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Post by Free Hat on Jul 22, 2011 5:05:20 GMT -5
As someone who just recently started watching current product again, I gotta ask this. When did Jerry and Michael start their decline toward suckiness? Cole used to be really good on play by play and Lawler was kinda fun cheering on the heels (even if Jesse Ventura and Bobby Heenan did it better). Lawler began his decline some time toward the end of the Attitude era, but I think the final nail in the coffin was his face turn in 2003. Since then it couldn't be anymore obvious that he doesn't give a shit. Cole has never really been good, but he's been extra suck since being paired with Lawler in 2008. I think the heel turn has made him more bearable over the last year or so, however.
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Post by YAKMAN is ICHIBAN on Jul 22, 2011 8:56:10 GMT -5
Cole seems to be good at both play-by-play or color, but great at neither. He REALLY needs someone better to play off of. He is much better than he was when he first started, when he stepped into JR's shoes after the first palsy attack.
I'd like to see Lawler step out of the booth, and become a heel manager. Frankly I haven't been able to bear him for years as a commentator. He lost me at PUPPIESPUPPIESPUPPIESPUPPIESPUPPIESPUPPIESPUPPIESPUPPIESPUPPIES!!!!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2011 9:28:04 GMT -5
I wonder this myself. The stuff he says on commentary nowadays is downright irritating. My biggest gripe is the way he basically bitches about the fans when they cheer for a guy and he doesn't get it. During the Cena/Punk match this past Sunday, he was all but calling the audience morons, and was completely baffled as to why they'd cheer the hometown hero who'd been standing up for the little guy. If you watched WrestleMania 22, he and JR were wondering the same thing during the Trish Stratus vs. Mickie James match. "Lotta people here on a day pass from the home!" I like Lawler. He's kinda become the apologist for the faces. Sure as heck not expecting Cole to do it.
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Post by RowdyRobbyPiper on Jul 22, 2011 9:32:34 GMT -5
At the end of the day, I suspect Jerry is there for the same reason mainstream audiences still like Jay Leno. He is a comfortingly familiar face who is regarded as a wrestling legend.
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AdamAFL was sooooo wrong
Hank Scorpio
note to all: he's a pants-less heathen
I Survived The Impact Spoilers 7/22/15-7/30/15
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Post by AdamAFL was sooooo wrong on Jul 22, 2011 9:43:40 GMT -5
I like Lawler but he's been stale since 2003/04 when he had his face turn. I loved him as a heel when he was paired with JR. Sure Heyman was better but that's because Heyman's gold. Lawler just pisses me off with his good twoshoes stuff we've got going on. All the while him and Booker are making a mockery of the colour commentator position we've got a guy like Matt Striker who is absolutely brilliant in the colour position doing sweet f*** all sans a couple of backstage segments.
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Post by YAKMAN is ICHIBAN on Jul 22, 2011 9:51:25 GMT -5
I like Lawler but he's been stale since 2003/04 when he had his face turn. I loved him as a heel when he was paired with JR. Sure Heyman was better but that's because Heyman's gold. Lawler just pisses me off with his good twoshoes stuff we've got going on. All the while him and Booker are making a mockery of the colour commentator position we've got a guy like Matt Striker who is absolutely brilliant in the colour position doing sweet f*** all sans a couple of backstage segments. I enjoyed Matt Striker, but you just can't have commentators say things like "I'm marking out, bro!"
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Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2011 10:00:20 GMT -5
I like Lawler but he's been stale since 2003/04 when he had his face turn. I loved him as a heel when he was paired with JR. Sure Heyman was better but that's because Heyman's gold. Lawler just pisses me off with his good twoshoes stuff we've got going on. All the while him and Booker are making a mockery of the colour commentator position we've got a guy like Matt Striker who is absolutely brilliant in the colour position doing sweet f*** all sans a couple of backstage segments. I enjoyed Matt Striker, but you just can't have commentators say things like "I'm marking out, bro!" I don't like his attitude. He's a freakin' wrestling announcer, yet the way he calls matches he gives off a vibe like "I'm smarter than everyone here, so let me tie together references to the "Dukes Of Hazzard", chocolate Dreamsicles & the late Mitsuharu Misawa for my own (and Chris Jericho's) amusement at the expense of Tyson Kidd."
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Post by YAKMAN is ICHIBAN on Jul 22, 2011 10:02:07 GMT -5
I think he is a step in the right direction though. I really want my announcers to be knowledgeable about wrestlers, and acknowledge wrestling history. I don't want Smarky Nerd McSmartMark though.
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Post by Next Level was WRONG on Jul 22, 2011 10:09:19 GMT -5
I'd take a senile 200-year old Jerry Lawler making nothing about perverted comments about Kelly Kelly all night than two seconds of Matt Striker doing anything.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2011 10:42:17 GMT -5
I want Josh Matthews and Michael Cole as the Raw announcing team.
They kicked ass on NXT.
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Post by jadison on Jul 22, 2011 10:52:28 GMT -5
I guess I'm in the minority, but I feel like Michael Cole's heel turn helped him grow leaps and bounds as a commentator. He sounds so much more confident now, and can really call a great match when the commentary is focused on the action. I can't blame him for the commentary shifting away from the match so often, because I have to think that is something that would be reigned in QUICK by Vince if he didn't like it. I hate his nitpicking, sniping at other commentators, burying wrestlers, but when he's actually on and calling a match, he's damn good now. Strangely enough, he's better on Raw alongside Jerry, because he doesn't talk any crap to him after Jerry humbled him. On SD, he's as irritating as ever, just leave poor Booker T alone will ya?
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Post by turkeysandwich on Jul 22, 2011 10:54:05 GMT -5
I enjoyed Matt Striker, but you just can't have commentators say things like "I'm marking out, bro!" I don't like his attitude. He's a freakin' wrestling announcer, yet the way he calls matches he gives off a vibe like "I'm smarter than everyone here, so let me tie together references to the "Dukes Of Hazzard", chocolate Dreamsicles & the late Mitsuharu Misawa for my own (and Chris Jericho's) amusement at the expense of Tyson Kidd." I used to like Striker, I liked that he would actually call moves by the correct name and such, but I absolutely hate him on Superstars. It has more to do with the fact that he acts like such a dick to Jack Korpela. Every time Jack calls a move, Striker has to comment on Jack calling it correctly, or anytime Jack asks him a question Striker has to comment on whether it's a good question or not before answering.
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Post by Ryback on a Pole! on Jul 22, 2011 10:54:31 GMT -5
I'm not a fan of King at all. He's just awful. Booker is bad but he does at least try and offer some insight and he does try to do a good job. King just doesn't seem interested in the slightest and even his heel work which some people loved, I honestly didn't like either. I wish JBL was back. Him and Cole were a great commentary team.
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4real
Wade Wilson
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Post by 4real on Jul 22, 2011 11:00:35 GMT -5
I can't stand Lawler now and haven't been able to for years now. I think I've disliked him since he started supporting Cena in 2005.
Before that I always liked the chemistry between him and JR particuarly when he was heeling it up and annoying JR but today he's so out of touch and quite frankly lame.
In essence he is kind of like Cena, he once had a edgy cool character now he is a boring, lame, stale and about as cool as an overcooked jalapeno. He is a shell of his old self.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2011 11:03:10 GMT -5
I don't mind Jerry, but I do think that with the new direction that the WWE is going it may be time to extend that to the commentary table. The King is a remnant of a bygone era.
Actually, they should offer the job to Edge, he's a decent talker and would only have to work a 5 times a month.
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Post by Rorschach on Jul 22, 2011 11:06:17 GMT -5
I'm not a fan of King at all. He's just awful. Booker is bad but he does at least try and offer some insight and he does try to do a good job. King just doesn't seem interested in the slightest and even his heel work which some people loved, I honestly didn't like either. I wish JBL was back. Him and Cole were a great commentary team. Plus JBL actually did the "justify the heel's actions" thing WAAAY better than Lawler does these days. My biggest gripe with Lawler is his CONSTANT harping on Vickie. If it's someone higher in the company's idea of an inside joke or something....its stupid. His remarks make me instantly mute ANY Dolph match, which is a huge disservice to Dolph, IMO. Also none of what Lawler is saying about Vickie jibes with their current "anti-bullying" campaign. But then again, neither does having the Bellas in the ad itself, so......yeah.
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Post by cool guy on Jul 22, 2011 11:31:32 GMT -5
Plus JBL actually did the "justify the heel's actions" thing WAAAY better than Lawler does these days. IT'S CALLED STRATEGY, MICHAEL!
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zeez
Patti Mayonnaise
Yeah. That's right.
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Post by zeez on Jul 22, 2011 11:35:32 GMT -5
But who else can make lame, unfunny jokes as well as The King?
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Post by Ryback on a Pole! on Jul 22, 2011 12:12:02 GMT -5
Plus JBL actually did the "justify the heel's actions" thing WAAAY better than Lawler does these days. My biggest gripe with Lawler is his CONSTANT harping on Vickie. If it's someone higher in the company's idea of an inside joke or something....its stupid. His remarks make me instantly mute ANY Dolph match, which is a huge disservice to Dolph, IMO. Also none of what Lawler is saying about Vickie jibes with their current "anti-bullying" campaign. But then again, neither does having the Bellas in the ad itself, so......yeah. My main reason for liking JBL was because he seemed so natural because he supported whoever he wanted regardless of whether they were face or heel. I remember he was a huge Matt Hardy fan even though he was a face, likewise London and Kendrick who JBL seemed to love. I also hate King's comments to Vickie. It's especially annoying because she's not fat in the slightest. She's lost a hell of a lot of weight and is actually pretty good looking.
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Post by Rorschach on Jul 22, 2011 12:21:32 GMT -5
Plus JBL actually did the "justify the heel's actions" thing WAAAY better than Lawler does these days. My biggest gripe with Lawler is his CONSTANT harping on Vickie. If it's someone higher in the company's idea of an inside joke or something....its stupid. His remarks make me instantly mute ANY Dolph match, which is a huge disservice to Dolph, IMO. Also none of what Lawler is saying about Vickie jibes with their current "anti-bullying" campaign. But then again, neither does having the Bellas in the ad itself, so......yeah. My main reason for liking JBL was because he seemed so natural because he supported whoever he wanted regardless of whether they were face or heel. I remember he was a huge Matt Hardy fan even though he was a face, likewise London and Kendrick who JBL seemed to love. I also hate King's comments to Vickie. It's especially annoying because she's not fat in the slightest. She's lost a hell of a lot of weight and is actually pretty good looking. In an ideal world, Vickie would come out with a mirror, hold it up to Lawler's face and say "Wow....every week you call me fat, Jerry. But I've lost weight...look what aging has done to YOU. All I needed was diet and exercise, but you....you're just SAD in your artificial attempts to stay young looking. " And then have him be visibly stung by that and come out and apologize to her the next week. SOMETHING that lends relevance to that whole thing.
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