Hawk Hart
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Sold his organs.
The Best There Is, the Best There Was, and the Best That There Ever Will Be
Posts: 15,296
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Post by Hawk Hart on Dec 24, 2013 20:21:41 GMT -5
You kids with your Michael Coles and Josh Matthewses. When I was your age, we had real commentators like Todd Grisham and the Coach!
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Post by Nickybojelais on Dec 24, 2013 20:27:12 GMT -5
I don't know why but everything he commentated on came across as quite matter-of-factly, I don't know if that's just how I've interpreted it or not but I wouldn't say Ross was the greatest announcer ever like some people do. You sure you're not getting confused and have been watching matches called by Sean Mooney instead?
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Post by DZ: WF Legacy on Dec 24, 2013 20:28:05 GMT -5
"Aw that's bullshit!" -JR
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mizerable
Fry's dog Seymour
You're the lowest on the totem pole here, Alva. The lowest.
Posts: 23,475
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Post by mizerable on Dec 24, 2013 20:30:55 GMT -5
"Whisper in the Wind"
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Post by Kayfabe FAN don't want none on Dec 24, 2013 20:32:12 GMT -5
OP needs to get jerked off ... The ladder!
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Post by sunnytaker on Dec 24, 2013 20:33:51 GMT -5
I always preferred Tony Schiavone to JR, but that's me being a WCW kid. This has now become the greatest thread in the history of this sport. on topic i preferred Heenan/gorilla and Ventura to JR and i also liked Gordon Solie too. that'd pretty much be my top 5 (flip flop JR and Solie for #4 and 5)
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Post by bestthateverdidit on Dec 24, 2013 20:39:08 GMT -5
I think I preferred him when he was commentating for WCW.
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mizerable
Fry's dog Seymour
You're the lowest on the totem pole here, Alva. The lowest.
Posts: 23,475
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Post by mizerable on Dec 24, 2013 20:58:06 GMT -5
You know who was really good? Lance Russell.
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TGM
Hank Scorpio
Posts: 6,073
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Post by TGM on Dec 24, 2013 21:26:53 GMT -5
I love trying to see things from different points of view, but I just cannot fathom JR being considered a bad play by play guy in any way.
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Juice
El Dandy
Wrong? Oh he can tell ya about being wrong.
I'm the one who raised you from perdition.
Posts: 8,172
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Post by Juice on Dec 24, 2013 21:32:16 GMT -5
I think he is quite overrated and definitely in the 2000's was terrible. But in comparison to the other people on the main teams. His terribleness is hard to see through others. I always liked Striker, JBL, foley, heyman and Styles even in WWE was alright.
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Mozenrath
FANatic
Foppery and Whim
Speedy Speed Boy
Posts: 121,125
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Post by Mozenrath on Dec 24, 2013 21:39:14 GMT -5
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Boo!
Dennis Stamp
Posts: 4,417
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Post by Boo! on Dec 24, 2013 21:57:14 GMT -5
If you were one of JR's boys then everything you did would be sold to the max. If you weren't the the honest truth is that often he could merely go through the motions a bit.
If you can sell as he did for say Austin or Foley, there's no reason why he couldn't for others - but he rarely (if ever) did. I don't think he put the Rock over with anywhere close to the same level as he did Austin. Granted the Rock didn't need it (nor did Austin for that matter) but in comparison with JR's boys vs non-JR's boys, one sounded awesome the other by comparison sounded phoned-in.
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Crappler El 0 M
Dalek
Never Forgets an Octagon
I'm a good R-Truth.
Posts: 58,479
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Post by Crappler El 0 M on Dec 24, 2013 21:58:30 GMT -5
I think he's the best ever. Better than Solie. Lance Russell is up there too.
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Perd
Patti Mayonnaise
Leslie needs to butt out for fear of receiving The Bunghole Buster
Posts: 31,997
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Post by Perd on Dec 24, 2013 22:01:31 GMT -5
Lest we forget:
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Post by "Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik on Dec 24, 2013 22:03:32 GMT -5
I always appreciated his ability to make me feel like there was a strategy to the "sport" of wrestling. He would always manage to add to the psychology of matches by telling me why a wrestler performed X move or why these two were feuding. And that to me is one of the main purposes of an announcer. They should fill in the blanks for the audience and when he did, it always made me feel more immersed into the action. To each his own obviously, but I would always love to have watch a match called by JR.
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Boo!
Dennis Stamp
Posts: 4,417
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Post by Boo! on Dec 24, 2013 22:11:12 GMT -5
I disliked the whole 'college football background' stuff. I didn't want to know this superstar is a real person. I'm happy thinking he came from 'parts unknown' or wherever. It builds the mystique. Shut up telling me he had a try-out at UCLA. I don't get what that added to the viewers enjoyment of the match or character who may have been some mysterious/pesudo-super natural gimmick
"What a strange individual that is....amateur college football background"
SHUT UP!!
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Phosphor Glow
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Is a real girl!
Posts: 19,873
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Post by Phosphor Glow on Dec 24, 2013 22:14:10 GMT -5
Well, my personal favorite commentary team is Schiavone/Heenan/Tenay. Contrary to popular belief, I feel like they had excellent chemistry and each played their role really, really well.
However, to think that JR is a bad announcer by any stretch of the imagination...I dunno. We're all entitled to our own opinions, but the man's a goddamn legend as far as I'm concerned.
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Post by Mighty Attack Tribble on Dec 24, 2013 22:26:06 GMT -5
I just don't see it. Granted, his fall off was sharp - towards the end his commentary was about on par with Cole - but at his peak nobody sold big match atmosphere like JR.
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Boo!
Dennis Stamp
Posts: 4,417
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Post by Boo! on Dec 24, 2013 22:36:49 GMT -5
I just don't see it. Granted, his fall off was sharp - towards the end his commentary was about on par with Cole - but at his peak nobody sold big match atmosphere like JR. I kind of disagree. Look at how Monsoon would call an occasion. "Everyone on their feet. There's 93,000 fans standing. The roof has been blown away. This is what it's all about, this is what brought this sizeable chunk of humanity here today." ...basically just leaving marks at home screaming "WAAAAAAH THIS IS AWESOME!!!!" I'm not sure JR could do that. I'm not sure if faced with a WM3 or a WM6 or one of the old-school epic WMs if he could do that sell. I'd bet he'd get right down talking about college backgrounds or recapping recent storylines. I think in terms of occasion commentating, even if some disliked his style, Monsoon was the king. Monsoon may have relied on cliches but in temrs of build-up to an event or a match JR relied too heavily on preprepared notes and would often allow the occasion to pass him by. I'm thinking of the Rock vs Hogan match at WM18 and I know the difference is Hogan was supposed to be heel so it's difficult for him in that respect but I think it's typical with how he called a lot of big-occasion matches. He'd talk just about the match, ignoring the occasion. When Hogan tore his shirt what was the biggest pop of the night to that point was ignored as JR was relaying information about how may people had attended Wrestlemania up until that point. I'd have loved to have seen Monsoon be in his commentating prime to call Austin and Rock at WM17. One thing I never felt JR had and that's 'occasion awareness'. He'd get bogged down in college backgrounds and facts and figures that you almost wanted to scream "who cares, sell the occasion!"
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Mac
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Sigs/Avatars cannot exceed 1MB
Posts: 16,502
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Post by Mac on Dec 24, 2013 23:01:19 GMT -5
He's probably the best ever. I mean Gorilla Monsoon is my favorite. He made the matches feel real, but Ross was excellent at getting the story across so everybody whether they were a smarky fan or a casual fan. Michael Cole's terrible play by play makes me wish for Ross' telling the story even more.
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