Announcing Team Discussion

[Perfection]

If Jarrett is serious about making the product more serious, the first thing they need to do is get rid of tenay and west. Tenay was ok in wcw when he was the 3rd guy who provided background and insight into wrestlers but as a lead commentator he is just god awful. And what can you say about West except he just fucking sucks. Period. His voice and commentary is like fingers on a chalk board. Those two together make the product a lot more less credible and serious than anything else imho. You can't have a more serious product with those two still at the booth. Those two are the #1 reason why I find it so hard to get interested in tna and watch it, even with all the absurdity in their booking. They are so god awful that even if there is a great match going on, it's ruined by their terrible commentary. I REALLY want tna to succeed because since wwe has had no competition their product has suffered and simply put it's nice to have a choice and alternative to wwe. But so long as they have those two calling matches, I really don't think I can ever stomach watching tna.

[Mike wanna be]

You can mute commentary. You can't mute awful booking.

[muzz]

Has there been any news about the announce team? I don't like listening to them either, but I haven't heard whether TNA are high of Tenay and West or not.

[CubbyBr]

Has there been any news about the announce team? I don't like listening to them either, but I haven't heard whether TNA are high of Tenay and West or not

 

I honestly think TNA is oblivious to how bad they are.

 

Call me crazy but after watching some of the Jeff Jarrett/TNA press conference clips from the global impact show, I think Jarrett would make a damn good color commentator. The way he build up Kurt Angle in a calm, legitimate way is a stark difference from the Tenay/West craziness and would go over good on TV.

[Perfection]

You can mute commentary. You can't mute awful booking.

 

commentary though is a huge part of selling your product. Just think about how much Jim Ross adds to the matches..especially those big main events. Even if you don't particularly care about a feud or angle, ross is so good that he can sell it to you to make you care or at least make it tolerable. They, tenay and west, could never do that in the least...in fact they do the exact opposite, they turn people like me away from their product.

[CubbyBr]

For the announcing team...I'd go with Scott Hudson and Jarrett or Shane Douglas. Jarrett would make a good heel commentator. I suppose you could do a three-man booth and have Jarrett the face commentator and Douglas the heel. Tenay's good for his knowledge of the business, he'd make a good interviewer. West just screams to garner attention.

 

I really think Jarrett would be a great choice for play by play. Watching that Global Impact DVD, and how he built Angle up, I really got a JR-type vibe from him in that he made me buy into what he was saying because he was straight up and not trying to overhype things like crazy...like Mike Tenay.

[Toxxic]

If you threatened him with a gun to make sure he kept the in-jokes to a minimum, Nash would be great. Am I alone in really, really hating Jim Ross by the way?

[Blade2kxx]

See, alot of people are harping on West and Tenay, and while they're not the greatest, or even close to the greatest, announce team ever, the announcing sucking has alot to do with the script and how they're being told to present the action. I was around in the weekly era, and they didn't annoy me nearly as much as they do now. Being that as it may, a third voice in the booth would be helpful, especially if it was a heel to play off of Tenay and West. Raven would have been perfect, but the people saying Jarrett or Douglas have a good point too. They need a heel out there to justify the actions of the heels, while still being charismatic enough to work within the program. It's harder than it seems.

[Hunter's Torn Quad]

Douglas is unlikely because he parted ways with TNA on bad terms. I've read a couple of interviews if his where he's knocked TNA, Dixie Carter specifically (comparing her Vince McMahon, and not in a positive sense), so ego's would have to be checked at the door for Douglas to return.

 

Which is a shame, because Douglas makes a very good commentator. I think Tenay would make a good color guy if they need to stop having him oversell every little thing like it's the second coming.

[cd213]

If you threatened him with a gun to make sure he kept the in-jokes to a minimum, Nash would be great. Am I alone in really, really hating Jim Ross by the way?

 

No, you're not the only one. I have never been a fan of JR, or for King for that matter.

[Dandy]

I moved the discussion about the announcing team to its own thread. We will be doing this whenever a few topics start branching off from other topics and are getting a decent amount of attention. Hopefully, it will liven up the folder a bit and encourage people to discuss more things.

[The Ghost of bps21]

They aren't as bad on ppv as they are with TV. I don't really have a problem with the way they call the matches themselves (compared to listening to Cole and Coach do their best to try and ruin a great Taker/Edge Mania main event)...

 

It's when they won't shut the fuck up during interview segments that drives me insane.

 

That's something that JR is really good at. Letting the moments matter.

 

Sometimes TNA will do a good beatdown segment, or Christian or Joe will be cutting a good promo...and all I hear is Tenay repeating everything that was just said a moment earlier...and West screaming.

[ANKLELOCK]

I don't mean to begrudge people their opinions, but who do you guys like better at PBP than JR? Cole? Schiavone? Monsoon? I think Ross is clearly tops in conveying emotion/storytelling.

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS!]

What the hell happened to Tenay, anyway? I remember looking forward to his contributions whenever WCW wanted to educate its fans on their import wrestlers. It's like the same thing that happened to Tony Schiavone after the Monday Night Wars- the company prescribed him "retarded pills" and made sure to stand their and watch him swallow them just before they sent him out on commentary.

 

And Don West? I guess that they just want somebody who will yell alot about whatever is on the monitor at the time. Sure makes we want to buy their next pay-per-view.

 

I'll tell you- one of the primary and most consistent complaints that wrestling fans have about their product is the obnoxious commentary. And what does TNA, who is trying to market themselves to fans who are tired of the same ol' same ol' that the WWE is doling out without any regard to their desires do? They ignore them.

 

Enjoy those 1.2's. You've earned them.

[cd213]

I don't mean to begrudge people their opinions, but who do you guys like better at PBP than JR? Cole? Schiavone? Monsoon? I think Ross is clearly tops in conveying emotion/storytelling.

 

I don't watch WWECW, but I've always liked Joey Styles more then JR. I like when the person calling the matches knows the name of the move that is being used, and to hear JR saying over and over, "What a move," gets old. The same can be said for "His educated feet." and other catch phrases. I'm not saying that Styles didn't get annoying with "cat fight" but at least when a new move was done I knew what it was called. I can't stand Taz, never liked Bradshaw (on color), Cole is boring to me. Coach I like, but not when he is calling a match. I watch him on MSGNY, and he does a good job. Also, I think it was the Foley DVD, but he was calling a match with Foley and he did a damn good job of it. Schavone was not bad, and Monsoon was one of my favorites.

[Jingus]

the announcing sucking has alot to do with the script and how they're being told to present the action. I was around in the weekly era, and they didn't annoy me nearly as much as they do now.

This. They've gotten much worse over the years. Also, the quickest way to ruin an announcer is to force them to adhere to the corporate script; look at how WWE puppet Joey Styles is so much lamer than original ECW Joey Styles.

 

The most annoying part is that Tenay and West could easily become ten times better IF THEY'D JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP SOMETIMES. As bps and countless others have observed, there's no need to repeat and expound upon what we're already watching. I know it's hard to resist the temptation of constantly running your mouth; I spent five years doing play-by-play commentary, and just shutting up and allowing the dead air to roll on forward can be kinda nervewracking. But often that's what the situation requires. I've yet to meet the person who said "you know what I hate, it's how Ross and Lawler never talk over interviews and angles in order to explain what's already going on".

[CubbyBr]

I was shocked that for the first time in months, Tenay and West didn't inform us that Rellik is indeed Killer spelled backwards.

[Broward83]

I kinda wish they'd have a lite-script that the WWE has. I mean, JR knows the ebb and flow of certain things.. but he doesn't know match endings so when something comes out of no where, he's actually surprised to see it.

 

What killed me on the product was actually seeing West/Tenay reading from the damned script. That right there literally made me go: "Whelp, that's enough of this shit.." and not really go back to watching it week in and week out.

[Toxxic]

I agree about knowing move names. I mean, I'm not THAT bothered if somebody miscalls an inverted swinging fireman's cradle piggyback stunner or some crazy indie move like that. What I object to is things like JR calling the Whisper In The Wind the Twist of Fate, JR calling Christian's inverted DDT the Unprettier, you know. When you can't even recognise and call your wrestlers' signature moves (or miscall a signature move as his finisher, leaving you struggling when he actually hits his finisher later in the match), it really kills the product for me.

 

And yes, I do sometimes yell at Tenay and West for miscalling moves. That's what being in a match-writing e-fed will do for you.

[luke-o]

You want to see a perfect bit of commentating? Watch the end of Flair/Michaels. Flair's final walk was a very touching moment and what did JR and King do? They shut up and let the action speak for itself.

 

After watching that, I started thinking about if Tenay and West had been doing the commentating it wouldn't have been as memorable as they would have talked all over it and made points that we already know.

 

I don't mind Tenay/West all that much. West bugs me and they both need to shut up everynow and again, but for the most part they're not too terrible.

 

They're definatly better than Cole/Coach.

[CubbyBr]

They're definatly better than Cole/Coach.

 

Definitly not. I don't think we'd see Cole and Coach high-fiving each other and pumping their fists like two idiots over an announcement of a match like Tenay/West did when that Joe/Steiner match was announced.

[The Ghost of bps21]

I watched Smackdown when I got home last night...and had just watched Impact the day before.

 

They are DEFINITELY beter than Cole and Coach.

[ANKLELOCK]

Make Michael Cole the PBP guy for TNA, move tenay to the 3rd guy spot he had in WCW. You would have potentially the three biggest tools on planet earth calling your weekly Impact.

[The Ghost of bps21]

I don't want to derail this into an anti-Cole/Coach thing...

 

But last night during the Hardy/MVP match they spent the entire match arguing about stuff that had nothing to do with what was going on in the ring.

 

And I may miss the exact quote...but at one point Coach said: "I hear that when you're working on your opponent and they scream like that...it feels really good."

 

That's it. Not said for comedy...or with any hint of purpose. He just said it.

[Dandy]

I would like to see an announcing change as well. West was brought in to be the pitch man, which was at least relevant due to the fact that they had weekly PPV's that needed selling. However, he has far outlived his usefulness. I think there is talent capable of doing an above average job in TNA, but they are either not used or made to do somethign they are strong at. Tenay should be used as his "Professor" character a little more instead of trying to be the hype man. If he could just put over the action in the ring and provide analysis, it would go a long way. There is no need to put him in hype mode and make him over the top. West could be used as an interviewer and/or recapper, if at all. The other announcer should be, as others stated, a heel. Jarrett would be good except for the fact that he had the sympathy thing going and returned as a face and everyone knows he is behind the company. Who would I use for the heel announcer role? A retiring Booker T by next year.

[The Ghost of bps21]

You know who I would use as a heel announcer? Christopher Daniels. Any time he did some commentary during past impacts he was great. He always comes accross as serious about the product in the way he handles his interviews and they could play up the fact that he got fired from wrestling in TNA and has to be an announcer.

 

Then they could have him mysteriously "disappear" for CurryMan matches. That would keep me entertained for months. "Sorry to do this guys...but I have a phone call I have to take" ...CurryMan wrestles... Daniels comes back out of breath "What did I miss?"

[Dandy]

That would be pretty funny.

[AlaskanHero]

That would indeed be awesome.

 

But that's something I've been saying for a while, West and Tenay need a heel out there to at least take the pressure off of them to talk about everything. Let West be the face announcer, a heel as your color guy, and Tenay as the Professor who calmly rattles off move names, promotions, and dates and whatnot. Basically what he did in WCW.

 

In the short run, making them quiet down a bit would do everyone a lot of good.

[The Ghost of bps21]

I should say again...I have absolutely zero problem with the way they call matches. It has never annoyed me. It's everything that happens outside of bell to bell that drives me insane.

[The Buzz]

I kind of enjoy the way they call the matches too, it's the shilling of stuff outside of the matches like the previous poster said that turns my stomach.