J.R. almost quits last night

[Mr. Nerfect]

Originally Posted by Class Act Carl If Cole didn't immediately realise that he was going to Raw, he's an idiot. With Raw still due a draft pick seconds later, and their play-by-play guy just been taken away, and ECW not getting a draft pick, what was he realistically expecting? Lawler to SmackDown too, and no announce team on Raw? Adamle to Raw, leaving Tazz to announce ECW on his own?? Tazz to Raw, leaving Adamle on his own, and an all-colour Raw team?? There's no way Michael Cole didn't realise instantly that he was off to Raw, so save it. Also, with those telling JR to stop bitching, I know where he's coming from. They didn't just change his job role slightly, they made a decision which changed his whole lifestyle and sprung it on him on live TV. JR has a business to run, and a ten-year old routine travelling with his best friend Jerry Lawler. It may only be one day but you don't know how much the move will interefere with his everyday life and affect the things he does on a weekly basis. I'm not saying it's the same, but about a month ago the company I work for turned around to everyone and told them that our Mon-Fri (as they have been, unchanged, for the three years they have been in business) shifts would now incorporate Saturdays instead. You might think so what, but to me, that meant no more Friday nights out on the piss... and considering all my buddies tend to do their drinking and socialising on Fridays, that fucked up my routine and my social life. But that's nothing compared to some of my co-workers. Some of them had weekend jobs to supplement their wages which they then had to give up. Some have kids and must now arrange childcare on Saturdays out of their own pockets. One guy in particular was a semi-pro footballer who had just signed for a team and, as my company is his full-time job and main source of income (and the team plays Saturdays), he can no longer play football. It has cost him money and his sporting career. I know it's not that similar, being too starkly different types of job, but still I'm just trying to convey how forcibly altering somebody's entire routine by just one day can fuck up a lot of shit, and they should have had the courtesy to give him at the very least some advance warning, if not allow him the opportunity to put together a case as to why he can't make the move to SmackDown.

I disagree completely. Not about your story about the job, I'm sure it had some really negative effects on you and a lot of people you know, so I am sorry about that, but Michael Cole to RAW.

In a situation like that, emotion takes over. There have been times in front of crowds when, intellectually, I know I've got something coming my way, but at the time, I'm not thinking with my head, and it still knocks the wind out of me. You are waiting for that moment when it becomes official, so you're not grasping at theoretical straws. JR has talked about how announcers are expendable in the past, and Michael Cole recently got booted off WWE.com. No one would he seem himself as a bigger commentator than Jim Ross, and he probably has never heard anyone with power seriously mention a move to RAW for him.

To be honest, it only took a few seconds of serious thought past my first instinct to realise that the WWE were swapping Jim Ross and Michael Cole. To be honest, the only move I was sure about was JR. I said in the RAW thread that it's the only move that is logical. Natalya and Victoria needed to win, and Jim Ross would need to move to SmackDown!, because Mick Foley is still fairly new as a commentator, and is probably not ready for live shows, as One Night Stand 2005 kind of proved. Therefore, it had to be JR going to SmackDown!, looking at it logically.

Therefore, is anybody that was surprised by JR moving an idiot? Not at all, they just didn't think it through. I'm sure Michael Cole, who had to call a wrestling match (and although the commentary wandered in that match, he and King were assigned it, and he'd have had one eye on that, and one on being witty.

Also, as far as the scheduling changes go? Is your protest against the draft in general, because those guys are going to suffer, too, and they weren't told in advance. None of them appear to be bitching. The duties of a SmackDown! commentator leave time for the announcer to do other things, as Michael Cole was in charge of WWE.com, too, so I assume there would be time for JR's business. He'd need to go into work Tuesdays, instead of Mondays, and then it'd be post-production mid-week. He'd still have his weekends free, and they'd be a little extended with Monday off.