WWE Announcer Instructions Online

[klunderbunker]

Here we have a set of instructions given to the announcers about how to speak and what to say/not say on commentary. A lot of this is common sense and logical, but there are some amazing gems of stupidity in there as well.

http://imgur.com/a/NW1WG#DWVb3Il

 

[braveh]

"Manufactured passion is the kiss of death"

Somebody please notify nigel mcguniness. By all rights he should already be dead by now

 

[Spidey Revivey]

"We never want to use the term "The title is on the line". Please use more creative terms like "The title will be defended,etc.""

Most of these words to avoid are really out there. Why can't they say hospital? War? Shot?

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

I'm not sure whether to laugh or be mad. I think I'll just do both.

Not using the word hatred is ridiculous. It would add to a rivalry.

No cursing and no blood is predictable since the product is PG.

Have no idea why feud, wrestler/wrestling, title shot, backstage, and faction are banned.

Anyways, I think the WWE announcers would do A LOT better if they didn't have so many guidelines/instructions. Sometimes, that can really hurt someone's overall production in society in general.

Thanks KB. It was an entertaining read although it did get ridiculous at times.

 

[ABMorales787]

"We never want to use the term "The title is on the line". Please use more creative terms like "The title will be defended,etc.""

Most of these words to avoid are really out there. Why can't they say hospital? War? Shot?

PR reasons. War and Shot aren't exactly kid friendly terms. And all hospitals are medical facilities but not all medical facilities are hospitals. A lot of these terms make a hell of a lot more sense now with some context. Except avoiding the word "wrestling".

 

[ABMorales787]

I'm not sure whether to laugh or be mad. I think I'll just do both.

Not using the word hatred is ridiculous. It would add to a rivalry.

These guys are all in the same locker room and travel together daily. Not to mention "hatred" is indeed a strong word. With "HATE crimes" being abundant, this makes sense.

No cursing and no blood is predictable since the product is PG.

Have no idea why feud, wrestler/wrestling, title shot, backstage, and faction are banned.

Because that's insider terminology and the product is for a broad audience.

Anyways, I think the WWE announcers would do A LOT better if they didn't have so many guidelines/instructions. Sometimes, that can really hurt someone's overall production in society in general.

A good chunk of these rules favor the fact that they are producing a television product and encourage a lot interactivity. It borders on Dora The Explorer levels how much they want to make it seem like the announcera are talking directly to the person.

 

[Wally Dangerously]

Any word containing the letters r,s,t,l,n and e should also be banned effective immediately. While we're at it, the commentators should stop looking at the camera as well. Any attempts to connect with the audience must be discouraged at all costs.

 

[Vageena Hertz]

Talent should always dress professional...

Apart from Jerry Lawler

 

[Messiah]

These guys are all in the same locker room and travel together daily. Not to mention "hatred" is indeed a strong word. With "HATE crimes" being abundant, this makes sense.

WWE has turned into a great big giant pussy hasn't it?... Maybe they should ban all fighting in wrestling to, just cut promos for 3 hour's.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

They can't call something "interesting". Pretty much sums up the table.

 

[Blade]

Oh man. It really bugs me that Vince McMahon will never appreciate the irony of banning the word "talent."

 

[One Punch Doug Crashin]

This sums up how out of touch Vince and his "team" are. Sure you wanna reach out to an audience but to bring them into the story don't you have to describe the animosity they have?

 

[Richard Blonoff]

When I see stuff like this that Vince wants, I always picture this.

 

[nightmare]

What future announcers should do to become better:

1) Listen to old tapes of J.R. and Bobby Heenan.

2) Forget what Michael Cole does.

 

[therockiswwf]

I just watched a 5 minute video from a 1998 (I think) Raw with Michael Cole on commentary. He broke a bunch of those rules. I can see why they have these rules in place (especially the this is not radio part).

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Some of those points make sense, alot of them are just ridiculous.

I love how, after giving pages and pages of things to conform to, announcers are told to "be themselves".

 

[tdmoon]

Because that's insider terminology and the product is for a broad audience.

Did I just miss sarcasm here? "Wrestle", "feud" and "title shot" are "insider" terms? These words have been commonplace for at least as long as I have been viewing, and I started watching wrestling long before kayfabe was broken.

 

[Lee]

This is from 08...

 

[Mustang Sally]

Do your homework. An announcer should never, ever do a show they have not done research on.

Written with Mike Adamle in mind?

Worst excuse for an wrestling announcer ever. There was no reason he couldn't have learned a little about the form of sports entertainment he was covering. It was embarrassing to watch him give us information on performers he had obviously never heard of.

Good rule.

 

[BaconBits]

None of those instructions are outlandish or unexpected. They product is supposed to have mass appeal, and most of those instructions have that in mind.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

None of those instructions are outlandish or unexpected. They product is supposed to have mass appeal, and most of those instructions have that in mind.

Except pro wrestling. That's the name of the product. You don't see NFL banning "football".

 

[BaconBits]

Except pro wrestling. That's the name of the product. You don't see NFL banning "football".

No, the name of the WWE's product is sports entertainment, and Vince himself made that abundantly clear a number of years ago. It makes perfect sense in this instance.

If the NFL stated they were officially changing the name of their product to gridiron instead of football, their announcers would get similar instructions.