Best and Worst Indie Commentary

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

I always enjoy Anarchy Championship Wrestling's commentary. The company is based in Texas and it helps that the guys have a bunch of good wrestlers to call the action for. I also enjoy ISW's commentary though it does get a bit crass at times. Lastly, Denver Colorado for Beyond Wrestling is always a treat. I like when he actually has people to play off of too rather than just do it solo.

[mcmahonfan85]

Best: CHIKARA and PWG
Worst: Any promotion where the commentators talk when wrestlers are on the mic

[Loser]

Best: Excalibur from PWG, particularly with Steen or Chuck Taylor

[mavsfan41]

Totally Love Aaron Baur in AIW, and Phil Colvin is top notch in AAW

[jimmyjames]

I love Championship Wrestling from Hollywood, particularly Todd Keneley and Stu stone. Not as big a fan of Jeff Resnick. Should be interesting with Matt Striker joining them.

[Rave]

Love Aaron Maguire/Aaron Bauer in pretty much any capacity he's in. I cracked up so hard listening to him "remixing" the Ninja Elite Squad's theme once during an episode of PRIME Wrestling.

I've been able to watch Championship Wrestling from Hollywood lately, and it's nice getting to listen to Todd Keneley again.

On the worse side of things, I watched a promotion called TCW a few weeks ago where a heel commentator (didn't catch his name) decided to take several minutes to air his grievances regarding online critics while on air. It was pretty unprofessional of him.

[Mozenrath]

Did ROH ever improve on theirs? It's not the worst, but I saw some match, I think in Morishima era ROH, and the commentary was just terrible, for a company like Ring of Honor that obviously can afford something better than most terrible indies could. Zero personality, annoying voices, and I just ended up muting it and turning on music.

[Viking Hall]

XPW's team of Kriss Kloss and Larry Rivera is and was the worst team I ever heard, it took some skill in being crap to make some of those matches any worse than they were. However, XPW doesn't take the crown for worst commentator ever, that goes to ECW's Jay Sulli. Never has a man looked more awkward and rigid on screen, every time the camera was pointed his way he looked like he was on the verge of having a breakdown. Combine that with the fact that his commentary style consisted pretty much solely of him saying 'So, what do you call that Stevie Wonderful?' to his increasingly irritated (and underrated) commentary partner and you have the worst professional wrestling commentator ever broadcast. He didn't even improve much once Heyman took over from Wonderful and it came as no surprise when he was eventually replaced altogether and was never heard from again. On the other hand, I do feel that Stevie Wonderful deserved more of a career than he got. He was a good, solid heel commentator in the typical early nineties style. He had a great look for that era and showed some real personality at times and I'm sure I read once that WCW showed some interest in him during that time too but he chose to stay loyal to the growing ECW brand. However, when Heyman came in and pretty much fired him live on air he also was never heard of again and as far as I know never turned up in any other promotions, a real shame if you ask me.

[Steveweiser]

My favourites in the US right now are Excalibur, Phil Colvin, Aaron Bauer and Portia Perez. Dave Prazak is great too when he's live and drunk.

Thankfully I stick to some of the best stuff, so I'm rarely exposed to godawful commentary on the indies. Unless it's guest people who don't do it that often. That Caleb Seltzer guy on ROH wasn't all that good, but he's gone now.

[AdamAFL was sooooo wrong]

PWG's is brilliant because it's like listening to a couple of mates commentate. The best combo they have is Excalibur and Steen. Those two are just damn fantastic.

ROH's is hit and miss. I honestly think Nigel McGuinness is one of, if not the, best commentator in the business today. But he's stuck with Kevin Kelly and he constantly has to leave the announce booth to do his duties as match maker which hurts the flow of the shows in my opinion.

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

Aug 9, 2013 5:02:37 GMT -5 Rave said:

Love Aaron Maguire/Aaron Bauer in pretty much any capacity he's in. I cracked up so hard listening to him "remixing" the Ninja Elite Squad's theme once during an episode of PRIME Wrestling.

I've been able to watch Championship Wrestling from Hollywood lately, and it's nice getting to listen to Todd Keneley again.

On the worse side of things, I watched a promotion called TCW a few weeks ago where a heel commentator (didn't catch his name) decided to take several minutes to air his grievances regarding online critics while on air. It was pretty unprofessional of him.

Is the TCW your talking about Traditional Championship Wrestling? I've seen a bit of them and was impressed by their production quality (for an indie company), but never got a chance to really dissect their commentary. I'd be interested to hear the the bit your talking about as it sounds like it could be unintentionally funny.

[rapidfire187]

No love for JCW?

[Jazzman]

When 2cw did their first iPPV earlier this year everyone really liked our commentary guy John McGraw... Pairing him with Colin Delaney was regarded as a good move as well.

[Emmet Russell]

Aug 9, 2013 8:10:00 GMT -5 AdamAFL was sooooo wrong said:

PWG's is brilliant because it's like listening to a couple of mates commentate. The best combo they have is Excalibur and Steen. Those two are just damn fantastic.

ROH's is hit and miss. I honestly think Nigel McGuinness is one of, if not the, best commentator in the business today. But he's stuck with Kevin Kelly and he constantly has to leave the announce booth to do his duties as match maker which hurts the flow of the shows in my opinion.

I'm actually the opposite with my opinion on Nigel & his commentary. There's just something about him I can't stand and it really puts me off. His reaction to Jay Briscoe winning the world title off Steen was way too comical and over the top; makes that moment a little cringeworthy for me which is something it shouldn't be.

I loved Nigel as a wrestler, I just much prefer listening to an ROH show without him doing the colour.

[Deleted]

Best is probably CHIKARA, because they've got a lot of people to do it who are all pretty talented.

TCW's is awful because they're yet another company that doesn't get that you can't just have a heel commentator, there has to be a REASON why that person is a heel. All the great heel commentators were previous characters who became heels they just didn't up and start heeling it one night. It sounds totally forced and over the top.

[Stone Coke Miami Watson 🥃]

I don't know who it was, but the commentator for NWA-BOW (Branded Outlaw Wrestling) did a great job commentating the match between Rob Conway and Kahagas in which Conway wins the title. Had a good "old school" feel on commentary.

[rybackrulez]

PWG commentary is like director's commentary

They can make a throwaway match hilarious

[chazraps]

If you like Excalibur's PWG work, you should check out his commentary in PWS with Marty DeRosa. Really great stuff.

[Apricots And A Pear Tree]

ISW can be hit or miss depending on if you can hear both people or not.

[Dave the Dave]

Chikara because the phrase "he hits a fireman's carry, out of a fireman's playbook" was uttered.