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Post by EoE: Well There's Your Problem on Mar 8, 2018 2:45:17 GMT -5
It’s arguably the most critical part of the entire presentation of the company, as they have that direct line to Vince himself and how he wants the narrative presented. As such, even as erratic as the whole process has become, you still have to take it at face value because nobody would know shit about anything without it. It’s got no credibility but has to be taken as though it still has all of it. To also add to this, I ask a simple question about an event that happens; If commentary doesn’t seem to give a damn about what’s going on the screen right now, why should I give a damn about it? Why should I care about the future of the tag division if all they’re going to talk about is a talking segment later on they’re going to laugh through? They’re not just the voices telling you what’s going on, they’re telling you what matters and what doesn’t even though, well, everything should matter somewhat because you're still putting it out on television. To play devil's advocate, I do think that's something that can get blown out of proportion a little bit, because we do tend to (try and) tune out the commentary because of how rubbish it can get at it's absolute worst. For example, you mention the tag division, so here's Sheamus/Cesaro v The Revival from RAW this week. Focus on what they're actually saying... Now, that may just be the shortened highlight package of the match, and one TV match out of the hundreds they do over the course of any given year shouldn't kill off any of the valid criticism... but not once in that video do they actively ignore the current match by talking about unrelated wrestlers. They do try to put over Sheamus and Cesaro and The Revival and the strategy of the match. And Cole does try to get excited about the near-falls. I guess it just... feels empty for some reason, I suppose? The heart's not quite in it?
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Nikki Heyman
Fry's dog Seymour
EXTREEEEEME Pony Manager
✬ Believe In The Fight ✬
Posts: 24,018
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Post by Nikki Heyman on Mar 8, 2018 3:25:22 GMT -5
If the commentary team showed the same organic excitement and engagement with most matches as they did with the Gauntlet match, I don't think we'd be having this discussion.
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Woo
Hank Scorpio
Posts: 5,279
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Post by Woo on Mar 8, 2018 4:31:55 GMT -5
They are all terrible. I watched the Rumble and hated them all. I thought Graves was good but during the tag match he was botching lines and then lying about it when Booker T pointed out his mistakes and then trying to make Booker seem like the one who messed up while Cole was snickering at Booker like a bully's sidekick.
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Post by HMARK Center on Mar 8, 2018 7:10:55 GMT -5
Feels like the conversation that needs to be had more often is how wrestling commentary succeeds or fails in making wrestlers look like stars. Even shoddy commentary is pretty easily forgiven if the people talking manage to make the people in the ring look like a big deal, but "failing to create stars" is kind of WWE's overall modus operandi in the modern era, something that's definitely attributable to booking and match layouts, but that commentary does play an outsized role in.
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thecrusherwi
El Dandy
the Financially Responsible Man
Brawl For All
Posts: 7,655
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Post by thecrusherwi on Mar 8, 2018 7:31:59 GMT -5
To add to the OP's hypothetical commentary conversations, here is what is happening during the match a lot of the time nowadays:
Cole: ".............................................." Graves: ".........................................." Booker/Coach/Byron: "...................." Cole: "...........thunderous clothesline from Swagger!............................two count on the cover attempt......"
Seriously, I don't know if it's Vince's constant nagging distratcting them or what, but they'll go long stretches without saying ANYTHING. It was very noticeable during the Rumble this year. Golf commentators talk more and more energetically than the WWE's announcers do. It's awful. Yes WWE's booking could be improved, but their two biggest problems are easily their atrocious commentary and their stale-as-hell TV production (featuring nausea inducing camera work).
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Post by A Platypus Rave on Mar 8, 2018 11:20:55 GMT -5
They are all terrible. I watched the Rumble and hated them all. I thought Graves was good but during the tag match he was botching lines and then lying about it when Booker T pointed out his mistakes and then trying to make Booker seem like the one who messed up while Cole was snickering at Booker like a bully's sidekick. I took that as Graves is supposed to be a heel (most of the time), and him trying to cover up his own mistakes. Heenan and Lawler would do stuff like that all the time (hell Lawler did something similar during the Royal Rumble). Part of the problem is no one else at the desk is in the JR or Gorilla position to shut them down.
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