I’ve got lots to talk about so let’s not waste a single keystroke!
I Have an Announcement
A rather off the cuff remark made in last week’s column brought on a fresh batch of responses regarding the RAW announce team. Apparently, I am not the only one with an opinion on Good ol’ JR and Jerry “the King†Lawler. The opinions offered spanned the entire gamut, ranging from outright disappointment and boredom with the team to surprise at anything negative being said about a RAW institution.
Let’s take a closer look at this topic. There are several theories that I’m aware of as to how the play-by-play and color commentary tandem for any live broadcast should work:
1) The team should be as inconspicuous as possible, voicing only the most necessary opinions, analysis and promotional pieces. This is the “let the product sell itself†approach where, in effect, the performers do all of the talking and all of the commentary is a basic, descriptive account of what is going on.
2) The team should act as salesmen for the product. In the case of wrestling, the announce team’s primary goal is to hype merchandise, the upcoming pay-per-view and whatever else the company is selling. Talking up the values of the product itself (the rivalries, the athleticism, the background story, the characters and so on) helps accomplish this goal.
3) The announce team is part of the product with its own personalty. In the case of wrestling, it has scripted views on the product it sees and can even interact with the product accordingly.
The first theory is an “old school†theory through and through. It harkens back to the days before kayfabe was broken and the product was treated as though it were an actual athletic competition. Jim Ross (not the Good ol’ JR of today) was the mainstay of this style as he could both call the action accurately and ascribe a realism to it that no one else could. The feuds/background stories involved were described, but minimally and rarely at the expense of the action in the ring. As today falls within the era of “sports entertainmentâ€Â, one does not see this style being employed very often any more. On a somewhat related note, Fox Sports made one attempt at this style in 1995 during a meaningless Saturday game between the Arizona Cardinals and San Diego Chargers. The announce team did not form a running dialogue and only made brief comments between plays. The broadcast did not produce any results or feedback that warranted a continuation of the experiment. The conclusions were that the audience likes a running account of what is transpiring with thoughtful analysis making the product more interesting and enjoyable to watch.
The second theory is more or less what the announce teams are today and in my opinion is what irks us most about them. It seems that JR and the King have a tendency to ignore what is going on in the ring and speculate about what is going to happen later on in the RAW main event or what is going to happen on a pay-per-view when such and such big match happens or when such and such big name makes an appearance later on. They also have specific segments devoted towards hyping a wrestler’s book, a wrestler’s appearance on another show or something else. They are, in effect, WWe pitchmen. Last night’s show saw an entire segment devoted to JR and King holding up a RAW magazine and bantering about how great it is, for a more recent example.
It is important to note here that this is probably not of their own volition (and if you saw that RAW magazine segment, you could tell they looked very out of place). More than likely, this is how Vince McMahon, owner of the company, wants it to be. And while there is a lot of damage that overhyping can potentially do to a product, the creative team has put together some promotional pieces that have resulted in entertaining segments. This column in fact has sung the praises of a couple of them; Jericho’s bit with Hogan’s book being the one that jumps to mind quickest. It can be concluded, then, that achieving a balance between selling and entertaining is critical for this approach to work.
The third theory is a staple of the WWF of the 1980s and something I truly miss, as I stated last week. Announcers like Jesse “the Body†Ventura, Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby “the Brain†Heenan had distinctive personalities with their own views on the product they saw. It allowed them to make structured and often entertaining commentary that helped buy the fans into each feud (and the upcoming pay-per-view as a result). Some would say that this style is contingent on the existence of kayfabe, but I would argue that this can still be effectively applied to any match where the heel/face standard is in place.
In sum, the best case announcing teams can effectively convey the athletic nature of wrestling as well as the characters and story involved through good play-by-play and their own personalities (a hybrid of theories 1 and 3). This can occur while promoting the product, but should not be done excessively, at the expense of the product. It is understandable, however, why the current team is more salesman than announce team. Business is bad and the company needs to make as much money as it can to grow. But could the current announce team be more like those of the past while not sacrificing revenue? In my mind, certainly. In fact, it could even bolster business. The talent and personality embodied by JR and the King is more than enough to offer both compelling play-by-play and entertaining interaction that effectively builds the feuds and characters that we watch and pay to see. We’d all be more entertained and less irked by commercialism at the same time.
It’s definitely a little thing that can make a difference in any case. Sadly, this analysis draws an all-too-familiar conclusion: the WWe has the talent to make a part of its product very enjoyable, but is not utilizing it properly.
Readers’ Picks: I’m Sold
There are some wrestlers that sell a bump and then there are others that go well beyond the call of duty. Whether it is selling an injury throughout a match or effectively portraying the pain of a move, this column appreciates a good sell. D-Von is one of reader Ryan Lindsey’s favorites:
Whenever the tables are turned on the Dudley’s and one of THEM is put through the wood, its usually d-von who takes the harder hit. The thing I always look for and notice every time is the way D-von ‘fidgets’ and has muscle spasms after impact. Its never been discussed on TV. And I’ve never seen it mentioned on 411, keeping it a great touch to the pain a table is supposed to bring.
In fact, he seems to do a better job of selling a shock than other wrestlers when hurled into a fuse box, now that I think about it. On that note, let’s see if WWe got some little things down pat or was asleep at the switch for RAW 2.03.2003:
1. Shaken, Not Stirred
As tried as the theme may be, it still rings true: if you put a snob in the midst of yokels, hilarity will ensue. And Eric Bischoff is the perfect character to play the role of the uptight, wheeler and dealer from Hollywood who cannot stand the sight of common townsolk. The added touches here were the nicknames he assigned to the various cowpokes he encountered, adding special instructions for his drink (ordering his martini without an olive) and pondering aloud that age-old question “What the hell is an arky blue?â€Â
Only in Texas, indeed.
2. Reduced to Dust
The writers are taking us on quite a ride with the Goldust character. I know I have sang the praises of this character since I started the column, but I cannot emphasize the little touches that are making this a very interesting story. Some of which, like the trickle of blood coming down the nose after the Lance Storm kick, are not even planned.
The best thing though is the suspense. Everyone has an opinion on where this story should go, but nobody knows how it will end. Some say Goldust should ultimately emerge as a heel, resentful of Booker’s popularity or lack of being there for him. The current story still allows that. Others say Goldust should emerge as the next Mankind-type face, battered and broken from those who have opposed him and again, this is still possible. He may very well be only a Socko-type gimmick away from that status, too. That he and Booker seemed destined to move up and tangle with HHH’s squad is both obvious and just.
For all of this, I am not going to take the writers to task for the cheesy special effects on that power switch scene. It accomplishes the purpose of rallying the audience behind a character that has essentially hit rock bottom, as it were. I will not, however, forgive JR and anyone else that uses the term “electrocution†to describe the event. Electrocution implies death. Goldust is not dead. He just got shocked. Word choice matters in this column!
3. Get Over It
The funniest line of the night did not come from Bischoff, but instead from Chris Jericho. When he told Stacy that he had gotten over the chairshot incident and that she should too, I laughed pretty hard. His brilliant performances over the past few months have really left me scratching my head as to where his spot in the main event went
4. The Final Countdown
I thought the clock was a nice touch to give some immediacy to Eric’s quest to rustle up Stone Cold. The other nice touch, of course, is Vince McMahon himself being on the show in person to threaten Chief Morley with said countdown.
And it finally put to rest that annoying question about Chris Nowinski’s math from a few weeks ago!
5. Miscellaneous Grievances
I’m going to keep this fifth item in this format for now. Call it a release valve for all of the little things that I did not think went they way they should.
For example, we had a brief but noticable segment dedicated to Test and Stacy driving away in a car. It had absolutely no point and could’ve been used more constructively. Especially if Christian had continued the beatdown in the parking lot.
That towel that hangs out of Jeff Hardy’d back pocket really annoys me. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it does. I’m a pretty tolerant guy, too. I even like the body paint idea in theory.
The first few seconds of the broadcast being in Spanish was very bizarre, I’ll admit. But as I have stated in this column, I will not go for the jugular when it comes to production snafus, as WWe has a very good track record historically with producing quality live television
as long as it does not become a habit.
That about does it. Keep the comments coming and I’ll see you next week.
