They did a bit where Borash is back announcing, after telling Josh that JR and other people thought he was awful. They mentioned JR enough by name that it may still be a setup for him making appearance.
Man, let me tell you, if you haven't been watching NJPW on AXS, then you have been "missing out" on Jim Ross delivering what is unquestionably the WORST commentary in professional wrestling. He just sounds so bored and so unenthusiastic about everything, and he just barely paying any attention to what's going on.
Originally posted by Tenken347Man, let me tell you, if you haven't been watching NJPW on AXS, then you have been "missing out" on Jim Ross delivering what is unquestionably the WORST commentary in professional wrestling. He just sounds so bored and so unenthusiastic about everything, and he just barely paying any attention to what's going on.
Noooooo way is New Japan JR worse than MAMA MIA Mauro. He's a showkiller for me.
Originally posted by Tenken347Man, let me tell you, if you haven't been watching NJPW on AXS, then you have been "missing out" on Jim Ross delivering what is unquestionably the WORST commentary in professional wrestling. He just sounds so bored and so unenthusiastic about everything, and he just barely paying any attention to what's going on.
Noooooo way is New Japan JR worse than MAMA MIA Mauro. He's a showkiller for me.
You are both wrong, Josh Barnett is the worst. He does things that make the english language weep.
It's the most important meal of the day.
http://toomuchbreakfast.tumblr.com/
Originally posted by Tenken347Man, let me tell you, if you haven't been watching NJPW on AXS, then you have been "missing out" on Jim Ross delivering what is unquestionably the WORST commentary in professional wrestling. He just sounds so bored and so unenthusiastic about everything, and he just barely paying any attention to what's going on.
Noooooo way is New Japan JR worse than MAMA MIA Mauro. He's a showkiller for me.
I get why people don't like Mauro. And Matt Striker, too, who's got kind of the same problem. But both of those guys at least have real enthusiasm for the product they're calling. Mauro gets *excited* when a cool spot happens. Ross just brings the whole enterprise down. I keep track - it's usually only about 3 to 5 minutes into the show before he mentions something from WWE 10 years ago, and almost never in a way that makes New Japan sound good. He's not a show killer; he's a promotion killer.
Originally posted by Tenken347Man, let me tell you, if you haven't been watching NJPW on AXS, then you have been "missing out" on Jim Ross delivering what is unquestionably the WORST commentary in professional wrestling. He just sounds so bored and so unenthusiastic about everything, and he just barely paying any attention to what's going on.
Noooooo way is New Japan JR worse than MAMA MIA Mauro. He's a showkiller for me.
I get why people don't like Mauro. And Matt Striker, too, who's got kind of the same problem. But both of those guys at least have real enthusiasm for the product they're calling. Mauro gets *excited* when a cool spot happens. Ross just brings the whole enterprise down. I keep track - it's usually only about 3 to 5 minutes into the show before he mentions something from WWE 10 years ago, and almost never in a way that makes New Japan sound good. He's not a show killer; he's a promotion killer.
(edited by Tenken347 on 4.3.17 1226)
From what I've heard of JR, it sounds like its the cable channel that is producing him, not NJPW. So maybe their notes are to connect things to North American wrestling.
Originally posted by Tenken347Man, let me tell you, if you haven't been watching NJPW on AXS, then you have been "missing out" on Jim Ross delivering what is unquestionably the WORST commentary in professional wrestling. He just sounds so bored and so unenthusiastic about everything, and he just barely paying any attention to what's going on.
Noooooo way is New Japan JR worse than MAMA MIA Mauro. He's a showkiller for me.
I get why people don't like Mauro. And Matt Striker, too, who's got kind of the same problem. But both of those guys at least have real enthusiasm for the product they're calling. Mauro gets *excited* when a cool spot happens. Ross just brings the whole enterprise down. I keep track - it's usually only about 3 to 5 minutes into the show before he mentions something from WWE 10 years ago, and almost never in a way that makes New Japan sound good. He's not a show killer; he's a promotion killer.
(edited by Tenken347 on 4.3.17 1226)
From what I've heard of JR, it sounds like its the cable channel that is producing him, not NJPW. So maybe their notes are to connect things to North American wrestling.
I get the distinct impression that no one in charge even watches the finished product. There are a lot of errors and problems which could be edited out or fixed in a second take (it ain't like it's live, after all), but everything just gets done in one pass, regardless of the quality.
I really, really liked the Mauro/Josh team on NJPW. I thought they did a great job of sharing the load in calling moves and putting them in context of who was doing them. And they also did very well at filling in the background of about 10 years of New Japan booking (which I needed when I started watching) while still selling the characters themselves. I also enjoyed the slow burn reveal that Barnett, this giant, Dolph Lundgren-looking dude, was a closet nerd, peaking on the WK9 show where Barnett just casually threw out there that Nakamura was dressed like "Daibazaal, or as you may know him, King Zarkon from Voltron" or some shit like that, which was amazing.
JR and Josh has been some tough sledding, though. JR clearly had a notecard with some NJPW facts on it and ran through those quickly, and doesn't have the same reference points to connect to Josh (Mauro was significantly better at teeing up the "You worked with/trained with..." spots that let Barnett fill in gaps on background for wrestlers and set up psychology for new viewers), instead throwing out football references that don't lead to much. Barnett also has to call a lot more of the moves in this set-up, which means the back-and-forth that Mauro/Josh had isn't there. I do think JR has gotten at least a little better, though. The chemistry still isn't there, but he seems to have settled on a way to just call the big matches as "big matches," though being taped still dulls his edge there. I thought he did a solid job on the Shibata/Goto Wrestle Kingdom match, which was right in his wheelhouse (and mine, match of the night on that show for me).
I don't have any strong opinions on Smackdown Mauro. He's certainly not as good as he was on NJPW, but the right partner for chemistry would solve about half of that. Someone in the mold of Regal - a respected veteran who still admires cheaters (without constantly calling for all the faces to be murdered in front of their families)and can fill the "I did this, and I know they're doing this for this reason" role - would be ideal.
I figured that I'd set the DVR to record Impact and give it another chance, as I haven't really watched since this summer but I wasn't really impressed.