Who else is sick of the announcers?

[MartialHorror]

I'm generally pretty easy going when it comes to them because I don't pay too much attention to their antics and hell...in the past, I've even liked them. JBL can be funny, Cole does a good job at calling the spots and Jerry used to crack me up. But these days, they just get on my nerves. I don't like how they force buzz words or characters we're supposed to like down our throats. Whenever Michael Cole emphasis how 'fun' Adam Rose or the New Day are, I tend to sympathize with JBL's responses.

But my issue is how inconsistent and hypocritical they all are. Cole and King accuse JBL of being biased, when they'll cheer whenever a face takes out the bad guys. Cole tends to be the worst, although JBL seems to be taking notes from him. I remember when Kane interrupted Ryback's match back when the Authority was courting him and Ryback reacted violently, Cole defended him. But that same night, Rose did the SAME thing to the Bunny and Cole condemned him. Are we sure Cole isn't still the heel announcer?

JBL is strange because he will praise a face for overcoming the odds, like Ziggler when he defeated Harper. Yet for some reason he's against Ryback challenging Rusev, asking who he has beaten to deserve such a shot, as if TLC didn't exist. Plus, JBL has always opposed Rusev. Why is he being so hostile against Ryback when Ryback barely played a roll in the downfall of the Authority?

The annoying thing is that a year ago, these inconsistencies weren't that apparent. Even JBL was shown to have his standards and he mostly stayed with him, criticizing Orton for beating up Cena's Dad and defending King against the Wyatts (which he has apparently forgotten). If Cole was the same way, then at least I didn't notice. It's amusing whenever the inconsistencies are brought up, like when Miz mentioned how Cole used to be his biggest fan and Cole responds with silence.

As for Jerry Lawler, he just seems really kind of bored. Whenever he does stand out, it's annoying because he's trying to justify the crowd not playing nice. When they cheered Rollins, he'd say something like "They want to see ROllins get in the ring with Reigns".

The new guy who shows up on Smackdown and I believe works primarily in NXT has yet to stand out at all. I don't remember his name. He's just there. Am I the only one who really feels this way? I think these guys can be fine announcers, but their double standards are making them the most vile heels of the company.

 

[steve115657]

King can go, he doesn't do anything for me. Michael Cole is okay, I could take him or leave him. But JBL cracks me up. I never really liked the guy but to me his current gimmick is hilarious

 

[Miseria Cantare]

at times they all can be funny but jbl does get annoying in a bad way

 

[Kamala316]

Anyone else pick up on this week's Raw when Cole didn't even realize that the Matadores (and El Torito) vs. the Dust Brothers was a 2.5 on 2 match? Cole acted surprised when Torito stayed n the apron, and JBL had to cover for him and say it was a 2,5 on 2 match. To me, Cole is Vince Jr. on the mic, and pretty much says what he's told. Lawler is pretty much silenced due to the PG era, and seeing that he can't say anything dirty, he doesn't say much at all (other than his forced, watered down one-liners). I've personally never been impressed with JBL's in-ring work, and I feel the same way about his work at the announcers' table; it seems like he's just there to stir the pot (which he sucks at) while plugging anything he's involved in, whether it be in collaboration with WWE or not. And his little "smirk" he has on his face during the show reminds me of a car salesman who's trying to sell you a lemon.

 

[BillAlfonsos_Whistle]

If there was a credible "face" announcer to pair with JBL it would be much better. Cole has sucked from day one. Useless. Can't believe he's gotten to where he is. If you could find a decent face play by play guy to pair with JBL you're good to go. He staggers and stutters often but it only adds to the hilarity of his ridiculous heel nature.

 

[bioshock]

This is what happens when Vince forces them to be like him, or the way he wants them. Would be much better if he let them be them self. Just take King for instance, listen to him from the early 90s and compare that to now. King was great as a heel on commentary well before attitude era, makes JBL look very lame when you think about it.

 

[capnwillie]

There is no magic with the current announce team, especially with Cole in the anchor seat. Compared to Heenan/Monsoon, JR/King during the Attitude days or even Vince with Jesse Ventura or Curt Hennig, nothing about them enriches the show. King is a good 10 years past his expiration date and it comes through in his jokes. Same with JBL, who also overdoes it far too much to be enjoyable. Cole is just a boring company man.

None of them have a proverbial bag of sayings like JR did. It was always great to hear him use phrases like "uglier than a bowling shoe" or "tougher than a two day-old steak" as well as his "everything in threes" philosophy during big moments. Who can forget those foam-at-the-mouth moments about "RIGHT HANDS!!" or the perennial favorite "SOMEBODY STOP THE DAMN MATCH!" J.R. made the mundane exciting.

Now we're stuck with King's dated references of OJ Simpson, Cole's "vintage everything" and JBL overacting about almost everything to the point it becomes uncomfortable. Nothing inspiring at all from these guys, even for the main event at Wrestlemania. These guys couldn't sell water to a man dying of dehydration.

 

[Navi]

Oh they are absolute crap and have been for a long time. JBL and Cole are fine at times, Lawler is an embarrassment and just needs to retire, right now.

They also need to get Vince or however is in their ear out of there. Let them call the matches the way they see them and be done with it. If they can't do the job after this length of time without continued guidance, then they shouldn't be there in the first place.

I have to say though, it must be boring as shit for them to call the same matches over and over again. There is only so many words and phrases a person can come up with to describe an Uso's/Dust Brothers match. You get my drift.

 

[stingray11214]

They need to just get rid of all three of them. Cole is useless. Lawler is there because VKM is still loyal to him. JBL is there for a paycheck. Re-sign Matt Striker and have David Otunga join him on Color Commentary. Striker and Otunga would make a great team, and wrestling fans will finally get a Solie-like feel to the broadcasts rather than the crap we have now.

 

[richhasnofriends]

This one time I was so tired of Cole laughing at some side note, unabated by the action at hand, to a point that I muted the television and began my own commentating. It was so impressive even the neighbors told me to shut the hell up, but of course they meant it to conserve my energy for the upcoming Rumble in which I will be calling from the living room for all to enjoy.

 

[Ultimate Randy Savage Fan]

Lawler just seems to be a waste of a pair of microphone headsets but it seems I'm in the minority but I quiet like Michael Cole and I luv JBL's antics....I wouldn't put him in the same league as the great Jesse Ventura but I do see a few similar traits in there heel defending comentry style

 

[Bockwinkel's Class]

JBL's trying to do a bad Jesse Ventura imitation, Cole prattling on about hashtags nobody gives a crap about, and Lawler's emasculated because he can't scream "puppies" every five seconds anymore. None them really bother to, you know, actually CALL the match.

Why the hell do they even need a heel announcer anyway? At least Bobby Heenan was funny. He could pull that off and make you want to listen to see what he was going to say next. None of the others I've seen since has been able to pull that off. If the heel announcer is making the fans reach for the mute button he's not getting good heat, he's getting X-Pac heat.....and that's a problem.

Hell, the best announce team I ever heard consisted of Gordon Solie and a microphone. No BS just call the match.

 

[Ser Duncan the Tall]

Now we're stuck with King's dated references of OJ Simpson, Cole's "vintage everything" and JBL overacting about almost everything to the point it becomes uncomfortable. Nothing inspiring at all from these guys, even for the main event at Wrestlemania. These guys couldn't sell water to a man dying of dehydration.

That's a mighty fine jape in the bold.

There is only so many words and phrases a person can come up with to describe an Uso's/Dust Brothers match. You get my drift.

Nothing more awkwardly cringing than Cole shouting wrestlers' names ("HARPER!" or "ROLLINS!") when contact is being made. It's embarrassing listening to them sometimes and even more in front of other people in the same room wondering why the hell they're shouting.

 

[Dirk]

Well, as we know from previous commentary-threads, JBL, King and Cole have Vince whispering into their headsets and writing some lines on their notes, which influences them quite a bit.

JBL cracks me up, I like him and his voice (except when he says "Mygel").

King's voice annoys me, because it's so high-pitched, but there's nothing he can do about it, so that's on me. What I will say, is that he's completely unnecessary to the team and doesn't really add anything. He's supposed to tell backstage stories or say how things were back in his day, but he's just chilling there as a third man.

I know some people don't like it when the commentators actually call the match, but I do. Regal's calm tone aside, he's always good at describing various holds, techniques and how they affect you. Contrast Michael Cole, who wouldn't call a thing - was that move right there Punk "with the knee", Regal "with the knee" or Bryan "with the knee"? See what I mean?

In the end, it's still just commentary and it really should not be that much of a deal.

 

[DCLXVI]

In the end, it's still just commentary and it really should not be that much of a deal.

I disagree... it narrates the show. Good or bad commentary can make or break it. Imagine if Jim Ross had not acted like he was having a seizure every time Stone Cold came out, or if he hadn't called Mankind vs. Undertaker and instead it was the current announce team. JR really improved the show. At this point King is just basically on autopilot, I'm sure he'll be there until he retires because he has stayed so loyal to WWE all these years and is pretty much guaranteed a job. He is beyond awful now and couldn't give a shit most of the time. JBL has actually grown on me, but he can be distracting and a lot of times is trying to put over his own humor and buries guys in the process (calling Ryback out for having words on his singlet misspelled on his return). Cole is pretty much there to shill the company products and he is kind of necessary on that type of show.

I just wish they would get a guy who called the actual play-by-play similar to William Regal's commentary in NXT if they are going to have a three man announce team. Alex Riley could be that guy (if he isn't still trying to wrestle). Tom Phillips I guess is being groomed to be Michael Cole #2 and is a lot less grating on the ears. It seems to be a pretty regular topic on forums about how bad the announce team is, so hopefully they fix that. Sometimes the current commentators can be downright embarrassing, and they do not seem to really give a damn about putting guys or matches over.

 

[Wald]

Cole is fine as a straight up company man. I agree with JR when he says that people don't give Cole enough credit for evolving with the business. The amount of stuff he has to pimp, from hashtags to the Network to the next PPV, whilst a match is on-going is ridiculous. He does a good job at being the company salesman and directing the traffic in my opinion.

Where the commentary team falls down then is with JBL and Lawler. They should be the ones taking us back in to the match and the wrestlers by calling the moves, hyping the guys in the ring and arguing over their characters' actions. Lawler just hasn't had it for the past decade now and needs to retire whilst JBL is too concerned with getting himself over to be an asset. JBL would genuinely rather tell a funny joke at the expense of a wrestler than put over a move he's doing in the ring.

I wouldn't even mind them being rubbish at putting over wrestlers so much if they didn't actively try to knock them down so often. Anyone catch JBL, the heel commentator, talking about the Ascension on last night's Smackdown? He was asked if he thought they looked impressive and instead of giving the easy answer that they look unstoppable monsters and that the Usos should be worried about them he says something like 'yeah they've debuted okay but so did a lot of acts in the past'. I mean what the in the absolute hell is that about? How does the WWE not see that the commentators are the ones who should really be pushing their stars? Its mind-boggling sometimes that this company turns over a profit, it really is

 

[Radical]

The WWE commentary team is PROOF that kissing major ass works wonders in WWE.

Because Cole, King and JBL have been loyal to WWE all their careers, WWE (aka Vince) seems blinded to any and all negative feedback about the commentary team.

It is, honestly, annoying and sad. I know the commentary team is getting told what to say a lot of the time so anytime the commentary team is talking about some hashtag, a WWE product or show not related to the actual match I kind of forgive them because I know they are being told to say that.

What I DON'T forgive is the majority of a match where there is clearly time to call the actual match, what is happening, what the importance of the match is, what the strengths of each wrestler is and why we should care about the match and saying it in a way that is interesting and not cringeworthy.

The problem I often have with the commentary team is during a match Cole and JBL are bickering too long about a difference of opinion. I don't remember that much side talk with JR and King or Monsoon and Heenen. Sure, there was a heel perspective but the face guy would make maybe one rebuttal comment and be back to calling the match.

But with Cole and JBL they will go back and forth and Cole will do his horrible laugh of disbelief and get all high pitch and exasperated and take away from the match at hand. When that happens I simply must mute the TV or make it very low because it's taken my enjoyment out of the match!

As for King, well, I feel for him. I mean, we complain about him but really pretty much any of us who spent that much time in the business if offered to keep going and be the 3rd man would take that position. Honestly, I don't mind King. He's quite most of the time and when he does talk he'll try to add some insight or an added perspective about the topic at hand. He really doesn't bother me at all so out of the whole commentary team I'm least worried about him staying on because he's never caused me to want to mute the show. Cole and JBL have!

I don't know how long we will be stuck with Cole and JBL but it could be at least another 5 years! Scary to think!

But there is hope. With NXT developing commentators I think we COULD see Cole and JBL gone in 5 years.

I'd be quite fine with Tom Phillips as lead commentary and Alex Riley or Jason Albert as heel sympathizer but without personal attacks to Tom if he differs in opinion.

 

[ColeMc]

When Lawler speaks about his old matches and recalls past wrestlers I like that, everything else can go. He barely has a grasp on what's going on, talks through entrances he shouldn't(Bray's being the standout) and his "dad joke" gimmick is something that would appeal to 5yo's, stupid 5yo's, very very stupid 5yo's.

Cole has an annoying habit of repeating good points and passing them off as his own, this guy was a wartime correspondent so you'd expect him to know better being the only one there who is an actual journalist. He can share the cabfare with Lawler as they hire back Styles(I know he's working at WWE digital now, but back on the desk).

JBL is my boy, he is so funny sometimes, but I'd like him to come back to the middle. He needs to stop being a heel cheerleader because he sounds like a moron, call it straight down the middle and he was awesome when doing that. Not one of them called out Henry and Show for bullying Rusev and cornering him 2-on-1 and that's because JBL has taken an anti-Rusev stance and the other two are idiots.

Styles on play-by-play, JBL as a down the middle, straight shooting colour comm...sorted.