My biggest complaint about the McMahon/Ventura commentary last night was... I wanted more!
It was a 3 hour show, with self-contained story lines that wouldn't necessarily arc into next week, so, it would've been easy to have Vince and Ventura do ALL of hour number 3... although, I would've been perfectly okay if they did all three hours, to be honest.
Was McMahon awkward as hell? Hell yeah he was! But, think about it, it's been over a decade since he worked the stick behind the table. And, plus, he was in a weird position where he, and rightfully and obviously so, didn't know where to take his character. He's been this way over-exposed and long burned out evil "Mr. McMahon" character for over a decade, but, was a face on commentary for much longer than that years before that. So, where was he to go with it right off the top? Plus, the storyline last night was that he was forced to be a "lowly" announcer under protest. So, it was a strange position for him to be in from his personal and character stand point.
But, as the match progressed, and as McMahon was able to find his groove with not only commentary, but, finding his groove with Ventura again, it was REALLY entertaining to have the former "Superstars of Wrestling" announce team together again.
Unfortunately, though, the Breakthrough Battle Royale was way too short to fully appreciate the McMahon and Ventura reunion. I just didn't want the match to end because of those two. Imagine just how great it would've been if they were given a full hour, or better yet, a full show to work together? They would've found their full groove and Raw would've been, for the first time since 1998, "Must See TV."
McMahon was never the best announcer in the business, or the WWF, for that matter. But, McMahon's strength is putting over the WWE, gimmicks and more importantly, his talent. He may not match Joey Styles by calling hold-by-hold by name, but, he puts over talent like nobody's business. Even during that clusterf*ck of The Million Dollar Giveaway a couple of years ago, he managed to put over his superstars better in 30 seconds than any of the announcers of any brand could in a full show.
And by the way, Ventura was on-freaking-fire last night on commentary. He was carrying McMahon throughout, but, kudos for him for doing so. While you could tell McMahon was rusty and need time to get into his groove, Ventura was on fire the moment Raw went on the air. Ventura was a breath of fresh air to Raw last night... and his teaming with McMahon was most welcomed.
The difference betwwen Cole and Lawler vs. McMahon and Ventura is flow and chemistry. Cole and Lawler simply don't have the same chemistry and McMahon & Ventura (as I state the obvious).
But, there's another difference -- Cole and Lawler are virtually handcuffed by regurgitating whatever they're told to say in their headsets, so, naturally, it's never going to come out as naturally as their counterparts. Vince, the boss, KNOWS what he wants to put across and doesn't have anyone telling him word-for-word what to say, so, naturally it comes across more naturally. I have the feeling that Ventura doesn't follow scripts and does just whatever the hell he wants. He'll put over whatever he's required to (such as key elements in the story line and the match) but, he doesn't need to remind us every 5 minutes that we're watching television's longest running episoidic show. And, hey, IT WORKS!
One of the bigger complaints about WWE is that everything's too micromanaged, and that everything is TOO scripted -- that includes commentary.
If Vince wants to "freshen" his product, let the guys who CAN talk, talk without a book of scripted promo. That's the difference between generations -- guys from "yesterday" CAN talk (they have that thing called "experience") as the kids today Google their promos, memorize them, and try to retread them on TV. And what they can't find on Google, they're forced to read scripts. There are many reasons why this is happening today, but, maybe the kids should be given opportunity to "freestyle." Maybe not on TV, but, at houseshows, in training, and at family BBQs. Just PRACTISE.
And by the way, was I the only one somewhat disappointed that Ventura last night gave Vince the Saturday Night's Main Event tuxedo, and not that powder-blue blazer that Vince always wore on "Superstars?" It would've worked better for the visual effect comically. Ah well.
