A Post about Wrestling Announcers

No. Just no.
Photo Credit: WWE.com 

I have to say, I'm over seeing announcers in wrestling matches any more. It's not because they're terrible wrestlers. Well, it is, but that's not the biggest reason. I could go my whole life without seeing Michael Cole or Jim Ross fumble through a match again. I want to see the wrestlers, who in WWE are mostly damn good at their jobs, wrestle and the announcers do what they do best, and that's announce. At least in theory, that's what they do best. If there's been a weak link in WWE lately that isn't booking (because believe me, the booking blows, but I spend most of my posts detailing that fact), it's the announcing, and it's been terrible for a long time.

Then again, I really can't indict all the announcers. I really like the vibe that Scott Stanford and Josh Mathews have on Superstars. I dig Booker T's enthusiasm. Matt Striker can have obnoxious tendencies, but again, he seems like he cares. I place the blame directly on the shoulders of three guys, or actually two causing the third to sag. Basically, it's all on Cole, Ross and Jerry Lawler. IT might be unfair to levy blame on Good Ol' JR, because really, he's stuck between the annoying guy who can't shut up and the old fart who doesn't give a flying shit anymore. It also might be futile for anyone to suggest he speak up more, because has anyone really listened to how much of an overbearing shit Cole can be, even if he's just a proxy for the real life overbearing shit that is Vince McMahon? That being said, his performance is clearly being affected by how rampantly Cole is mouthing off like he's some unhinged Dennis Miller on mind-altering drugs.

For me, the bigger offender is Lawler. The announcer's main duty is to get the action in the ring over. How can someone do that if they sound like they don't give a shit? Lawler's nonchalance is infuriating because he doesn't seem to care about the stuff in the ring as we as fans do. He's getting paid to watch it, the least he could do is pretend he likes being there, right?

I talked about being able to tune out the announcers on the podcast last night, and yeah, I think if people can do that, it makes their terrible performances seem not as terrible. That being said, when one has to tune out a MAJOR part of the programming in order to enjoy it more, there's something wrong. The problem for me is that they're trying to make the announcers the whole story instead of the people who describe the story. Michael Cole calling Daniel Bryan a NERRRRRRRRRD doesn't really enhance the action, it's a distraction. Jerry Lawler snarking on the Newish Ex-Nexus is the same thing. Having them wrestle matches on the reg is something that is endemic of the problem. First thing should be getting them out of the ring. The second thing needs to be correcting the system and getting them back to putting over the story, not being the story.