Jonathan Coachman leaving WWE for ESPN

[Enigma 0]

PWI is reporting that Jonathan Coachman is officially leaving WWE for an anchor job at ESPN. Coach already had gigs with CBS's college sports coverage and the MSG TV network.

 

Coach was signed by WWE in October 1999 and debuted on the December 23, 1999 edition of Smackdown. He was discovered by WWE a few months earlier when he was a sports reporter for the Kansas City, Missouri newspaper and a local station covering the tragic death of Owen Hart, who died on a pay-per-view hailing from Kansas City. Coachman appeared on Larry King Live along with Bret Hart and Jesse Ventura the night after Owen died. WWE was so impressed by his very fair work that they inquired him about joining. When they found out he had a college wrestling background and immense experience covering sports, he was a lock for the job.

 

He was a normal interviewer, b-squad commentary type until he turned heel at SummerSlam 2003, assisting Eric Bischoff in a match against Shane McMahon. Coachman was given multiple chances to join the Raw commentary team, but Vince McMahon was largely unhappy with his performances. Most recently he was pinned to replace JBL on Smackdown's commentary team when JBL decided to return to in-ring wrestling.

 

The turning point was when McMahon decided to officially dump Jim Ross and signed Coachman to a new, high-paying multiyear contract. Coach was involved in an angle on Raw's return show to the USA Network in October 2005 which saw Linda McMahon play heel for the first time and fire Jim Ross. Coach was to play a revolutionary role of a heel play-by-play man. Vince hated Coach's work so much that after the first month he attempted to pay UFC commentator Mike Goldberg $250,000 to no-show a UFC show and join WWE. Goldberg declined, so he, still dead set on not going back to Ross, threw a ton of money and a 5-year contract at former ECW commentator Joey Styles to quit his 6-figure advertising job in Atlanta to come in and head-up a three man team with himself, Coach, and Jerry Lawler. It was largely a disaster as Vince absolutely hated Styles' commentary style and continued to dislike Coach. Styles had a hard time adjusting to what Vince wanted. The word is it took 6 hours for them to get Styles' commentary the way they wanted it for the 2005 Tribute to the Troops show. Finally, Vince gave up on both Coach & Styles and put Ross & Lawler back together permanently in May 2006. Styles joined the re-launched ECW brand and Coach went back to being a heel figure on Raw.

 

Many believe Coach had been quietly trying to get out of WWE for a few months now, knowing that he would never make it as a top commentator due to Vince's long-standing unhappiness with his work in that role.

[fazzle 0]

I can hardly wait for the NBA roundtable discussions between him, lazy eye Scott, and Screamin A.

[ashamed wrestling fan 0]

The Coach just wasn't cut out for the commentating role. Though, he excelled in other areas

 

It hasn't stopped them from firing Michael Cole. But he likely earned a lifetime contract for his homo skit with Heidenreich

 

Good for Coach for getting out and finding a better job

 

 

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Honestly, I never minded Coach overall. I always felt he had potential as wrestler. I always appreciated his work as an interviewer as well as hosting the weekend shows and the VHS / DVD programs.

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! 0]

Honestly, I never minded Coach overall. I always felt he had potential as wrestler.

 

Like... "Danny Davis potential" or...?

[RedJed 0]

He was one of the few guys in the company I seriously couldn't stand in any role he was given. Everything seems so forced and "fake" from him, overly scripted, etc. His charisma/presence level was at a negative level for sure. Everytime he was on TV, I really did want to change the channel and between him and Hardcore Holly and Vicki Guererro, I really can't think of anyone else who gives that vibe off to me. He's just not entertaining and didn't fit in WWE at all to me.

 

With that said, he won't be missed but chances are he will come across alot better as just an anchor guy on ESPN. I saw some of his MSG stuff and something like he was doing there is definately where he needs to be.

 

I have a really REALLY hard time even thinking the guy had actual potential as a worker too, are you serious? He was fucking awful. Most women in the past and present could jump hoops around him if you're talking workrate. Hell, even most managers from the past/present as well.

[justcoz 0]

He's another example of someone who would have been the perfect heel manager if WWE still had traditional managers. He had a natural arrogance that made him easy to dislike, he could talk, interrupt matches and take bumps when needed. You could have been what Bobby Heenan was to the Brainbusters with Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas. He could've had a Heenan Family-like stable. And he could've still hosted DVD's or specials. I think the fact that we saw him in the same recycled heel assistant/stooge to the heel GM role so many times and the fact that Vince and Kevin Dunn were stupid enough to believe for one second that he was the answer to replace Jim Ross on play by play make people take what good he had for granted.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

I don't know why but I really liked Coach in 2003/2004.

[King Cucaracha 0]

His heel turn at Summerslam was one of my favourite bizarre moments ever.

 

I think the guy deserves more credit than he's ever going to get. They hired him as a backstage announcer and stuck him on Heat duty, which he was okay at. Then they turn him heel and stick him as an announcer, then realise he was no good... despite having had him on announce duty for years already and plenty of footage to look through. So then they throw him in the ring, which he did better than he had any right to. They make him Bischoff's lackey, then Vince's lackey, both of which he improved greatly in, to the point that he was actually in the perfect position. So, of course, they then stick him in as Smackdown commentator DESPITE knowing they hated him already, then spent the entire time mocking him on screen because they hated him. Even now he's gone they do it.

 

Good for Coach. I'm sure he'll get a lot more respect at ESPN at the very least.

[Jericholic82 0]

I'm happy for him, from what I have seen on him on MSG, he is a good sports reporter. He was never cut out to be a WWE announcer, though I used to enjoy him and AL Snow on heat as the two had a fun chemistry. Plus you gotta love Rock making fun of him, the best bit being the WM 18 promo, where Rock told Coach to say his prayers, coach got down on hus knees and said "What up G?" Rock's reaction was priceless.

 

I liked him as a heel manager type with occasional matches. He was good in the Rumble in 04/05 , hiding from everyone, trying to cheapshot Flair and getting his ass kicked as a result.

 

Good Luck Coach, may you save us from those annoying ESPN anchors

[Mecha Mummy 0]

Honestly, I never minded Coach overall. I always felt he had potential as wrestler.

 

Like... "Danny Davis potential" or...?

 

Actually, he looked surprisingly good in his match against Tajiri years ago (of course, this might have been because I expected him to just trip over his feet a lot and he didn't, but). Obviously he wasn't going to reinvent the wheel or anything, but he knew what he was doing and did a great job of effectively working a match against a trained guy where he got a lot of offense in without making Tajiri look weak (which would be an easy, easy pitfall considering it's Coach and he shouldn't look like he can actually beat anyone in a fight) and sold Tajiri's kicks incredibly effectively. I almost wish that Coach had worked more matches, he had potential in this bizarre way where he could have, if he wanted, probably become a decent chickenshit heel worker.

 

I liked Coach as an on-screen personality, but not as an announcer. Honestly, I'll miss him in the sense that I would sooner have him still on as a heel lackey/authority figure than not have him in WWE at all, but if the options are Jonathan Coachman, commentator or nothing in WWE, I'll take the latter option.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

He'll never be taken seriously on ESPN...he'll always be the guy that did wrestling for 10 years and couldnt even cut it there.

[Enigma 0]

He'll never be taken seriously on ESPN...he'll always be the guy that did wrestling for 10 years and couldnt even cut it there.

Then why did they hire him?

[Craig Th 0]

Coah on ESPN? That is going to be odd.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

He'll never be taken seriously on ESPN...he'll always be the guy that did wrestling for 10 years and couldnt even cut it there.

 

Just like The Rock will never be taken seriously as an actor?

 

Just like Jesse Ventura will never be taken seriously as a politician?

 

Please go away Marvin...

[ashamed wrestling fan 0]

He'll never be taken seriously on ESPN...he'll always be the guy that did wrestling for 10 years and couldnt even cut it there.

 

People take ESPN seriously?

[Ginger Snaps 0]

I can't believe he's been around nearly 10 years.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

He'll never be taken seriously on ESPN...he'll always be the guy that did wrestling for 10 years and couldnt even cut it there.

 

Just like The Rock will never be taken seriously as an actor?

 

Just like Jesse Ventura will never be taken seriously as a politician?

 

Please go away Marvin...

All Im saying is the fact that Vince gave Coach numerous chances to be a star and to go up in the WWF only to be a failure every time will surely end up haunting Coach in any future endeavors. Just like anyone else who has a job and is given numerous chances to prove themselves only to screw up each time.

[The Truthiness 0]

Coach only screwed up one job, and it was a job he didn't even want. The guy has been hired by 3 different newtorks in the last year, so to say he isn't succesful or ESPN is going to mock him, is pretty naive.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

I didn't mind him as a knock-off GM.

 

I once described him as The Stuart Scott of the WWE. Square one, now.

[tekcop 0]

On the Coach as a worker bit, his match with Eguene and with Cade against Rhino and Tajiri were fun, too.

[Guest College Party]

When I watched wrestling, it seems like they misused Coach a lot, like when they would put him in the color-commentary seat instead of letting him drive the show. It didn't really make much sense for him to be the analyst, because his character was never really that clear or established in the wrestling world, so it seemed like a lot of saying "...because I'm THE COACH" or something. As someone already said, it was the same problem they had with Joey Styles, which I never got.

 

"Okay, that's it, it's time to get rid of Jim Ross."

"But everyone seems to like Jim Ross."

"Yeah, well, we need to shake things up."

(few weeks later)

"Ah, screw it."

 

I never liked Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler because they're obnoxious cartoon characters, even for pro wrestling, but they've become the voices of Raw, for better or worse, so all their half-assed efforts to tamper with it never made any sense, and were always doomed to fail. They stuck with Michael Cole for years and years before he finally figured it out, so I don't know why they always had such a quick hook for Coachman.

[Jingus 0]

I thought Coach was a good worker for a non-worker, if that makes any sense. Sure he was awkward and nonathletic-looking in the ring, but I think part of that was by design. He was a wrestler in college, and had an athletic backgroud, so I think his clumsiness might've been part faked. I remember reading a tidbit one time about the Divasearch where they did the obstacle course; they had Coach go through it for a practice run, and he blasted through it so easily that he had to slow down and deliberately do worse when it came time to do it on television. But in terms of his in-ring work, he was perfectly fine with his selling and psychology, and never blatantly fucked anything up, and that's really all you can ask of a non-wrestler in the ring.

 

On the other hand he was just utterly terrible as a heel commentator. (So, naturally, that's where Vince kept trying to put him.) He had no sense of rhythym whatsoever, no idea when to talk and when to shut up. When you're sitting next to Joey Styles, and you never stop talking while he never says a word, something's seriously wrong here. Plus way too often he would do that annoying shit where he'd get into an arguement with Lawler over some heel/face crap, which is always the most tiresome thing in the world for any announce team which doesn't include Gorilla Monsoon. I seem to remember Coach doing okay on his Heat announcing back in the day, but I never listened to much of it so I might me wrong there.

 

Hey Czech: even though you admit he's the voice of Raw, you say you hate Jim Ross. What announcer is out there now that you like? Who do you think would be able to do the job better? Any answer including the word "Cole" is automatic disqualification.

[CBright7831 0]

I can answer for Czech:

 

Mike Adamle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Only joking of course.

[luke-o 0]

Good. I've never liked Coach.

[jester 0]

When I watched wrestling, it seems like they misused Coach a lot, like when they would put him in the color-commentary seat instead of letting him drive the show. It didn't really make much sense for him to be the analyst, because his character was never really that clear or established in the wrestling world, so it seemed like a lot of saying "...because I'm THE COACH" or something. As someone already said, it was the same problem they had with Joey Styles, which I never got.

 

Exactly. Maybe Coach wasn't cut out for commentary, but it's not like they made it easy for him. I remember the first time he and Lawler were commentating, and Lawler shat all over him. I know the storyline was supposed to be that Lawler was made that Coach replaced Ross (further supporting my theory that Lawler is actually gay), but come on. They made it impossible for the guy to breathe, let alone commentate on the match.

 

Perhaps if Coach had been given a job he wanted, playing a character he was comfortable with (instead of a role they insisted on) it would be a different story.

 

I wish him the best of luck.

[boobshaw 0]

Has anyone heard exactly what he'll be DOING for ESPN? I mean, is he going to be a College Football Analyst, Field Reporter, or like a D-Show Commentator for ESPNU?

[Papacita 0]

Plus way too often he would do that annoying shit where he'd get into an arguement with Lawler over some heel/face crap, which is always the most tiresome thing in the world for any announce team which doesn't include Gorilla Monsoon.

Didn't Vince pump him to do a lot of that stuff though? I remember a while back they did some kinda racial bit on Raw and everybody got up in arms over Coach constantly playing it up, only to find out that Vince was feeding him his lines in order to drum up controversy. Might not have been this exact scenario but I remember something to this effect on at least one (and possibly more) occasion.

 

Anyway, like a lot of folks here, I've liked Coach since the heel turn even if I never liked his commentary. I remember thinking a while back he was gonna manage the Spirit Squad and how cool that would've been. They definitely missed the boat on not using more as an on-screen character.

[Guest College Party]

Hey Czech: even though you admit he's the voice of Raw, you say you hate Jim Ross. What announcer is out there now that you like? Who do you think would be able to do the job better? Any answer including the word "Cole" is automatic disqualification.

I don't know who's out there right now. I was just saying that among the pantheon of legendary WWF announcers, Jim-Ross-as-Raw-guy is the one I never really understood. Every since Lawler came back after Heyman left, he just seemed to go through the motions of belching out catchphrases and YELLING A LOT AT ALL TIMES. All the yelling, plus aging and smoking, has made his voice kind of unpleasant (especially next to Lawler's voice, which is also unpleasant) compared to the Jim Ross/Bob Caudle years.

 

In all honesty, were I to watch wrestling again, I would want Vince McMahon to stop waddling around doing his self-indulgent Evil Owner schtick and just call matches like he used to. He has the only voice more synonymous with the WWF than Jim Ross, is more invested in selling the product than anybody, and really wasn't as bad as people made him out to be.

 

I don't like Michael Cole either, and was just noting that he had all the time in the world to stop sucking (it took about five years, I think) while the Raw guys never had that sort of time. Each time Ross was replaced, the replacement was set up to fail. By having him "get fired" in a gimmick or whatever it was each time, that meant he was taken away and being withheld from the fans, and the new person (Styles, Coach) was immediately resented for being installed in Ross's stead. Ironically, Jerry Lawler was fired for real, so they stuck Paul Heyman in the color seat, and most people took to him. Nobody has ever explained to me why they always wanted to get rid of Jim Ross, yet were always quick to pull the plug on the replacement project.

[AlaskanHero 0]

I won't particularly miss Coach, since I wasn't a big fan of his work, but I won't be glad to see him leave. I will remember him for being part of my favorite WWE backstage segment ever. It was him and Shelton walking down a hall talking about African-Americans in wrestling and even though it was only a few seconds, I thought it was really compelling. I'd love to see it again. But anyways, I wish him good luck at ESPN.