham or Matthews. Is commentry stale? Yes. Does it matter? No.

You adopted McMahon's philosophies well in that commentary does not matter. The commentary can either make or break a show. They can make the show entertaining or completely boring.

Having that element of Face/Heel broadcast teams is not only more entertaining for the audience, but also can turn a bad match into a good one.