Vince McMahon Not Happy With Joey Styles

[Black Lushus 0]

The matches should sell themselves. I am not watching the match so I can be told the story of the match. The story of the match is what LEADS UP TO THE MATCH. I don't need to be told DURING THE MATCH what the background story is of the match, hopefully as a fan I would have been watching already to know the story.

 

I want wrestling matches called, not some stupid story to be told.

 

then you really should stop watching the WWE, they've been story telling for years.

[bob_barron 0]

I don't mind Joey, but he never seems to show much emotion.

 

I know people mocked JR for it, but his BAH GAWD NO NO NO NO stuff he did made the stories and feuds more meaningful and important.

[Guest Jack Potts]

Although I WANT to like it, I haven't been able to get too worked up about Joey Styles' announcing on Raw. At first I attributed it to the sound mix. Although he always sounded front and center in ECW tapes, on Raw, his voice sounds distant and muted on Raw. It barely seems to register to me.

 

Frankly, I agree with cabbageboy. In part, Joey doesn't have much to work with in terms of calling moves in the WWE. Punch, kick, chop, stomp, headlock, lather, rinse, repeat. It's hard to get worked up over the matches when there aren't any defined personalities or interesting movesets. Part of me wishes Styles had shot back with "What stories? You've never given anybody a reason to care about any of these people in the ring? Now I'm supposed to tell STORIES about this bunch of vanilla ciphers?"

 

I think Tazz does the best job on commentary. He sounds enthusiastic without sounding like a shill, explains the mechanics and effect of the moves to get over the story of the match, and he will give an audible "wink" to the listeners at home to let them know if something just isn't gelling in the ring like it's supposed to. Besides that, he has a great rapport with Michael Cole. That said, I thought Paul Heyman would be the best replacement for J.R., but politics and ego trumps common sense in the WWE.

 

(Side note: I also like the job Booker T has done on commentary for the Best of 7 series.)

[Black Lushus 0]

Raw needs a story guy AND a move-by-move guy...Smackdown has that.

[Hoff 0]

I think Tazz does the best job on commentary. He sounds enthusiastic without sounding like a shill, explains the mechanics and effect of the moves to get over the story of the match, and he will give an audible "wink" to the listeners at home to let them know if something just isn't gelling in the ring like it's supposed to. Besides that, he has a great rapport with Michael Cole.

Agreed. Tazz has gone from a Brooklyn cliche machine to a polished color man. Cole still makes his foibles, but Tazz makes them look good. Not to short Cole, though, as he has gotten a lot better.

[Guest Evolution]

I figured they went to a three man team so that he could do exactly what he's been doing. Let the other two knuckleheads talk about all the dumb shit.

[Si82 0]

I don't understand what some people have against Joey Styles doing his job and calling the match. He calls the moves becuase that's his job and WWE knew this before they hired him. I don't think he does a bad job of putting over a story when he has something half decent to deal with. However, that does not happen that often in WWE today. The Jim Ross method of shouting and spouting cliches aplenty is not a good way of telling a story, it's a desperate man trying to shill the crap that WWE produces. There is nothing wrong with the way Joey has done his job it's just he doesn't fit into the WWE mould of rambling about backstory instead of the matches themselves.

[Angle-plex 0]

Isn't the play by play guy suppose to call the moves and the color guy(s) add in the rest?

[MillenniumMan831 0]

Isn't the play by play guy suppose to call the moves and the color guy(s) add in the rest?

 

For a wrestling show, yes. For Raw, apparently not.

[BruiserKC 0]

OK...first of all...I was a huge Jim Ross fan going back to his days in Mid-South and the UWF. For 20 years of my wrestling-watching life I saw JR through his days in the Mid-South, UWF, NWA, WCW and then WWF/E. I would put Ross up there only behind Gordon Solie as far as all-time wrestling play-by-play men. He and Lawler were together as an announcing team for over 10 years. People looked forward to JR and Lawler on RAW on Monday nights...it was part of the experience of watching the show. JR is a wrestling legend, even though he got stale at the end when all he shilled was BBQ sauce.

 

Joey Styles has some big shoes to fill...he's replacing a well-known name and he is not of the same style that JR is. That's OK...as a fan of his in ECW I don't expect him to be JR Junior, I expect him to be Joey Styles. He's only done the full-time gig for about a month now, the team needs time to gel and mesh. People gripe because he's not JR...if he was trying to be JR they'd gripe also.

 

Yes, he's calling the match...but that's what a play-by-play guy does...call the match. That's what guys like Al Michaels, Marv Albert, Ron Franklin, Gary Thorne, etc...are supposed to do. You leave the color and the stories to guys like Dick Vitale, John Madden, Tim McCarver, etc.

 

If Vince was smart, he'd give them at least six months to get to be familiar with Coach-Lawler-Styles in the booth and then evaluate where we stand and go from there. One month doesn't tell the story and we shouldn't be quick to throw him out because he's not Jim Ross reincarnate.

[Black Lushus 0]

I think the problem with the whole formula is that Coach and King flat out suck major ass at telling a story...let's face it, JR was pretty much out there by himself.

[2GOLD 0]

Joey isn't a Vince find. That's all this is. He knew what kind of announcer Styles was in ECW. Vince is bitching because he didn't find Styles so he didn't create him and he wants to prove he's just one big massive flaw so Vince can constantly claim only he knows what's best for wrestling.

 

That's all this is. Joey does what he was hired to do, call the match. The story guys are the other two. Vince has a problem, he should talk to them. Maybe Vince is also mad because he didn't hear enough racist jokes directed at Shelton's mama.

[Guest wolverine1007]

Personally, I think the problem is that RAW still has two guys trying to call the action. Coach is too much of a play by play guy to be the third man. Personally, I think that the episode of RAW when Coach was defending Bischoff, just leaving Styles and Lawler, was the best commentary I've heard on WWE TV in a while.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Agreed. Tazz has gone from a Brooklyn cliche machine to a polished color man.

Not to be confused with Dontrelle Pulaski, a Polish colored man.

[SuperJerk 0]

Hey, anybody remember who Vince originally wanted to replace JR with?

 

In other words, storytelling my ass.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Hey, anybody remember who Vince originally wanted to replace JR with?

Mike Goldberg. The lead announcer for UFC. Who had no knowledge of wrestling beyond watching it when he was a kid.

[SuperJerk 0]

Hey, anybody remember who Vince originally wanted to replace JR with?

Mike Goldberg. The lead announcer for UFC. Who had no knowledge of wrestling beyond watching it when he was a kid.

Exactly.

[Hoff 0]

Oh, snap, that's right, the UFC guy! Yeah, good call.

 

QUOTE(Hoff @ Jan 12 2006, 12:05 PM)

Agreed. Tazz has gone from a Brooklyn cliche machine to a polished color man.

 

Not to be confused with Dontrelle Pulaski, a Polish colored man.

Oy.

[claydude14 0]

I was very impressed with Styles when he called HHH/Flair at Taboo Tuesday. I don't think I've seen him get into a match as much since then. Add me to the Cole/Tazz love. Great chemistry that the two have been developing since Sunday Night Heat on MTV. I think the Styles/Lalwer without Coach booth was solid, but I thought Coach and Styles without Lawler (NYR for a few matches before King wrestled) was just as good. I feel like the King is better off being remembered with JR, and maybe they could have those two announce the Wrestlemania main event each year or something as a special occasion. I think if Styles and Coach are given a few years together, they could develop some good chemistry and form their own distinction as an announce team.

[NoCalMike 0]

Maybe Vince should flat out get rid of Coach. The man is useless. I do have to say that Lawler has improved a lot now that he is acting like a halfway grown adult.

 

I'd like to see them go with Lawler/Styles for a bit.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Goldberg would smoke Styles.

[Enigma 0]

I think it's time to ignore my first person in my near 3-year span on TSM.

 

Congrats, Rudo.

[2GOLD 0]

I think Goldberg is a good announcer but he wouldn't work in the WWE. There is a difference between knowing people are really getting the shit kicked out of them and having to announce for people pretending to get the shit kicked out of them. Goldberg is perfect doing what he is doing and Styles would look like a raving idiot as an announcer for something like UFC. He'd have no intensity for the fake stuff.

 

I think Styles would hold the edge over Goldberg in the professional wrestling arena but in any other sport announcing, Goldberg would probably own him. Guys just need to find their element.

 

Styles can tell a story if a match has a story. The HHH/Flair match had a great story to work with so it's easy to tell the story and call the match. What story does something like Angle/Cena have? Kurt is mad he doesn't have the belt, therefore Kurt smash...that was basically the entire story.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Goldberg is a better announcer, period. The dude is a professional, it's not like he'd Coach-it and not try to learn a thing about the product. The guy can call moves, pimp the product, convey emotion, and do a hard sell. Joey Styles can just do one of those things.

[SuperJerk 0]

Goldberg would smoke Styles.

Goldberg is a better announcer, period. The dude is a professional, it's not like he'd Coach-it and not try to learn a thing about the product. The guy can call moves, pimp the product, convey emotion, and do a hard sell. Joey Styles can just do one of those things.

 

You seemed to have missed the point of why I brought up Mike Goldberg. Goldberg is good at what he does because he's good at CALLING A MATCH. He has no trouble treating it like its real, because it IS real. Styles is in trouble because he's CALLING A MATCH, as if its a real match. Thus, Goldberg should have been THE LAST person McMahon would want announcing Raw.

[CanadianChick 0]

I love people here making excuses for Joey's inability to tell a story. Irregardless of the crap going on in the ring, at least JR could halfway sell it to us.

 

I must have gotten distracted by the over-the-top expressions (what the hell is a scalded dog?), the miscalling of wrestlers, the miscalling of moves, and the non-calling of moves.

 

I like Styles a lot better. I don't notice him. That's a lot better than thinking "Christ, JR is senile."

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

You seemed to have missed the point of why I brought up Mike Goldberg. Goldberg is good at what he does because he's good at CALLING A MATCH. He has no trouble treating it like its real, because it IS real. Styles is in trouble because he's CALLING A MATCH, as if its a real match. Thus, Goldberg should have been THE LAST person McMahon would want announcing Raw.

 

Have you ever heard Goldberg announce? There is very little the product itself has to do with the nuances and lil touches Goldberg puts in his commentary.

[Matt Young 0]

I think it's time to ignore my first person in my near 3-year span on TSM.

 

Congrats, Rudo.

 

Out of all the things he's said, you ignore Rudo for THAT? I could give you at least 100 posts whichare better reasons to do so.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

You SO couldn't. And you can count this post.

[Matt Young 0]

What I am saying is that it's a stupid reason to ignore you. If someone was going to ignore you, they could have chosen to do so for your anti-WWE, pro-MMA diatribe in this folder, or your Gilmore Girls love.

 

To clarify, however, aside from that first thing I mentioned, which bothered me a while back, I have no problem with you whatsoever.

 

Oh, and I think a thread with all the reasons to ignore me would be fun.