Say something, you fucking idiots!

[Hanley!]

No, the thread title is not related to how quiet this place has been lately.

I was watching the NXT show last night and was reminded of something that's really been bothering me in wrestling lately. It's got to do with the commentary. I should say first that I actually liked the commentary throughout the show for the most part. Corey Graves seems pretty good at it for someone who is only now doing it by chance. But there was one thing that was bothering me.

Whenever something huge was happening, the commentators would stop talking. Take the most memorable moments of last night show and run them together and you wouldn't hear any commentary at all. For Finn Balor's entrance, they were completely silent. When Zayn was considering using the belt on Neville the commentators were quiet. When Owens turned on the new champ at the end of the show, they had no opinion on that whatsoever.

I directed the title at the commentators, but that's not really fair. Every commentary team in WWE does this at the moment, and it's clearly because they've been told to do so. Probably to make a moment feel more special or something (and in fairness, the Raw commentators could ruin a lot of moments just by opening their mouths). I just don't like it at all. If something massive is happening, I want the commentators to sell me on it. If they're marking out, or nervous, or devastated or whatever, it helps me get there faster as a fan. And sometimes they can help fill in the dots (it was pretty obvious what was happening when Zayn considered using the belt on Neville, but the commentators really could have helped to put the moment in context).

When Mankind went through the Cell, that would have been a big moment either way. But how much better was it because of JR screaming "Somebody stop the damn match!"? Nowadays, that moment would be greeted by silence. "Stone Cold! Stone Cold!" would not be an iconic soundbite if WWE had the same commentary policy back then that they do today.

Anyway, rant over. Do any of you guys actually like this new approach?

[The Legend]

I completely agree with you Hanley. I swear the product would be leaps and bounds better if they simply had excitement in the commentary team or they were any good at selling the angle of a story that each are responsible at all.

On a specific note, the two things that piss me off most are when the commentators are arguing about something that has nothing to do with what's happening in the ring or when JBL tries to blow over the Authority's role in things by claiming conspiracy theories.

[Str8Shooter]

It's hilarious you think that, because for a long time now the general sentiment I've found from reading wrestling stuff online is that people always bitch about the announcers talking too much and not "letting the moments sell themselves". That's what happened this time and you didn't like it

There's probably a happy medium in there somewhere thought between too much and not enough.

[Messiah]

I 100% agree with what you are saying but I think in the case of Balor's entrance, it was best that they were silent. There is nothing you can really say in that moment - that kind of thing speaks for itself.

[Hanley!]

It's hilarious you think that, because for a long time now the general sentiment I've found from reading wrestling stuff online is that people always bitch about the announcers talking too much and not "letting the moments sell themselves". That's what happened this time and you didn't like it

There's probably a happy medium in there somewhere thought between too much and not enough.

There's no contradiction here. People don't bitch about the announcers talking too much, they bitch about them sucking (the Raw commentators particularly). They bitch about them talking about things that have nothing to do with the match, or arguing with each other and distracting from what's happening in the ring. The moments shouldn't have to sell themselves. Good commentators should be there to sell them for us.

[Str8Shooter]

It's hilarious you think that, because for a long time now the general sentiment I've found from reading wrestling stuff online is that people always bitch about the announcers talking too much and not "letting the moments sell themselves". That's what happened this time and you didn't like it

There's probably a happy medium in there somewhere thought between too much and not enough.

There's no contradiction here. People don't bitch about the announcers talking too much, they bitch about them sucking (the Raw commentators particularly). They bitch about them talking about things that have nothing to do with the match, or arguing with each other and distracting from what's happening in the ring. The moments shouldn't have to sell themselves. Good commentators should be there to sell them for us.

Jesus Christ I wasn't even trying to argue with you and still want to argue!

Yes the announcer suck. Yes they talk about stuff that has nothing to do with the match and ramble on and on. Yes they bicker and argue. Yes they can help sell big moments and make them bigger.

They can also shut up and let the crowd or the moment speak for itself from time to time.

[Hanley!]

It just seems like I can't say anything without you trying to make it seem hypocritical, overcritical or whatever. If I feel like you're taking the piss, then yeah I'll argue.

Maybe there's the odd occasion where the commentators being quiet could help sell a moment. Like if they were stunned into silence by a particular act. But that's going to be one moment in a hundred, not every major moment. They should seem excited if exciting things are happening.

[Messiah]

Speaking of NXT announcers, Alex Riley is obnoxious. I wish they would replace him already.

[Hanley!]

I liked the female commentator on the last show. I wouldn't mind if they replaced him with her. Maybe I just thought it was refreshing hearing a female voice, but she seemed decent.

That being said, I didn't think Riley was that bad. Compared to the commentary we regularly hear on Raw and Impact, everyone was pretty good on the show.

[Str8Shooter]

It just seems like I can't say anything without you trying to make it seem hypocritical, overcritical or whatever. If I feel like you're taking the piss, then yeah I'll argue.

Maybe there's the odd occasion where the commentators being quiet could help sell a moment. Like if they were stunned into silence by a particular act. But that's going to be one moment in a hundred, not every major moment. They should seem excited if exciting things are happening.

I still love you Steve!

[Everlong]

Yeah I mean, the NXT commentators are still miles beyond anything you get with the WWE product.

It just seems like NOBODY in the WWE at any level seems to know how to sell big moments. anyemore. And aI mean, you hear the dumbasses commentating raw and PPVs just start mumbling whenever someone gets their ass beat, which is the stupidest fucking thing. Like during the Bray Wyatt/John Cena match at WrestleMania. Cena's getting his ass kicked and Bray Wyatt is doing some amazing fucking character work in the raing and the announcers completaey no sell it because they don't udnerstnad how to sell beig moments.

I'm not as fmailirar with the NRXT people but it's probably the same issue. in general I think letting big moments sell themselves is a better approach than giving a half assed attempt lik theepeople on RAw but i mean for fuck's sake your job as the announcer is to sell the story, give it some emotion.

Sorry for spelling erro ss I have been drinking and I don't feel like going back and correcting. But my point stands.

[KaiserGlider]

I feel like Michael Cole is getting underrated here. I don't think there's any commentator in WWE or TNA that gets as excited as he does during a big moment. A recent example is Sting's debut at Survivor Series. ("OH MY GOOOOD. IT'S STING!"). His reaction to Bryan winning the title at Wrestlemania was also great. ("THE MIRACLE KID! THE MIRACLE KID! A MIRACLE ON BOURBON STREET!")

Cole Miners FTW.

In my opinion the NXT commentators are okay. Haven't watched much NXT aside from their big shows, but based on that I think they do a better job of describing things than anybody else. And they definitely seem to know more wrestling moves. The silent pauses didn't really bother me last night either, in fact I remember thinking that the silence was perfect when Zayn was contemplating whether to use the belt or not. Sometimes the silent pauses can be really overdone and it just makes things boring, but other times they can be used to good effect. I think last night leaned towards the latter more than the former.

[Hanley!]

Michael Cole is better than the other announcers on Raw, when he's not getting sucked into their petty shit. But there are a lot of occasions when something big has happened and he either stops talking at all, or just mumbles occasionally. Like I said, I don't think it's his fault because this happens so often to all the commentary teams that I feel certain it must be a direction from Vince. But it sucks that it happens so often.

Cole is good at selling excitement when he's allowed to do it. Not as good as JR or anything, but he does quite well. His calls for Foley & Eddie winning the belt for the first time were both really memorable.

[Kyle]

Well, I've felt like Jerry Lawler sucks and has for a very, VERY long time. I do agree that it sucks when you have a great moment and the comms no sell it. Their job is to sell it!