Time For A Complete Announce Table Change?

[huwtimbrell38]

So after this weeks ECW we have finally seen someone from WWE announce that WWE should go young and stay young, well done JR, but should this apply to the announce table too?

last week we saw the debut of Todd Grisham, who wasnt great to start and improved tremendously this week. why did he improve? his new partner Matt Striker.

Now ive always been a huge fan of Strikers mic work, i think he has tremendous potential as a manager/wrestler, but last night he showed the potential to become an absolutely top class announcer. He was a breath of fresh air from Tazz bumbling commentry and constant repetition of phrases. He clearly knows his history, he knows even more about the superstars, hes intellectual and has a wide vocabulary, and with the exception of saying that Bourne does the 450 splash and not the SSP, he made no mistakes. He was calm, professional and had a great rapour with Todd Grisham, this then improved Grishams work too.

I think Todd Grisham can learn alot with Striker and they could be groomed into a hell of an announce team for the future if they are given a run together. Good commentators have a good connection with their partners and these two shows signs of that on their first night. Something which Tazz hasnt shown since he was split from Michael Cole.

So your thoughts on whether these two should be given a chance to form a partnership and run with the ball as the announce team?

 

[MF'orever]

I think that Striker and Grisham could make a great announce team. Striker in my opinon a better manager or announcer than he was a wrestler. Striker has a sort of flair when announcing. Grisham wasn't too bad as the announcer for Heat and he's improving . My only problem is where would that put Tazz? Would he go to Smackdown and replace Foley?

 

[D.I.S 202]

I think having Todd Grisham and Matt Striker work the commentary on ECW would be a great move. I mean since ECW is supposed to be a brand were the young talent get to shine having a young announce team would greatly represent that. Also since Striker is a wrestler he should know alot about the which will help make Grisham a better play-by-play guy. Also it's been awhile since wwe has had a good heel on the announce team. As for Tazz I think it would be interesting to see him as the next General Manager on ECW as i'm getting tired of seeing Teddy Long. Or they since he's a pretty good talker he could work well as a manager for a wrestlers who have trouble on the mic like Mike Knox or Mark Henry.

 

[huwtimbrell38]

with the reports of Vince not being happy with Coles work on Raw, and Foleys potential impending departure from the company, this could be the first steps in placing Cole/Tazz for Smackdown, and JR/King back on Raw. Personally i think this would be a good decision as Tazz did his best announcing when with Cole and has gone downhill since and everyone knows how great JR/King are together. altho i would be dissapointed to see Foley go as he is getting better and better.
but Grish and Striker for ECW is almost certainly the way forward

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

JR is JR. He's the man.

Lawler isn't JR, but he's a consistently valuable asset that I wouldn't let go.

Cole, I feel people don't give him the benefit of the doubt. I do, however, agree that he is no Jim Ross, but I don't think he's as horrible as a lot of people say.

Tazz...I never liked him as a commentator too much, because his stuttering just gets to me. Still, he's not atrocious.

Foley, I'm really liking as a commentator. He plays the role well of both being the color commentator as well as genuinely adding to the play-by-play, which is something that most color commentators (JBL especially) seemingly refused to do.

Grisham, I don't like. To me, as I've said in other threads, he's the boring and terrible aspects of Mike Adamle, but without the humor factor. I can't stand listening to Grisham do his work. Some say "don't be hard on the guy, he's new", but he's not. He's been a commentator for Heat for how long now? He should've learned his craft a long while ago.

Striker, he wasn't too bad. Nothing spectacular, but if this was his first time doing it, he did a pretty decent job.


If anything changes, I think it should stay Cole/Lawler on Raw, JR/Foley on Smackdown, and Tazz/Striker on ECW. Why do you need to have a "straight man" for the color commentator to play off of, when you could just as easily have Tazz and Striker working together on their little quips? Both of them could do 50% p-b-p, 50% color. You don't always need a stark contrast. Are you somewhat similar to your best friend (like a Tazz/Striker combo would seem), or are you completely different (like what Cole/JBL was)?

Hopefully, Foley doesn't leave. He's too fresh and entertaining.

 

[Uncle Phatso]

I fucking loved striker as the ecw announcer. I do say I love tazz, but fuck if striker can be that good on the main stick all night. Why not give him a chance. And If foley jumps offa smackdown, why not give striker ecw, and put tazz back in sd? I think it would be a good change.

Ecw was awsome with styles and tazz. I wanna see what they can do with striker if they choose him. Serously he did'nt even seem like a heel to me. Sort of but not really. Maybe a tweener, but I just liked it. It was like he was talking to just you when you were whatching it.

 

[chasingamy]

It’s already been said but it bears repeating: Matt Striker did a good job on commentary on ECW. If I were a first-time viewer, I wouldn’t have known it was his commentary debut. He looked and sounded like he’d done it countless times before. Striker was witty and knowledgeable. His inclusion of historical points and wrestler tidbits was a nice touch. He worked well with and even made Todd Grisham more enjoyable. I also found it refreshing he didn't play the full-on heel announcer as that quickly gets old and annoying.

Striker has my vote if Tazz’s spot opens up. I hope Tazz stays though because I really like the Smackdown tandem of JR and Foley. And while JR and King were great together on Raw, HHH and Jeff Hardy matches just wouldn’t be the same without JR calling them. Even if Tazz stays, I still say keep Striker…he’s a natural. Grisham will still have the Raw backstage interviewer role.

 

[Rusty]

I am really tired of the announcers switching lately. Every week theres new announcers on each show. Its ridiculous. I liked Cole/Lawler on Raw and I loved J.R/Foley on Smackdown. On ECW I liked Todd Grisham and Tazz. While Matt Striker was great on his commentary debut last week, I think he should only be a reserve until either Tazz or Foley leave. He should wrestle on ECW as that brand is getting desperate for talent. I hope it stays like this so I can get used to the same 6 commentators weekly. Foley needs to stay. He really is a breath of fresh air at the commentary table.

But nonetheless Matt Striker is a natural and should always be kept as a reserve if he is needed. I hope the commentating positions stay the same as what they are now because it really does make all 3 shows feel fresher. I'm glad Mike Adamle isn't announcing anymore as he didn't deserve the position on ECW. So I really hope we don't see anymore announcing swaps for a very long time.

 

[KillBill]

I agree with the fact that Matt Striker was very good. I tuned in to ECW a few minutes late tonite and heard his voice, but did not know it was him. He kept it interesting, and he sounded knowledgable. He really was a teacher, so you would expect him to do well, and he did. I'm assuming Tazz will go to Smackdown. I like having former wrestlers announce, they have a lot to offer from having experience of being in the ring.

 

[FromTheSouth]

I don't think Stryker is that good at all. First of all, he is supposed to be the heel announcer. He goes on Raw and gives a heel promo before getting destroyed. He manages Daddy V and turns him on Taker, and yet, when at the announce table says things like "Knox is going to get a wake up call from Finalay." and professes his love for Hornswoggle. He is a good speaker, and he knows wrestling, but his ability to keep his character while commenting is lacking.

Lawler was a great heel announcer. He started a feud with a wrestler (Hart) and he and JR used to bicker nonstop. He would insult Vince the announcer McMahon. Then, when JR was getting picked on by I forget who, he ran to JR's aid, and was thus, a face. WWE pulled off a turn for an announcer better than they did for Kane, but that is another story. Stryker needs to reevaluate his character and figure out which side to take.

And I don't think JR is great anymore either. He rarely uses names for moves. I don't remember his ever calling Jericho's finisher the codebreaker. JR used to be able to pull a slow segment through, but now, I think he may be hurting the product. He marks out for HHH, and is lackluster with everyone else. It's like saying Pudge Rodriguez was going to put the Yankees over the top. It's not 2001 anymore, time to move on.

Lawler is the best announcer the WWE has. And Cole is the best play by play guy. That team is right. Smackdown needs to figure out a twosome, and JR needs to step it up, or get put out to pasture. He could book, or develop talent, or mentor the younger guys a bit, but broadcasting may have passed him by. I love and respect everything he's done in the business, but when it's time to go, it's just time to go. And in my humble opinion, it's that time.

 

[iwin122]

i dont think striker HAS to be a heel announcer anyways, with striker/grisham and it looks like it will in fact stay cole/lawler im guessing it will be JR/tazz. That mustve been why foley was "injured" and "couldnt make the show" last week, to test him out with JR. I think he is an ok announcer, anyways i'll still always miss JR/lawler though. And i think JR is still good but i do agree with Lawler being the best announcer right now, JR is better than Cole, much much better.
But if Foley does stay(which i really dont think will happen)id like to see Tazz/Striker because Grisham is just annoying to me. Grisham needs to stay as an interviewer guy or whatever you want to call him, or just get released.

 

[Joaquim Akaem]

I think theres nothing wrong with having three announcers on a show. They used to... back in the day put injured superstars on the announce table with Vince and Gorilla or whoever it was and some of them turned out to be quite good. Perfect and Ventura are two shining examples. As long as they dont try putting themselves over too much, most wrestlers could make good announcers.

I know some people like consistency and hate change, but mixing it up every now and again makes it interesting, Why not have Tazz, Grisham and Striker on commentary.
I dont see why women dont commentate more often too, as long as she knows what she's talking about and doesn't have an annoying voice, I wouldn't be upset at all if a woman did play by play.

Personally I dont mind who does it, just same-old same-old can get boring for me, so i'd rather switch it up more often.

 

[mcflyboy]

JR is good, you really can't find anyone right now better at doing what he does. I think I read somewhere that he is one of the few that doesn't have McM screaming into his headset.

The king is ok. He was really good as a heel announcer, as a face, no major complaints. I am really glad though that we don't have to hear him yelling about puppies. Nothing was more irritating and it's great that it's finally over. I don't know how exactly to swing him back into a heel announcer position, but he's ok and serves his purpose for now.

I don't have a problem with Cole. He's good play by play, is good at giving snarky responses and minor digs at his partners (him and JBL really were a great team). I'd go so far to say that I like him more than the king.

Foley is adequate. Not great, but they certainly could do worse.

Tazz does nothing for me. He's ok for ECW but if they replaced him I don't think anyone would be yearning for the glory days of Tazz's commentary.

Striker was very good considering his experience level. Grisham it's hard to say right now but considering his experience he should be much better. His first night on ECW was just awful.

I seriously hope that they bring JBL back as a commentator. He probably isn't one right now because he'd rather be a wrestler, but as a wrestler he never really was that exciting to watch, and every promo he cuts is pretty much the same. However I really liked him as a heel commentator, and I still laugh thinking about some of his comments when the miz wrestled. Seriously, this guy is being wasted as a wrestler. A team of him and Cole we know is good, or what if you pair him with JR? That could be an interesting team.