Commentators: An Inquisition of Public Opinions

[Afterlife]

I don't hate King, and I've always kinda liked Cole in general. I do not think they are the best, but I think they're "o.k.". I certainly wouldn't fire them -- but I can see/hear moments when I can't help but take notice of hitches; awkward pauses or weird comments; contradicting each other, etc. I don't feel the need to remove them, but I can totally understand why some fans might have complaints.

Contrariwise, I find the team of Striker and Grisham to be much more entertaining and they're a part of SmackDown to which I look forward. they appear to have a friendly chemistry so that they can work well together -- even when Striker supports the less than popular competitors.

Here's what I don't get: What gripes do people actually have with Striker and/or Grisham? I may simply not be looking for them, or willfully ignoring certain flaws. So please, explain to me why either or both of these men are bad at their jobs.

[XL]

I think they both suffer from the "They're not J.R." section of the IWC.

[Afterlife]

Being completely objective, though. Apparently, ppl within the WWE itself don't like Striker's style? And Vince isn't keen on Grish? But you know how there are never any actual "details" or "information" on the front page articles.

So, I'm left being curious.

[Next Big Thing]

I think Striker with time could grow to be something special. He's just trying too hard right now. Grish is ehh... he's what Vince wants... a guy who's there, but not really. He doesn't have a presence in his commentary.

[St. Jimmy]

WAT

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Grisham is ok but he doesn't seem to have that big match energy to really be great. Striker is the man but he's not perfect.

I remember these two butchering Christian's return on ECW. Just no energy at all for something that should've been huge.

[Kane Knight]

I think they both suffer from the "They're not J.R." section of the IWC.

Not being JR is perhaps King's best feature.

I'd see King fired and someone else put in his place. As I've noted in other threads, nobody's really going to shine under the old guard. King and Ross are both notorious for burying other commentary, and while King seems to have mellowed with Cole, it's still there.

It might (or might not) suck short term, but it's the only real solution long term.

Most commentators will not meet the "JR" criteria or even the JR "style." The former is sort of "no shit," the latter is because WWE doesn't want that style of commentary anymore. That's why Ross has been phased out and why most of the new guys do a more straight up style.

Though thee are a lot of JR fetishists remaining, so I wouldn't be surprised.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

The main thing J.R. has over all these guys, and in fact, I'd say the only thing he has over all of these guys, (well the ones with talent) is his ability to call big matches and make them feel like big matches. Once Striker and Grish can do that, they're golden.

[VSG]

I frankly think NXT's team of Josh Mathews and Michael Cole is the best WWE has right now.

[Johnny McNasty]

Was coming in here to say that Cole and Matthews really add a whole lot to NXT. Their bickering back and forth is amusing, and Coles blind hatred for Daniels is hilarious. Definitely my favorite commentary duo at the moment.

Striker is good, but not as good as he thinks he is. Which is what I think rubs some people the wrong way. If the rumors are true about Cole and King avoiding Striker before going live, that is very unprofessional on their part.

King is a legend so he deserves respect, yet at the same time he is a shell of his former greatness. I think he should pack it up and bow out sooner rather than later.

Indifferent to Grisham.

[VSG]

Grisham is really talented and has the personality (I saw most of his Bottomline shows) to be a good announcer. I think its his voice that keeps him down, he has the boyish voice still and when you hear someone like Jesse Ventura and compare to grisham, well let's stop here..

[Razzamajazz]

striker just needs to stop saying extremely stupid things

[screech]

I don't hate Grisham, but my biggest issue with him is that he doesn't seem "into it." More often than not, he seems to phone it in (especially apparent when Christian returned). I feel like he'd be top notch if he could bring some enthusiasm to the table.

[Next Big Thing]

I would love to see Scott Hall and Kevin Nash announcing one day, though not together because then it would be too much like a continuation of his gimmick. Perhaps Hall and Cole, Nash and Striker...

[Emperor Smeat]

If the reports about Lawler and Cole hating Striker are true then it could explain why both sound awkward most of the time on RAW.

If Striker had the idea of planning out the announcing before the show and got shot down by both guys, its possible neither of them ever plan anything out before a show like announcing styles or how to get a match/segment over with the tv crowd.

Reminds me of the old story of Heyman's 1st announcing day with J.R. during the Rise & Fall of ECW dvd where J.R. tells Heyman to relax and just follow him to get comfortable with announcing as a team.

[BillyBonez]

The best thing they can do is to send King to Smackdown to replace "The Crapmaster" Josh Grisham and pay JBL a lot of money to come back and commentate on RAW with Cole.

[VSG]

Its Todd Grisham and he actually knows his technical stuff, and you can't really replace a color commentator with a play-by-play man!

[Jordan]

Grisham is like Cole 10 years ago, he's a dork but once he gains some tenure won't be such a pussy anymore.

Strike is the goods, he just needs more experience and I think he will be great.

King used to be great but now he doesn't have his heel gimmick and is kinda bland, but still better than most.

[Damian Rey]

Grisham is like Cole 10 years ago, he's a dork but once he gains some tenure won't be such a pussy anymore.

Strike is the goods, he just needs more experience and I think he will be great.

King used to be great but now he doesn't have his heel gimmick and is kinda bland, but still better than most.

I actually find Grisham ten times more tolerable than Cole ten years ago. I could never stand Michael Cole, and while he's not as bad as he used to be, he's still not what I would consider "good".

IMO, Grisham could be very, very good, with more experience and oppurtunity. I hated that he was left off the Mania card this year over a three man team. He and Striker have ten times the chemistry Cole and King have. Not to mention, he missed out on the experience of calling a big event. You can't gain big match experience in the booth if you're stuck doing prewritten interview segments backstage. Grish should've been calling the SmackDown matches with Striker at Mania.

King is finished. He just doesn't have "it" anymore. He doesn't have to be the King of old to be good either. It's always good to add a different dimension to your character, even if you're just a broadcaster. Heenan did this in WCW during the NWO days. While we still got some of the Heenan of old, he had a different approach to how he handled the NWO v WCW segments. Lawler could do something like this. He doesn't have to heel it up anymore, but he could be an insightful ring veteran who could delve into the pyschological aspects of why so and so is doing what they're doing. It's part of telling the story, and Lawler doesn't do that. He seems to have deevolved.

I think Stryker is amazing. Yes, he has some kinks to work out, but considering he's finishing up his second year as a full time commentator. He's obviously miles ahead of Cole and King in the preperation department. He seems to always know what he wants to say. Does he come off as a pompous ass? Yes, but that has been incorporated into his gimmick. He's suppossed to be an ass. Also, if you watch other sports, the retired pro always, always provides insight. That's their job. Striker is phenomenal at this. And becuase he was so recently active, he can comment on his experiences of taking this guy's finisher, or why so and so went about the match this way.

Long rant, but as someone who would love to do play-by-play commentary himself one day, I really, really dig Striker.