Boy, this is a surprise. I just assumed that it would be the split Raw/Smackdown announce crew, but obviously JR coming back is ten times better than having to hear Coach or watered-down Styles.
"He looks like a perverted roofer who knocks off early on warm spring days to drink beer and ogle teenage girls at the river, but wrestles like a man who actually cares about his job." ---DVDVR's Raven Mack on "Gigolo" Jimmy Del Ray
Styles seems like he's going to be a transitional announcer.
But, there is not a feeder system of territories with TV shows to provide Vince with any experinced talent in the next 5-10 years.
Any guesses on the ratings this is gonna get? Saturday night is a bit of a programming graveyard. Plus (I think) most of the fans arent in the 7-13 year old age bracket anymore.
(edited by canis582 on 11.3.06 1754) I just remembered that im absent minded wait i mean i lost my mind, i cant find it.
Personally, I prefer WWE-produced Joey Styles over Jim Ross 2006. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE JR. He is certainly one of the best play-by-play commentators the business has ever seen. But he and Lawler have been calling Raw since 1997 and it was VERY refreshing for someone new to get in there, and I will be sad to see Joey go.
Not that I care much either way, but Joey's "Nicely done" is at least as annoying as anything JR ever did. I would like to hear JUST Joey and the King for a few weeks and that would be a better ccomparative check to JR and Lawler. I don't think I am alone when I say how much I hate the Coach on my TV. He's soooooo boring.
We'll be back right after order has been restored here in the Omni Center.
Eww, damn. As watered-down as Joey is, he is VASTLY preferable to JR. I don't deny that the way the man was removed from TV was a shitty way to go about things, but at the same time it was something that we for the most part had been calling for for a coupla years before it happened. If this is a return to the old crew, colour me disappointed.
To those who say people wouldn't look; they wouldn't be interested; they're too complacent, indifferent and insulated, I can only reply: There is, in one reporter's opinion, considerable evidence against that contention. But even if they are right, what have they got to lose? Because if they are right, and this instrument is good for nothing but to entertain, amuse and insulate, then the tube is flickering now and we will soon see that the whole struggle is lost. This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires, and lights, in a box.-Edward R. Murrow
Considering last we saw of JR he was fired by the entire McMahon family, his return for next weekend would in all likelihood entail them wasting time this week crafting some sort of storyline/rationale for him to reappear on McMahon Airwaves. When it is 3 weeks out until Mania, there are better uses for time than building up the Return of Good Ol' JR so he can call SNME or Mrs. Foley's Baby Boy's Mania Job.
I M O, as stale as J.R. is, he's vastly preferable to WWE-produced Joey Styles or anyone else. If they're only bringing him back for a one-shot, that one-shot should've been calling the Hunter/Cena staredown that died on the vine, since he actually could've, like, made it seem important. But if they bring him back to call Wrestlemania, that makes Wrestlemania better.
Quite frankly (1), it wouldn't be right for the life trajectories of Vince McMahon and Jim Ross for Vince to not have to bring Ross back against his wishes yet again.
I can't imagine that Vince likes the idea of having Joey Styles call WWE's biggest event of the year if he's not to happy with his style to begin with. I'd also imagine that, considering the way he was "let go", if he was to come back to the broadcast booth he'd have a bit more say in how he conducts things.
What I don't understand is why we don't have a Styles/Ross announce team so that Ross can groom Styles for the future when, inevitably, he retires and a new lead announcer will need to step up.
And, not totally off topic, but it got me intrigued none the less. Do you think that we will see another Gordon Solie type of announcer in wrestling in the near future, or does the current downward trend of wrestling prevent someone from emerging?
If possible, Joey Styles has been even worse on commentary since that Chris Cruise dude posted that scathing article about him on the Torch site. Cruise's subsequent audio interview on the subject really convinced me, however, that he was pretty much on the money (as apposed to just being needlessly critical). Styles contributes literally nothing to the product, he doesn't carry himself like a human almanac of wrestling knowledge which Ross, even at his worst, could not help but do, and he's basically only tolerable because Jerry Lawler is helping by carrying the load for him.
I know that sounds absurd, but really. Since Ross' absence why do you think Lawler has played the straight babyface role on commentary? Sure, he was already doing that when it came to anti-USA heels or other random gimmicks, but Lawler is pro-everything-nice now. Do you think that's some accident? Styles can't be trusted to express the audience-conscience sentiment that McMahon obviously feels is necessary to the storytelling of WWE programming. And sadly, I think he's doing a better job of it than Styles could. Having JR back for the short-term will be nice, but I'm not holding my breath for any kind of return to the RAW booth. He was pegged to be used is some kind of recuded role, and I think this is just the first stage of that.
The thing about Styles is, he was fine on his first night (Taboo Tuesday) when it was just him and Lawler. He was also fine at the Royal Rumble when it was just him and Lawler. See what I'm getting at? Coachman is the worst WWE announcer ever, and he's dragging the entire RAW product down as a result.
"He looks like a perverted roofer who knocks off early on warm spring days to drink beer and ogle teenage girls at the river, but wrestles like a man who actually cares about his job." ---DVDVR's Raven Mack on "Gigolo" Jimmy Del Ray
Thread ahead: Buyrates Released for Rumble & NWO Next thread: "Cena's daddy.....clap-clap-clapclapclap" Previous thread: SNME just became "must see TV" (SPOILER from Smackdown)
I would love to see Sunny win the Diva award, she could waddle herself out and then pawn the award for more crack. (did I just write that? I have had a bad morning...) Another thought about Superstar of the decade:
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