Announcers

[The Law]

Announcing is a huge part of wrestling. In fact, I think a lot of people would agree that the quality of announcing can dramatically effect our enjoyment of a match. So this is the thread to discuss wrestling announcing. Who do you like? Who sucks? How should wrestling be called? What are the best and worst wrestling announcing moments?

My favorite announcers:

Jesse Ventura-Always loved this guy. He shameless rooted for the heels without ever burying the faces. He understood wrestling and called the match from a wrestler's perspective. In the process, he was able to tell the story of the match. Him and Gorilla Monsoon were one of my favorite teams ever.

Jim Ross-Best play-by-play man ever, for my money. His style changed over the years, but he was at his best in the late-1990s. How many great moments did JR help make? And how many great JR quotes could we roll off right now? I think that when most people think of wrestling announcing in their heads, they think of Jim Ross.

Joey Styles-Some love him, some hate him. I'm in the first camp. I loved that he had such an extensive knowledge of wrestling moves and holds and actually called them all during a match. I think calling the variety of holds and moves the wrestling perform is a great way to put them over, which is the real job of the announcer. He was perfect for ECW, with a sarcastic, insider tone. He was a breath of fresh air when he first came to WWE, but that quickly dissipated when he was forced to call matches the WWE way.

My least favorite:

Michael Cole-There was one version of Cole that I liked, which was the way he did commentary when he was with Tazz and JBL on Smackdown in the 2000s. Those teams both had good chemistry and did a good job of calling the match as an athletic contest. I greatly dislike bland, "Voice of WWE" Michael Cole who just parrots what Vince tells him to say over the headset. I was okay with his heel act at first, but eventually it got to the point where he was explicitly burying guys on the air, which contradicts the basic role of the announcer.

Jerry Lawler-He was really great in the 90s. He was funny and entertaining back then. Now, he's totally coasting. Most of his commentary consists of him going "wow." He rarely says anything insightful, and only gets off a few truly funny lines per year (sample: "The first time Cole saw his wife dance he had to pay a cover.").

Booker T-Wow, did he ever suck. One of the basic qualifications of announcing would be verbal intelligence, and Booker demonstrated very little of it. "What da Hell?" "He knows what it's all about." Just lots of bland, generic phrases because he didn't seem to have anything else to say. Not surprising that he ended up getting moved off the announce table.

Dusty Rhodes-Just didn't click with me. I found his voice very distracting when he was commentating.

Mike Adamle-No explanation needed.

[OD50]

Favorites..

Bobby Heenan (WWF)
Gorilla Monsoon
Jesse Ventura
Jim Ross (90's)
Jerry Lawler (90's)

Do not like..

Coachman
Todd Grishham
Taz
Adamle
Larry Zbyszko

/Edit

Favorite announce teams would be..

Monsoon/Ventura
Monsoon/Heenan
JR/Lawler/Vince (circa 1997)

And for nostalgic reasons, McMahon/Ventura/Sammartino and JR/Bob Caudle.

[Anaconda Sniper]

I liked Booker T. I miss him at the booth very funny and said some very strange things. I hate Lawler now..he was great in the 90's and early 00's. He still throws out some great lines here and there. Cole is just annoying and JBL just balances both of them out.. so it doesn't sound as awful.

My favorites are Jim Ross and Joey Styles. I also dug Foley as an announcer for the short time he was.

[DDT]

Some like Gordon Solie, some like Jim Ross, but for me Gorilla Monsoon was always the best; what a man.

I of course like the above mentioned two, Joey Styles in the ECW days, and even Michael Cole once upon a time.

For the color commentators, Bobby the Brain. It's not even close, its not even a contest, number two is so far back. Oh, there are standouts like Jessie Ventura, JBL, and heel Lawler, but Bobby was such a weasel and it was so much fun.

Now, having read all this, you would think my favorite commentary team of all time would be Monsoon/Heenan. You would be correct. Again, there were the usual suspects that I liked, but Monsoon/Heenan will always and forever be the greatest duo ever. Every time I watch a show with the pair of them I just become more and more convinced of this as fact.


As for my least favorite of all time, well that's easy: Mike Tenay, Mike Tenay, and good God Almighty, Mike Tenay. Fuck Mike Tenay, every team he was ever on turned to shit, and yet we somehow always blamed someone else for it. I directly hold him responsible for Tazz going from a good-to-decent commentator to a shitty one, and am glad that if Don West ever gets back behind the booth, it will most likely be without Mike Tenay weighing him down. I hold Matt Stryker in similar contempt.

[Badger]

All-time for me like most other people is Monsoon/Heenan.

As for today, should be Cole/JBL/Josh for both shows, time to put King to pasture.

[OD50]

at times I watch Prime Time Wrestling just to enjoy the Heenan/Monsoon banter between matches. It's really amazing how well those two clicked.

[Cewsh]

In retrospect, I really liked Mike Tenay and Don West as a team. Tenay is annoying, and after awhile they'd grate on you, but they were so full of enthusiasm for what they were seeing. Nobody in WWE now ever seems interested in what is going on.

[VHS]

My favorite was Heenan, Dusty, and Schiavone.

[One Man Gang]

I'd have to go with Monsoon and Heenan. But Monsoon/Ventura and Lawler/Ross pre 2001 were pretty good too.

[Kimura Kid]

I personally always enjoyed:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV16k-eCxh4

But my favorite Team was Monsoon and Heenan

[Peter Griffin]

In retrospect, I really liked Mike Tenay and Don West as a team. Tenay is annoying, and after awhile they'd grate on you, but they were so full of enthusiasm for what they were seeing. Nobody in WWE now ever seems interested in what is going on.

I think I HATE Mike Tenay.

[Kneeneighbor]

at times I watch Prime Time Wrestling just to enjoy the Heenan/Monsoon banter between matches. It's really amazing how well those two clicked.

Best ever and its not close.

[Jacknife]

Justin Roberts, I really don't like him. I think the best would be Howard Finkel by far.

[takerson]

I think I HATE Mike Tenay.


http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzxgbuO1zt1qj38xmo1_500.png

[Vice]

http://i.imgur.com/TiY4fGW.gif

[BullyRayStoleMyLunch]

Anybody NOT saying Monsoon and Heenan needs to watch Mania VIII in its entirety.

Better yet: just listen to it. Close your eyes, ignore the ring, and focus on them. You'll STILL come out enjoying it.

Challenge made... I'll wait... ;)

[Peter Griffin]

Challenge accepted #BarneyStimson

[Peter Griffin]

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzxgbuO1zt1qj38xmo1_500.png

:wanker:

[BullyRayStoleMyLunch]

Challenge accepted #BarneyStimson

Suit optional. ;)

[Peter Griffin]

I always suit up!

[Andy]

Michael Cole isn't half as bad as people make out. Nobody else in the history of wrestling has had to deal with the amount of inane shit he has to talk about every week. Twitter, WWE.com, the app and whatever else happens to be flavour of the week. I think he does as well as anyone could reasonably expect. He's much better on SD where it's not live and he only has one co-commentator.

Jerry is a legend but every week I feel he's more and more out of touch. He tries to go along with the app and twitter and stuff but you can tell he doesn't really like/understand it.

Having only watched from 1998 onwards, it's hard to look past the JR and King partnership for the time until King left. Heyman was brilliant though. I was always a big fan of Tazz and of course JBL has been brilliant.

I've watched a few matches from 2008ish recently and my god Grisham/Striker are fucking awful. Definitely so bad that it harmed the matches I was watching.

I don't mind Josh. They should mix things up and have Josh/King do SD and leave Cole/JBL to Raw.

[Peter Griffin]

Tazz was ok..but he is a fucking abomination in TNA.

[Ringo]

Favourites include Heenan, Heel Cole, Attitude Lawler, JR (note: JR/Heyman was great) and Lance fucking Russell

People who should have or should fuck off include PG Lawler, Steve "Mongo" McMichael, Mark Madden, Adamle on commentary (hell of a GM though) and Taz.

[Peter Griffin]

You know who I really despised on commentary? Larry fucking Zybisko

[Andy]

I've never watched TNA really, but Tazz was great on Smackdown for years.

[MikeHunt]

He's probably the worst thing on TNA and thats saying something.

[The Law]

Zbyszko was absolutely fucking awful on commentary. WCW had a woeful run of announcers after they canned JR and Ventura. I actually liked Tony Schiavone, but I seem to be mostly alone in holding that opinion. Eric Bischoff was awful. Great character, horrible announcer. Zybyszko was miserable. Heenan was pretty terrible in WCW. Just mailed it in and didn't have chemistry with the guys he was working with. I'm a relative fan of Mike Tenay, but that's because I don't despise him like everyone else. Mark Madden was terrible. Stevie Ray had a brief run and I enjoyed him because he could actually call a match.

[MMH]

Agreed with the Taz hating. He is the main reason I dont watch TNA. I cant stand him on there. He never seems to stick to his role and always sounds like a guy who still thinks its 1997. Everything that happens is the biggest thing ever with him.

Monsoon and Ventura were my favourite pairing though Heenan was equally as good. Monsoon was weird as he wasnt really that good in a lot of ways but his voice and how well he mixed with others was tremendous.

I didnt mind Schiavone either. At least in the early days.

Kent Walton is of course a wrestling god.

[BullyRayStoleMyLunch]

I've named Monsoon and Heenan as Gods, but to be more expansive:

THUMBS UP

Gordon Solie's "Su-play" Suplex pronunciation.

Storytelling of a physical nature: sell the angle, of course. But I love when a move is explained, how it affects the body. Tell us WHY we should care, even if you are attempting to cover a blatant resthold.

Silence is (sometimes) golden: Sometimes, less is more.

Knowing when NOT to talk is just as important as knowing when to.

Talk about Twitter and Tout over a dramatic moment kills the suspense for me.
If we're meant to care, the Announcers, as our by-proxy audio guides to the action, should care too.


THUMBS DOWN.

Puppies Era Lawler - Just say NO.

The "WWE PPV Announcer Curse"

Those poor announcers. Surely I can't be the only one who notices how "unlucky" their predictions are...

"He could really be in with a shot.... New champ!"
Translation: You've got more chance of seeing a Brodus/Sweet T Hardcore Evening Gown Match.(Holland Brisco and Patterson)

Finally, solo commentary.

I like the back and forth in a multiman team. The differing insights, opinions, rapport, all helps with the enjoyment for me.

[Brian M.]

I don't really see the problem with Cole now that he's ended his grating heel persona. He's not a standout like JR or Monsoon but he moves the show along and is very professional. His banter with JBL is usually funny as well. I feel like King drags him down a lot of the time because he is/was great with JBL and was great with Tazz. He just needs an informed guy to bounce off of.

I hate to say it because I love Lawler as a performer and he was great as an announcer at one time, but he needs to retire. I'm sure he still has plenty to do in Memphis and they can retain him on a Legends deal. He seems like a great guy but he's just not putting the effort in anymore, and that's shitty when there are plenty of people out there who would.

Oh, and I fucking hate Joey Styles. Don't care how many moves you know, guy. Pull me into the story of the match please. That's kind of the point.

[Mark Hammer]

Cole is godawful, easily the cheesiest and worst of the group.

[Beer-Belly]

The JR/Heyman team was perfect.

[Simmo Fortyone]

Monsoon/Heenan by the length of the straight. Throw a blanket over JR/Heyman, McMahon/Ventura and Cole/JBL for the minor placings.

My wish is in a few years time being able to put Punk/Regal on that list.

[McBain]

I think Cole has improved a lot since he dropped the heel schtick. He seems to have put some work into developing his voice to sound more authoritative, and building and sticking to a repertoire which is helping him carve his own niche (e.g. the 'best pure striker in WWE' line he uses for Taker).

As for Don West, I really liked the guy and I feel TNA misses his enthusiasm. I'd love to see him back in a 3 man booth...maybe him, Kenneley and Bischoff. Would be something fresh, and the clean break they need from the awfulness of Tenay and Taz.

Otherwise JR is head and shoulders above everyone else during the time I've been watching. It's a shame he isn't used more often.

Joey Styles was annoying as hell, Booker T was an embarrassment but mildly entertaining at times and JBL is the best colour guy they've had in a long time.

[Tainted Eclipse]

Cole is alright, he's hurt by his role being to obsequiously shill WWE's various media tools and corporate buzzwords but that's just his job and he does it as well as he can. Don't really have any strong feelings about him as a commentator aside from that. I actually LOVED him as a heel and thought he was hilarious. Then again I was watching very rarely at that time, so maybe it got annoying if it was constant as a lot of people did seem annoyed by it. But what I saw I thought was seriously great.

Really liked Taz/Cole on Smackdown. How much of that is nostalgia who knows.

[OD50]

TNA needs to replace Tenay/Taz with, uh pretty much anyone.. Or anything. Worst booth by far in the biz right now. They make me dislike TNA more than it actually deserves.

[Jason_HBK]

I'm a big mark for Commentary Vince. Especially loved his '1-2HE GOT HIM!! No he didn't' hahah he would do it at the most ridiculous times too but it goes along with the 'anything can happen' theme I guess.

JR, Gorilla, The Brain, Ventura are my favorites, the Kings of Wrestling commentators.. Lawler has never been the same since he quit with the Kat and Heyman took over. He got exposed big time and has never got back to that level but I still like him.

Michael Cole gave me new appreciation for Schiavone, even though I don't think Cole is that bad when he can do his thing. I liked Tenay in WCW, he's ok in TNA.

JBL is really doing great with this run in the booth, starting to become that Jesse Ventura type. Not close yet but if he keeps improving he'll get there.

[McBain]

You've just reminded me that I enjoyed Heyman's work also.

[JRSlim21]

I love Joey Styles. Maybe it's cause I was never fully conditioned into the storytelling aspect as most in my generation has. I liked how he was more of a SPORTS entertainer in comparison to being a sports ENTERTAINER.

Monsoon & Heenan are top notch. Close 2nd for me is JR/Ventura, followed by JR/Heyman. JR/King has been diluted due to the later years. Honorable mention: Grisham & Striker.

Oh yea, promote Regal. He's a fantastic color man.