Smackdown's commentary team (Smackdown spoiler inside)

[Anybody Thrilla]

Booker T is an awful commentator. Yikes.

Discuss.

[Jakob Synn]

I thought he was taking over for Cole but I was wrong.

Am I the only one who liked Stryker?

[Fignuts]

It's his first time, pretty much. Give the guy a break.

I thought he was better than taz at least. Fucking hate taz.

[Fignuts]

I do not get the love for stryker. He bores the shit out of me.

[Skippord]

Michael Cole is incredibly brutal to listen to, I get what they're trying to do with him but I honestly turn off the show like 5 times a night because of him.

[Anybody Thrilla]

He really sounded like he had no idea what he was talkling about for about 60 percent of the show. I thought it was funny when Cole would call him out.

BOOKER: Rey seems to be caught in the ropes.

COLE: Great observation, Booker.

***

Also, Striker is better than anybody else right now. Sorry. It's true.

[CSL]

I kind of popped for the 'THIS is what a crowd is supposed to look like' look he had on his face when he came out. The vid on Youtube was only like 1.30 so I don't have an opinion on what he sounds like.

[Jura]

Booker would have done okay if he knew when to talk and when to stay quiet.

[Mr. Nerfect]

The guy seemed nervous to me. His first line was like "Kelly Kelly has to have a reason." It was like he was sitting there and was like "Oh, shit, I better say something." Also, Cole made some very valid points that Booker could only really dispute by calling Cole a piece of shit. Josh Mathews literally held the commentary together (and deserves credit for doing so without making it all about him).

Matt Striker & Josh Mathews are the two best guys the WWE has, and I really feel that they should be cutting Michael Cole from the SmackDown! team if they want Booker T in there. Mathews can be the play-by-play guy, Striker can be the more impartial analyst, and Booker can be the emotional guy who tends to side with the faces.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Booker would have done okay if he knew when to talk and when to stay quiet.

To be fair, that's a pretty big problem when that is essentially what the job is.

[BizarroKing]

Booker>Cole

Then again...Everyone>>>Cole. IMO anyway.

[MoFo]

I like Michael Cole, but talk about overkill.

[Fignuts]

lol no idea what is going on with everyone. Cole is great.

No idea what is so great about stryker? "OMG he called a michinoku driver!" Who cares? He just seems extremely bland to me. And when he does show excitement, he sounds like a backyard wrestling commentator.

"I'M MARKIN OUT BRO"

Fantastic.

[Anybody Thrilla]

Matt Striker is the man. I don't care about him calling actual moves, but he just seems to handle all of the action more "realistically" than anyone else.

That said, Michael Cole is on fire right now. People talk about "overkill" with Cole's heel antics, but Bobby fucking Heenan was the same way. A few years ago, I remember people clamoring for a flat out heel commentator as opposed to two faces, and that's exactly what Cole is.

[MoFo]

Nah but hes all over TV.

No problems with his character, but its a bit much on every show. Mix it up a bit. No need for Cole on Raw, SD & Nxt, no matter how awesome he is.

[Anybody Thrilla]

Maybe Heenan would have been all over TV if there were three shows at the time.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Maybe Heenan would have been all over TV if there were three shows at the time.

Yeah, but they couldn't even get him his own show USA wouldn't let them. Fuck them.

I say it was a bad first outing for the Booker Man he was way too fucking timid for a 5 TIME WCW CHAMPION and former World Heavyweight Champion and King.

He's gonna have to work on being more of his character when he's announcing unless he's trying to just play as his real life self. If that's the case they should just call him Booker Huffman and drop the T and the spinaroonie.

Hopefully he won't start calling people fruit-booties like his brother did when he did Thunder.

Cole is all over the place right now and he's trying to fill too many roles. Color Commentator, Play-by-play, The Miz Cheerleader. I think they should give Striker the PBP role on Raw since he knows and calls the moves when Cole doesn't because he sucks at calling the moves and have Cole simply be the Color guy with King.

[Anybody Thrilla]

Shit, Stevie Ray was actually better on commentary as it currently stands.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Yeah cause he was a loud idiot. Booker just needs to turn his volume up. What's all this rush to judgment over one show? What is this WCW and TNA? Change it up!!!!

[Gass]

so what happens when Lawler retires after WM?

[CSL]

Lawler isn't retiring after WM.

[Emperor Smeat]

Sounded like nobody bothered to communicate with him in his headset like how Vince and others do with the rest of the commentators. It made him appear lost as to what was occurring during the show.

At the same time, he has been away from the WWE for a few years and just got back so I'm not surprised he struggled following the current stuff on Smackdown.

[Fignuts]

Shit, Stevie Ray was actually better on commentary as it currently stands.

Now you're just being silly.

[XL]

YES!!

I fully expected this thread to be all on Booker's nuts but it's the opposite. And it captures my exact sentiment towards his work on this show.

Granted it was his first go around and I'm hoping to see him improve.

Also, cut Cole for Striker.

[Impeccable]

When I heard Booker was going to do colour, I was confused. I've never thought of Booker as being strong on the mic, and to be honest, find it difficult to understand him when he talks sometimes. Surely you'd want someone who can deliver clarity, both in the actual way they talk and what they say.

If you look at guys/performers who have made the transition to the table (JBL, Lawler, Ventura, Heenan, Foley) they were all known as good in ring talkers and deliver on the mic. Not sure I'd put Booker in that list of guys.

However, thinking about commentary, I look at Taz and maybe Taz is an exception, as I never considered him a good talker, but I was thoroughly entertained by his time behind the booth.

[Sixx]

He's coming for you, nigga!

Well, that certainly works better with white people.

[Fignuts]

Literally cannot believe people want to kick cole out of the booth.

We finally have a heel commentator that legit makes even smarks like me want strangle him for being so ridiculously biased toward the heel wrestlers, and people want matt fucking stryker to replace him. Baffling.

[Fignuts]

Havn't had a heel commentator this good since King was full on heel.

I fucking love it.

[Impeccable]

Havn't had a heel commentator this good since King was full on heel.

I fucking love it.

Yeah, I would not kick Cole off the booth...also, it works that the Play by Play guy is the heel. Not sure why, but it does.

[Fignuts]

Because it is fresh and different. Cannot recall another heel play by play guy.

[CSL]

He's doing really well, never thought I'd say that however long ago. Only thing that stills bugs me about him is his hyperbole giving away near falls in big matches, even some of the kids will pick up on that.

[DaVe]

NEW CHAMPYEN, KING. WE GOTTA NEW CHAMP!

[Cool King]

I thought Booker did ok for his first time, though yes, he wasn't great but I could tell he was trying though.

I wouldn't jump on to the "Booker sucks at commentating" bandwagon yet, mostly because it's still early days and to be honest, Michael Cole, Tazz, Todd Grisham, The Coach and even Josh Matthews weren't fantastic when they first started calling matches, but over time, they became good/acceptable. Sure, some took longer than others, but eventually, they all became acceptable in their own different ways.

I think that's what Booker needs to do. Establish what kind of colour commentator he is, then work with that. Once he gets there, I'm sure he'll be alright. It's just that during SmackDown, he was pretty much your generic face commentator, and everyone knows that doesn't really work. (See "Michael Cole - The Early Years")

I get the feeling though with Booker on SmackDown, Striker will be moved to Raw so that both brands will have a three man announce team, while Grisham serves as interviewer on SmackDown and Stanford on Raw.

[Calamondin]

It's really weird seeing people talk about Booker like he's never commentated before. Am I imagining that? Because I recall really liking him on commentary. "YOU CAN'T WORK NO EYE MUSCLE!"

[Anybody Thrilla]

Yeah cause he was a loud idiot. Booker just needs to turn his volume up. What's all this rush to judgment over one show? What is this WCW and TNA? Change it up!!!!

Rush to judgment? Why would we not talk about Booker T being added to the Smackdown commentary team? It's kind of a big deal. While we're talking about it, why would we not mention that he sucked at it? It's kind of what happened. I wasn't trying to say that he won't ever get better, but he sucked on that show.

[Volare]

Because it is fresh and different. Cannot recall another heel play by play guy.

Shane Douglas. :shifty:

[wwe2222]

He was ok, it was his first time as a real commentator. Not surprisingly he was better than Cole and Stryker. Both of who I hate.

WWE events are missing a big voice calling the matches and the moments. Everyone is so f'n boring and bland

[Savio]

I like Cole as a heel commentator I just don't like how he bickers with the other commentators 70% of the time.

[Londoner]

I thought he was good but Cole/Josh kept cutting him off at annoying times.

[Goulet]

Shit, Stevie Ray was actually better on commentary as it currently stands.

Fruit Booty?!

[ooTin]

I am just glad to see Booker T back in the WWE.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Literally cannot believe people want to kick cole out of the booth.

We finally have a heel commentator that legit makes even smarks like me want strangle him for being so ridiculously biased toward the heel wrestlers, and people want matt fucking stryker to replace him. Baffling.

I think he upsets the flow of SmackDown!. The storylines there don't really require a heel commentator, and Cole seems out of place there. Keep him on RAW, but I'd consider graduating the character to an actual manager of some sorts soon. Yeah, Cole is pretty entertaining right now, but he's more entertaining in the ring with a mic (as demonstrated on NXT).

Josh Mathews should be the new Voice of the WWE before long. The kid gets it, is often on more shows than even Michael Cole, tells a good story, knows the moves, knows his role, doesn't step on toes, etc.

[James Steele]

Was it just me or did he seem to keep switching between King Bookah voice, Booker T. voice, and a 3rd voice? He will get better over time, especially once he gets a better understanding of the roster and what the hell is going on.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I'd rather have seen the WWE ease Booker T into it. Have him work on Superstars with Jack Korpela, and then have him continue doing in-ring stuff on SmackDown! until he's all settled.

[Juan]

He wasn't that bad