Who will replace The King?

[Hazardous]

Nothing lasts forever. Sadly, one day Jerry will have to step down from the table.. So who's going to fill his spot? I like the way it's been done, of always having a former wrestler in that spot. Be it Tazz, JBL, Foley, or more recently, Booker-T.

While it would be great to see someone like Y2J, or HBK do it, those guys would not want to stick around. HBK has already distanced himself, and when Jericho does finally leave, he's going to want to spend more time with the family and Fozzy. I think the front runner will be HHH. His family is there, and this way he can REALLY follow in Vince's footsteps. Some other possibilities, albeit long shots, include Steve Austin (once the movie career is done maybe?) or William Regal.

Thoughts, or other possibilities? Who could possibly fill the void Lawler will leave behind?

 

[CleverName51]

My vote would be for William Regal, he was never a big enough star to make enough money where he can just retire and he doesn't have the look to just jump into movies and make a ton of money, but Regal can talk with the best of them as shown by his GM/Commissioner days.

Regal would be great on the announce team.

Also: CM Punk did well during his month or so in the booth...I wouldn't mind seeing him for a little while as well

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I cannot see Triple H doing it, I think he will work behind the scenes dictating things most of the time, or he will be an on-screen authority figure.

Jericho would be good, his personality would be brilliant in that sort of role but as you said he may want to spend more time with his family or on other non-WWE projects.

Perhaps Booker T will move over from Smackdown, Kevin Nash could step in or they could recruit from elsewhere or bring in another ex-wrestler to do the job. You mentioned Regal, he could be a good shout. I could see Kurt Angle doing something along those lines too when he retires

 

[TheChristmasCreature]

I'd love to see JBL come back and do it, he was great on Smackdown! Unfortunately, I don't believe he would return to do it.

Regal would be an interesting choice as would Punk... Punk did an excellent job when he sat at the table. Christian or Edge I think would also make a good fit!

 

[Brother Love]

Call me crazy but I'd like to see Kane. He's getting up there in years and has talked about retiring. He speaks professionally outside the ring and I think he could do a great job. Not only can he talk, he we be someone that could keep Michael Cole in check, and like Lawler could be envolved in the occasional match or two.

Kevin Nash could be another possibility. He and HHH are friends and he's already back in the WWE with a legends contract. I think he could do a decent job and it's worth giving him a try when the time comes.

 

[silverwraith720]

Call me crazy but I'd like to see Kane. He's getting up there in years and has talked about retiring.

You know, I hadn't considered that until you said it, but you're right. Despite playing such a dark character, Glenn Jacobs is incredibly intelligent and speaks almost eloquently. Of any two current roster members, Kane as play by play and CM Punk as color commentary would be phenomenal.

 

[S.J. Maximus]

When Punk retires he should definitely do it but since we're talking about King's retirement (which will probably be when Punk's an active wrestler) i think regal is a great choice to take over. Christian would be my dream announcer though, he's witty, clever, and funny and I think he'd do even better than Regal

 

[Klown_Karnage]

Regal, Christian and Kane would all be great choices to take over. I personally could really go for Kane as kind of a split personality. While he's in the booth, he's just a regular guy. If he ever gets into ring gear, he reverts and becomes the old Kane.

Another possibility would be to bring Dusty Rhodes in for this position. We've seen him making occasional return visits and getting more involved in the WWE, and I've heard his commentary on some of the Royal Rumbles of the past. The guy can talk and his accent and cadence make his speech very rhythmic and pleasing to listen to. Still, he might be a bit far in years to take over this spot long term.

I really couldn't see Trips in this position, though. His speech is a bit too quiet and a little too slow. It's great in his position right now and in the type of promos he delivers, but I think these announcers would verbally leave him in the dust.

 

[hbkmark]

I would love it if Kevin Nash or Kurt Angle would take the chair some day. Both are quick and able to come up with some schtick but still stay in the storyline message. The Dusty Rhodes or Ric Flair types tend to wander off when talking and that works in an in-ring promo but would be awful when wearing the headsets.
The bigger concern is play-by-play. It is strange that Vince seems to put very little into this position. Josh Mathews was a nice Tough Enough competitor but having an actual broadcaster doing the play-by-play would be a huge step. Every time someone else does it you realize how great Jim Ross is. Michael Cole is actually better as a heel than he ever was at play-by-play.

 

[Rckstrtmmy]

I would love to see CM Punk do it. He was very entertaining when he was commentating while injured. If Mick Foley ever comes back I think he would be a natural fit at the table as well. But honestly the guy I would most like to see start commentating is Goldust aka Dustin Runnels. This guy has been in the business forever and he has an amazing witty personality. He would be a great face commentator next to a ******** heel ala Cole.

 

[The Hardcore Kid]

It seems they've been breeding Cole to be the heel Color guy for whatever reason, but if they decided to go with a wrestler, I'd love for it to be Regal. He's pretty good on NXT and with practice could be great. Also he's a born heel. If not Regal, I'd love to see Punk do it. (when he retires, he's WAY too valuable as a wrestler to pull him.)

 

[VABurghman]

Punk wasn't that good as a commentator. He has poor mic skills and was very stale. He usually looked disinterested in what he was doing. I agree that Regal might be good and the same with Dustin Runnels (not as Gold Dust but as himself).

Let Cole move on to a Manager role. Create a new stable like the old Four Horseman / Legion of Doom (back when they had King Kong Bundy and Jake the Snake with the Road Warriors) / Fabulous Freebirds, etc days. Cole would make a perfect modern day Heenan / Jimmy Hart / Paul Ellering type.

 

[Kayoh]

What's wrong with Josh Matthews replacing him? He and Cole have great chemistry together and Matthews is great at actually doing PbP so they could just use Cole as a heel color guy, kind of like Attitude era Lawler was to JR. Matthews is always the voice of reason and any time Cole runs off on an irrelevant tangent he always saves the commentary by actually calling the match. I'd love to have JUST Matthews and Cole on Commentary on Raw.

 

[KoC417]

What's wrong with Josh Matthews replacing him? He and Cole have great chemistry together and Matthews is great at actually doing PbP so they could just use Cole as a heel color guy, kind of like Attitude era Lawler was to JR. Matthews is always the voice of reason and any time Cole runs off on an irrelevant tangent he always saves the commentary by actually calling the match. I'd love to have JUST Matthews and Cole on Commentary on Raw.

Yeah but that's assuming that Cole is still HEEL after all of this happens. I don't think WWE will continue to run Cole as a heel for that long because after a while he'll just get stale and people will just start muting the show and listening in CC.

I personally would love to see the combo of William Regal and Booker T. You could have Regal as the heel and Booker as the face. Both have an INCREDIBLE knowledge of the wrestling industry. Both are passionate about the business and both have a decent following (Booker here in the US, Regal in the UK)
If neither of them want to do it when their careers wind down I'd love to see Miz/Morrison each give it a shot. I'm not saying they'd be the best at the job but just something about their voices makes it pleasing to listen to (yeah even Miz..lol) on TV.

Front Runners for me:
Booker T
Regal- as a duo with Booker

Kane
Miz
Morrison

 

[Mr.MainEvent]

I agree with everyone who has said Regal, I think he'd make for a brilliant colour commentator. Booker is doing well on SD so maybe they could have just one announce team (Cole, Matthews and Book) for both shows. Hell the only difference between them now is Book is on SD and King on Raw.

I know it wouldn't be likely at all but I really enjoyed Wade Barrett's work in FCW as well. He was quite witty with it and really put people over in a good way.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

While I'd love to see JBL return to the announce booth, I don't see it happen. He's my #1 choice. However, with William Regal's recent addition to NXT, it would appear that he's being groomed for the colour commentary slot of RAW (or perhaps SmackDown should they choose to move Booker to RAW). Regal's done a solid job throughout NXT thus far and brings some credibility to the booth as a recent retiree and has a successful resume.

 

[iwinulose]

kein nash or william regal would both be excellent choices, or even santino marrella. though, to be honest, it will never be the same when guys like lawler, undertaker, trile hhh, randy orton, edge, rey mysterio (though, sin cara will most likely fill that void rather nicely), when these guys retire wwe is gonna have many empty voids, and will probly leave many fans with these guys retirement.

 

[Yesiamaduck]

CM Punk, Regal, Kane, Chrisitan, JBL

I think Regal and Kane have jobs at WWE for life pretty much, I see Regal being a brilliant commentator and Kane is a very intelligent and well spoken guy who would be great at play by play.... the only problem is his kayfabe is so set in stone that it might not work.

As said above, Regal and Booker could work amazingly well

 

[3/4 Facelock]

My vote goes towards Josh Moonsault Matthews. He's being groomed and sooner than later this guy will be a staple for a long time to come.

 

[JH27]

My vote goes towards Josh Moonsault Matthews. He's being groomed and sooner than later this guy will be a staple for a long time to come.

I can see Josh Matthews being the new Michael Cole (as in being a play by play man rather than a colour commentator)

But I would give my vote to this one either CM Punk or Kevin Nash.

but the only way that I would say Punk would be if the King retires from the booth after Punks Career is over just because he has so much more to give

 

[sabataged]

Michael Cole is the perfect Color man now. I just wish they would bring Joey Styles back as the play by play. Joey Styles being the king of the internet type guy that Cole hates. THey would have good banter.

 

[BBowler27]

I want Josh Mathews to replace the king, he's become a very good commentator

 

[FSWWE]

Josh Mathews earn that spot!! I like the voice of Mathews, he is the future of the WWE Color Commentator!!
And he is learning with the bests: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, Jim Ross and so on and on!!

But....

I also love Matt Striker, he is very very good, and i felt sorry for him being replaced by Booker T (who is evolving week after week)!

So for me

Matt Striker or Josh Mathews can earn that spot!!

 

[Hazardous]

I like josh as well, but I think he's being groomed to replace Cole, not King. notice how he calls more of the action these days, and cole has more of the role Lawler did back when he was a heel? Cole's time at the table is coming to a close. A team of Josh, and Regal would be great though. Both have been trained as in ring performers (I was rooting for Mathews way back on tough enough) Really they're running out of ex performers who are of an age they could do the job as long as Jerry has.