Shining a Spotlight 5.01.08: Commentary on Commentators

Well, still annoyed I missed the Backlash roundtable (although I did post picks in the comments for each) as it turned out to be a good show. Somewhat surprised they gave HHH the belt again but he is still over so it might work out. The MVP/Hardy match was a nice payoff to the delayed feud with Matt getting the belt and Undertaker/Edge was actually better than their Mania match which I didn’t think possible. Even better was Foley’s debut as commentator as he did a good job bringing up the strengths and weaknesses of wrestlers and highlighting the great action. It’s a bit ironic considering my topic this week.

A lot of talk over the last week has been the debut of Mike Adamle as the new ECW announcer on RAW. More specifically, the talk has been about how Adamle has established himself as one of the worst announcers in the history of wrestling television. I know, he’s new at the job and all so cutting a tiny bit of slack but constant botches of names and moves wasn’t any way to win over fans ticked about Joey Styles leaving.

On that, I have to say, not too surprised Styles has been removed from his position as announcer. Frankly, I’m amazed he’s lasted as long as he has. Styles has always been a bit critical of the WWE style of announcing. In fact, you could tell that his rant when he “quit” RAW in 2006 was mostly his own invention as he blasted stuff like calling wrestlers “Superstars” and being told to concentrate more on storylines than the actual match action. So I’ve been expecting this for a while although I had hoped the replacement would be a bit more competent.

I’m sure most have seen Paul Heyman’s theory that Vince wants Adamle to be this bad so it’ll get people watching. I don’t know if I buy that but then again, Vince has done crazier stuff in what he thinks is ratings gold. Indeed, it does seem unlikely someone as intelligent as Vince would insist on someone so bad around. Then again, Foley’s debut as commentator hints Vince knows he needs to make some improvements. As for Heyman, I don’t know if he’s in a position to talk as his own stint as commentator for WWF back in 2001 struck me as rather annoying at times, indicating that his voice may be better in smaller doses rather than full-on snideness (to be fair, a lot of that stint was when Heyman was supposed to be heel for the Invasion).

Thing is, I don’t know if I’d call Adamle the worst announcer ever. Again, this is one of those times my longer experience in wrestling than some comes into play as I remember the way it used to be back in the 1980’s when you had a dozen different promotions with TV shows around. The announcers then ran the gamut from guys who were very bad to those sort of phoning it in to some who were true masters. It was like the business itself, really, you just didn’t know what you’d get from company to company.

Commenting on wrestling is a tricky thing. You have to keep pace with so much of the action and the move sets but you also have to do your best to bring the audience into it. Be too impartial and it comes off cold and mechanical. Be too emotional and you distract from the ring stuff itself. It’s also a question whether it’s better if the announcers are let in on what’s to happen or not. Sometimes, it can help if they’re as shocked as everyone else but a swerve but it can also backfire if the announcer thinks it’s not part of the show and doesn’t call it properly. One must also be careful not to be too obvious talking down to the audience as if they can’t understand a simple move (something quite a few guys over the years are guilty of) and, like every broadcaster, not go too much into something that’s so clear eo everyone. Like I said, sounds easy but can be trickier in practice.

Back in the early days of TV wrestling, announcers were mostly straight-up guys calling the action without that much passion or such. Indeed, quite a few wrestling announcers were involved in calling regular sports games like Jack Brickhouse who would call Chicago-based wrestling shows while also handling the Cubs games. This was a regular thing until the late 1960’s as the rise of wrestling on TV led to announcers concentrating solely on that. In some cases, that experience did help. A good example is Bill Mercer, who had been a legitimate newscaster in Dallas for several years, among those covering the Kennedy assassination and called the famous “Ice Bowl” game between the Packers and the Cowboys in 1967. When he was brought into the new World Class Championship Wrestling in 1982, his nice tones and assertiveness won fans over to the promotion. He was aided by WCCW’s innovative style as Mercer was the first commentator to take part in outdoor interviews at various places from the Von Erich’s ranch to a bar the Fabulous Freebirds frequented to being hurled down a water slide, which added to the great show WCCW had.

When you talk about great wrestling announcers, Gordon Solie has to top the list. He was everything you’d want in a wrestling commentator: Crisp but also warm, authoritative but not talking down to the audience either, he would be a force for Florida, Mid-Atlantic and WCW. He was, as many put it, the Walter Cronkite of wrestling announcers, selling everything with the air of utter truth, making you believe that it was all for real. Indeed, the fact Solie talked about things so calmly rather than go over the top made it all the better for fans, giving a professional air to things. This led to a rise in popularity for Solie himself which was sometimes used. For example, an angle in 1983 had Don Muraco threatening Solie during a broadcast with Muraco’s ally Roddy Piper standing up for Solie, turning Piper face and leading to a feud between the men. It was a downright shame that the rise of wackiness in WCW in the early ‘90’s led to Solie leaving the company. He was to do his final broadcast for 1999 “Heroes of Wrestling” PPV but bowed out due to health issues (which may have been a good thing as even he couldn’t redeem the worst PPV of all time) and died a year later, leaving behind a terrific legacy.

One guy who really helped bring his promotion to life was a man instantly recognizable to any fan of Stampede Wrestling: Ed Whalen. The down-home voice helped sell the great action of Stampede as Whalen’s voice created several catchphrases that became part of the Calgary lexicon like “Whoa, Nellie!” “Malfunction at the Junction!” “How suh—weet it is!” and many more. The audience loved Whalen as much as any of the babyfaces of Stampede and trusted in him totally. Thus when Whalen expressed concerns over some of the violence in the company, it got press. Often, Whalen was left in the dark as to how angles would turn out so his excitement would be sold as more real. That led to some major problems, the biggest of which was when Bad News Allen made a horrific attack on Archie Gould and his “son” that left them both bleeding and broken and caused a near riot. Whalen told the camera he wanted no part of such a disgusting display and quit on the spot. His exit led to an immediate downturn in Stampede’s popularity and a lot of bad press the organization never fully recovered from. While he would later return, Whalen made it clear he put his own ethics over his job and it hurt some of the standing of the company with fans.

With WWF, announcing was handled by various people until the late 1970’s when Vince McMahon took over the main duties on the weekly shows. Keep in mind, Vince hadn’t really taken control of the company yet and his father just wanted to give him something to do. It is interesting to look back and see Vince really wasn’t that bad back then. Not that great but there were worse guys around and he did have a nice tone with fans. It was later, after he assumed control, that he started to go over the top and botch calls on moves. It was clear Vince loved being before the camera and in the time before he took on the whole “Mr. McMahon” character, this was the best way to do it. It was always an unspoken agreement: Vince would pretend he was just the announcer and the fans pretended they didn’t know he was the owner. It took the rise of the “Attitude” era and Montreal to get Vince out from behind the desk and let him finally take the spotlight like he wanted.

It’s not like Vince was the only owner who’d do commentary. Before Mercer came along, Fritz Von Erich would do some of the commentary for World Class and Jim Crockett Jr. would handle a lot for Mid-Atlantic. Crockett would eventually cede that job to the duo of Tony Schiavone and Crockett’s brother, David. It’s always been ironic to me that David seemed to have a better understanding of the business than his brother did, constantly arguing with David about his overspending, his attempts to go to places like Chicago and New York and wasting money buying the UWF rather than let it go out of business. However, David is better known for his horrible commentary style, which was mostly filled with him yelling in a high-pitched voice with constant refrains of “LOOK AT THAT!” which make him a candidate for one of the most annoying voices ever. He was a direct contrast to Bob Caudale, a great old-time voice who would help fans relate to the action in a down-home style.

It’s interesting to note how a lot of wrestlers would turn to commentating with mixed results. You’d think they’d be naturals, guys who had been in the ring and knew the ins and outs and how to relate it to fans. However, so many times, they come off poor, even ones you’d think would be naturals. Of course, I’ll point out how a lot of professional sports stars tried their hand on commenting with similar results. Years before the likes of Hogan or Flair, Superstar Billy Graham was doing the best interviews imaginable, ruling the mic so you’d think his time commentating would be good. Instead, fans got constant refrains of “brother” and even failure to call moves right. The Graham DVD does have people saying (as diplomatically as possible) that working a mic as a wrestler and as a commentator are two different things and quite a few other guys (like Bruno Sammartino) can attest to that. Jesse Ventura was an exception, of course, wonderful calling matches, usually backing the heels but still getting off great lines amidst the action.

Gorilla Monsoon was always an interesting case. Yes, a lot of his commentary did stink with his over the top “Gimme a break” attitude and his constant uses of “literally” for stuff that was not, in fact, literal. But put him with Bobby Heenan and you had pure gold. Heenan was always a great talker and seemed to come alive even more behind the booth as he and Monsoon would have great chemistry, playing off each other constantly with jokes, needling each other but still calling the action well. The highpoint of their partnership is the 1992 Royal Rumble where Heenan approaches a complete nervous breakdown watching Ric Flair battle through the match with Monsoon egging it on. Also, Heenan helped really sell the Undertaker in his early years, freaking out whenever Taker would get up from a big beating with a cry of “the man is not human!” Getting Heenan was a good move for WCW as he helped bring some professionalism to things and fans connect to stuff, especially in the early days of the Monday Night War when WCW was providing top-notch undercard matches.

I know Jim Ross has always been respected for his great knowledge and his great way of talking on the mic, first in WCW then in WWF. I do think he was poorly utilized in his early years in WWF (and he himself would even point that out a few times) which ironically was for the same reasons as Styles as he would try to call the action instead of storylines. I do think he lost a bit following his bout with palsy and is distracted by his management position in the company but he’s still a trusted voice to many. Jerry Lawler is also an interesting case as a lot of the time, he comes off so distracting to the action with ogling girls and yelling. He’s actually toned it down from his always sardonic run in the mid-90’s and I do think that when the right matches come along, he does a great job selling the guys in the ring. Everyone remembers Ross’ calls during the Undertaker/Mankind Hell in the Cell match in ’98 but Lawler was the one who talked about Foley being “indestructible” and how brutal it was. Also, the famous ’99 ladder match between the Hardyz and Edge and Christian started with Lawler ogling over Teri but soon selling the brutal lengths the guys were going to in the match and summed up the feelings of everyone with “I’m sore just watching this!” He and Ross do have a good chemistry that’s helped make RAW so nice to watch.

I know a lot of people are down on Michael Cole but I think he’s actually improved well over the last few years on Smackdown, doing a good job calling the real action without as many botches. It was helped that he was paired with Tazz who was one former wrestler who could examine the in-ring action well and illustrate it to fans and he and Cole had a terrific chemistry. Like man, I thought Smackdown would suffer when Tazz left and JBL took over but instead, JBL turned out to be a natural behind the mic. Instead of always backing heels, he would give respect to good workers in great matches and helped Smackdown remain top-notch.

So we have ECW going a bit with Styles forced to let go of some of his professionalism to get more into the WWE style but still doing his best to try and bring some of the old ECW excitement to things. True, it was often a losing battle due to the mismanagement of the show in its first year but it has improved a bit over the last few months. Styles has always been a bit of a contrast for me as most of the time, he did seem on the ball, into the action and not talking down to the audience, something few commentators in the 1990s did. But he also seemed over the top sometimes selling some action to the point of almost becoming a parody of himself with the “OH MY GOD!” and such and he has seemed to lose some of that youthful fire, perhaps burned by how ECW went under. So yes, in his prime, he was damn good but seems a bit lost now even though he still helped make the current ECW watchable. Now, of course, we’ve got Adamale and after seeing more of his botched calls at Backlash, I’m starting to wonder if maybe Heyman isn’t onto something. Then again, as I’ve mentioned, there have been worse guys. All one needs to do is turn over to TNA.

Even the most die-hard TNA fan has to admit that Don West is a horrible, horrible play-by-play guy. Even me, someone who’s put up with Monsoon, Crockett and others, am incredibly annoyed by his constant refrains of “Well, you know what…” and “DID YOU SEE THAT?!” that way, way oversell what’s going on. One would think Mike Tenay would help balance that out with his knowledge and authoritative way of speaking. But Tenay often seems to follow West’s lead, howling out way over the top at stuff that doesn’t always deserve it and overselling the action and power of TNA. Indeed, Tenay and West promote what I’ve always found the key problem of TNA, that they’re bigger than they really are, making it sound like they’re superior to WWE when that’s clearly not the case. There’s also the fact they act like they’ve never seen anyone go through a table or get hit with a chair before whenever it happens which is just idiotic to the audience. What makes it so annoying is that TNA has an absolutely terrific commentator in Jim Cornette but instead saddle him with the “voice of TNA authority” character rather than play to his real strengths on the mic. Tenay is at least capable of using his experience but West really needs to be replaced already. Kevin Nash might actually fit in well as the guy is damn funny when he tries and I’d rather see him commentating than wrestling these days.

Then you’ve got ROH. Like McMahon and Crockett, Gabe Sapolsky has dabbed as commentator with his alter ego of Jimmy Bower but leaves the majority of calling to Lenny Leonard and Dave Prazak. That’s a good move as the two guys are excellent play-by-play men, calling the action without talking down, still pushing the storylines but not at the expense of the workers in the ring and managing to make every match meaningful and exciting no matter its place in the card. The two show how ROH is smart enough to recognize they’re not as big as the other promotions but are able to deliver arguably the best action around nonetheless.

I know, I’m leaving out a lot of guys from the territorial era who were mainstays on the mic in the days before McMahon took over most everything. The point is to show that announcers come in various types, some better than others and not everyone’s style will appeal to all fans. I’m sure some will blast me for some of my choices on who is good and bad but that just shows how diverse some opinions are. Adamle himself has a good enough voice, he just needs to stop botching names and moves and he might improve. Whether that’s part of Vince’s overall plan is up in the air but adding Foley to Smackdown is a nice improvement to things over Coach. At least WWE has better announcing than TNA as Tenay and West just add to the problems but overselling how huge matches between Kip and BG James are and acting like no one’s ever gone through a table before. ROH does a good job balancing the action with a professional air but we all know how hard that can be for WWE.

Thing is, WWE can still do great stuff with their commentary. A highlight of both Royal Rumble and MITB is having all the commentators call the action together and it’s a nice mix of styles and even shots at one another now and then that makes those once-a-year bouts more special. Commentating on wrestling may seem easy but it can be harder than it appears, not just in how you call it but how you come across. It takes a special voice to make it all seem so real and relatable but still amazing for viewers and few are able to pull that off well. Like so much of wrestling, commentary has gotten less “real” but it’s still one of the most integral parts of any show so finding the right personalities, not just voices, to carry it off is tricky. So, go on, slam Adamale as being bad but the fact is, Heyman is right: Just by listening to him, you’re proving Vince made a nice judgment switching to someone so bad. Commentary in wrestling is tricky to pull off but if there’s one thing we should all know, it’s that people just love to talk about the business…even if it just to talk on talk.

Also around 411mania:

Truth B Told has a nice column of WWE’s push of blacks.

The Fink rebooks King of the Ring.

Wrestling HuBard has good comments on TNA and big fish in small ponds.

Evolution Schematic continues to talk about WWE video games.

Mike Chin examines the Importance of heel authority figures.

Are We Having Fun Yet remembers the Hardcore title.

Julian Bond asks us not to hate “Stone Cold” Shark Boy. Good luck.

Merholz wonders if Backlash was Worth Your Wealth and Tim also does his Take on the card along with Piledriver Report.

The Wrestling Doctor tries to fix the King of the Ring.

The Way I C It gets Olympic wrestling fever.

Don’t forget Column of Honor, Triple Threat, 3 R’s, Fact or Fiction, Ask 411 and all the rest.

For this week, the spotlight is off.