The king of old?

[Big Daddy Fool]

Last night's Raw got me excited. Since JBL left the announce table and Striker not retaining his heel gimmick, I have been clamoring for a heel announcer or one with heelish tendencies. During Matt Hardy's match with Kofi Kingston, Jerry has done something he hasn't done in awhile: condoning a heels actions and making excuses for him.

It was refreshing to tell you the truth. King saying that matt shouldn't be out there with the broken metacarpals. Saying how much that injury hurts and how one can hardly defend themselves with that. WHen cole asked why it didn't hurt when he smashed Goldust with it, King said he talked to Hardy in the back and that HArdy said he almost passed out from the pain. What i really liked was after Kofi won King said the win didn't count because the match was fought under protest.

I was amazed. I don't think we've seen King like this since '99. Grant it during the Cena beatdown he reverted to his face ways but the commentary during the HArdy match was very entertaining and made me feel i was watching wrestling 10 years ago. I hope he goes back to the way he was when he first started announcing. Its something wrestling needs, it makes the matches more interesting when someone roots for the heels instead of the constant baby face love and looking down on what the heels do. You can't say you don't get annoyed with the constant cheer leading for the faces. I'm all for the King becoming a bit of a heel because when he is I enjoy him as much as I enjoyed Heenan and Ventura.

 

[BigDaddyDawg]

I agree. It's good to have a mixture of heel/face announcers on a show. Michael Cole is not the best PBP guy, but he's getting better (I miss JR on Raw). Lawler is a classic heel character who worked great with JR, but I've found that he keeps flip-flopping between heel and face. I agree that he was great during the Hardy match and others when he sides with the heel, but then he cuts down Randy Orton during his segments and sides with Cena, when he should be anti-Cena. IMO, he either needs to go full face or full heel (preferably heel). However, the fact that he's a legend and a HOF member (which is pretty much an automatic face tag for the rest of your life) endears him to the crowd, so he'll get pop either way.

 

[Jimmbo420]

i miss the heel hilarious king so much....i watch stuff from '98 and am cracking up all the time because he was so damn funny.

but yeah i actually noticed that too...i dont think he will ever be a heel again but he has started making wise cracks again which he stopped doing for awhie...even thought their not as funny as they used to be its nice to see the old/real king lawler shining through a little bit!


burger king! burger king! ahahahha he used to get so mad when the crowd would chant that

 

[Steamboat Ricky]

King was hardly a "heel" last night. At best, King was a confusing tweener. Sure, he sounded like a heel for much of the Hardy fight, but that was the extent (unless I'm forgetting something vague) of his heel commentary last night. He wasn't backing Legacy at all, which is kind of necessary if he wants to be truly considered a heel commentator.

I have no idea what kind of gimmick Lawler is going for right now, and I think it really takes away from the show.

 

[mkaisking]

Heel commentators can be greeat and king was awesome in the 90's with his blind backing of the McMahon family and their posse... if he became like that again it would be good as it would take attention away from michael cole......

Who is just terrible and tries to hard to make up for it

 

[Nuzzi824]

Yes I noticed that the king was doing that too. I think it is much more interesting to listen to when he is like that and it is pretty funny. I hope he continues it.

 

[wbuqed]

I think it would be great to see the King go back to his heel ways, I think the reason he went over to the full face side was in order to put over some of the new heels of the WWE, guys like Hassan. But could you imagine the King with Mike Adamle? the king as a heel announcer is an amazing idea considering how bad Don West sounds as a heel

 

[Big Daddy Fool]

King was hardly a "heel" last night. At best, King was a confusing tweener. Sure, he sounded like a heel for much of the Hardy fight, but that was the extent (unless I'm forgetting something vague) of his heel commentary last night. He wasn't backing Legacy at all, which is kind of necessary if he wants to be truly considered a heel commentator.

I have no idea what kind of gimmick Lawler is going for right now, and I think it really takes away from the show.

That would be why i said he was a heel during the Hardy match and not heel the entire night. I also said he was cheerleading for cena during the big show beatdown. Read the entire thing before you jump all over me.

 

[Dave]

For me, the best heel/face partnership in commentary was JBL and Micheal Cole. I loved it. Even the game commentary in SVR between the 2 was immense. I used to love how JBL would rib Cole and Cole would try and defend himself with snarky comments. I think it would be good to see the King go back a bit to when he was a little bit heel, even if it is to rib Cole some more.

 

[codebreaker212p]

I noticed it to. And I actually marked out a little. I really miss King as a heel. Right now he only appeals to kids, and its sad what hes become. I want a King heel turn, wwe listen ot us older fans, WE DEMAND IT!

 

[Thugz417]

Honest to God..BRING BACK COACH.

I'm sorry but IMO even the HILARIOUS heel commentary of JTKL (Jerry "The King" Lawler for those of you who cant figure that out haha) wouldn't make up for the absolute SHITTY commentating of Michael Coleslaw. Anyone remember back when HHH showed up to be HBK's partner against Cade/Y2J?? When the DX music hit all Coleslaw could say was "no way"...."no way"...."no way".... I swear to GOD he was a broken record.

But bringing back the hell king would be tremendous! It would provide great comic relief all night and provide equal balance at the announce table. Right now all we got is... Decent face in King and...Well... Decent face in JTKL. We don't even need Coleslaw if you think about it!

 

[simpsons_fanatic742]

I wouldn't mind see King turn heel at all. Recently I've been watching old wrestling shows and I realized that having that heel commentator is great for the matches and the show as a whole. It makes the fan get more on the side of the face(which is a problem right now, with heels being cheered and faces being booed). I really liked King as a heel because it gave his character some dimension. Right now, he just doesn't stand out as much as before. I would love to see a switch for the King.

 

[gd]

I would really like a heel commentator in the WWE. Look what it's done for Don West in TNA. But, I doubt it is going to happen. You have to fully immerse yourself in it, not be wishy washy like Lawler and side with a heel once and a face the rest of the time.

Pretty much the only thing Lawler does nowadays is make sexually suggestive comments about the Divas.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

It would be awesome if they went to the old fashioned heel/face commentary again. There was a great flow to things. Plus it seemed easier than to have both commentators attack the heel factions.

They may test this some more and see what kind of response they get. I personally think they'll go forward with this and maybe return King to the heel commentary he was so good at. Him and JR doing the heel/face back and forth was awesome...I miss it.

 

[midgensa]

I actually LOVE that Lawler goes back and forth between condoning stuff and not condoning stuff done by heels. By liking or disliking random faces, etc.
It makes me think of him as a true wrestling "fan." All of us have a handful of heels we like and a handful of faces we dislike and vice versa.
I would prefer him be a little more anti-Cena ... but I liked him backing Hardy ... I also liked that during some of Jericho's hot run he backed Jericho. I would not be totally against him going all the way heel ... but I think he is working pretty well how he is right now.

 

[SenorAmazing]

We need the king back on RAW. he was infinitely times funnier and more entertaining when he was a heel commentator. This face for every commentator mentality is sickening quite frankly. Its always the same recycled reactions. And RAW needs JR back and Michael Cole fired.

 

[Kid A]

damn im sad to see that the King changed.. i always knew him as the heel wise-cracking King, but since ive been watching again i havent noticed him saying nearly as much, he doesnt even wear the crown anymore or the outfit. he's just in regular gear, regular guy. i think each wrestling platform should have a heel announcer, i just think it adds a fresh dimension to everything.

 

[Kaze Enigma]

I miss the heel King, i was watching some old promos by the face Rock and king was just shooting it all down in commentary it was great.... I miss those days. I wish Stryker was still heel as well.

 

[Spunky]

It has been pretty obvious that Jerry Lawler has defended Matt Hardy ever since Matt 'broke' his hand. It has elevated to the point where The King is making heel like comments, but only when Matt Hardy wrestles. Are they trying to slowly turn King heel? Or are they trying to set up a storyline with Matt?

So do you reckon Jerry "The King" Lawler of old is coming back through, After the recent successful turn of Don West?

 

[The Dewbliners]

I've noticed that myself, and to be honest, I wouldn't be against it. "Heel" King was alot funnier, with his little quips and one liners. The Lawler we've been getting the last few years has grown kinda stale, what with kissing every single faces proverbial ass.

To answer your question, I say, let's hope so. It seems proper that it be King, too, because he's tried and true in that role.

 

[JGlass]

I noticed that too. He has been supporting Matt Hardy and I think he supported another heel or two last week (it might have been Vickie as far as I remember). I hope they make him into more of a heel announcer than he is now, but I think for now he's just offering an opposing viewpoint to Cole, who is all about supporting the faces.

 

[ztwhite]

I think he feels like he has to carry the show working with Michael Cole. Personally, I'm not too sure if he likes Cole and professionally, I'm pretty damn sure he doesn't like working with Cole.

Despite what Vince or creative wants, The King is always going to have some of the old King in him and imo, he was much better as a heel.

With him trying so hard to provide compelling commentary outside of "vintage", some of the old school King appears to be resurfacing.

But I don't think the Don West heel turn has anything to do with it. Vince could care less what TNA does at this point in time.

 

[Nate DaMac]

I never agree with ZTWhite. Ever. But he's right this time. Tna means shit to Vince. For now anyway. I think King probably let some of the old heel out of the bag just to go against Cole. They can't always agree. I hope he goes heel again, this lame bland shit is getting old.

 

[Razor]

Eh. Does it really matter? A Heel Lawler will not save Raw. Raw needs Orton far far away from the Main Event. Baring that, Cena needs to come in a clean house and not be fucking around with Big Show and Miz. But yeah, to the thread question.

Heel Lawler could be coming back. I wouldn't be surprised. Though hasn't he always had a soft spot for a few heels over the years? I could have sworn that he would defend the actions of a few, yet vilify the rest. Matt Hardy could just be the guy he's defending, while he's calling out the despicable actions of Orton the next.

Though, honestly, if a Heel Lawler would get me a few hilarious jokes about Flair not being able to do jack shit, I'd be all for it. Someone needs to call out the Elephant in the room.

 

[milenniumman8]

I loved the old heel king and it would great if he started going back to that. He was much more enjoyable to listen to when he was a heel. And viewers need something like that with Michael Cole being so stale. In my opinion I wish they would go back to the old 3 man both that they had during like the 80's and early 90's when Vinnie Mac was still doing commentary. You had one guy for the heels(Bobby the Brain Heenan, Jesse Ventura) then you had a guy for the faces(gorilla monson, etc) then you had a guy in the middle(vince). I just always liked a 3 man booth better even in wcw.