OttoBlog
2007/06/07: [WWW] 5.25.07 Ross Report - Who's Going to "Step Up?".. Too Many Titles?.. Calgary.. Mid-South Library.. J.R.'s Bar-B-Q Restaurant Opening & Hours.. Play by Play or Story Telling?.. Is J.R. Bitter?.. Rey Mysterio.. Chris Jericho.. "The Condemned"..


My response to the original blog by Jim Ross

Some have asked about commentary styles and what some fans like and don't like. Calgary's announcer Ed Whalen was cited for not calling the moves, but for demonstrating passion and conviction. Some fans get too wrapped up in the cute names for holds, in my opinion. The reasons for using certain holds, how they are executed, why they were used, the effect the hold or maneuver had on the opponent, and how the maneuver may affect the outcome of the match is more important than ID'ing every single hold with a name. Wrestling organizations are much more into their announcers being storytellers, much akin to what is done in boxing, the NFL, etc. I started out as a pure play-by-play man, but as society changed as it relates to the need for more info, etc., our announcing styles also changed. I loved doing the original style of play-by-play, but I also love what we do now, especially when a match is attached with ample emotion with a strong, personal issue involved.

My first preference would be the style Gordon Solie employed: single announcer, mostly calling PBP, and not feeling the need to be talking non-stop from bell-to-bell.

My second choice would be what NWA WildSide used to have: The best PBP man in the history of the sport in Dan Wilson calling moves with genuine excitement, accompanied by any decent color commentator (Scott Hudson, Dave Prazak, Steve Prazak, etc).

My third choice would be Joey Styles from the original ECW.

My fifth choice would be the current WWE policy of "heel color commentator paired with babyface color commentator, both talking non-stop about random events, with the match in the background being pretty much incidental to their conversation".

My sixth choice would be TNA's "two guys trying to sound more excited than an over-faffeinated hyperactive eight-year-old with his nuts caught in a mousetrap".

My fourth choice (no, I didn't forget #4) would be a tie among "all other styles".

Readers are right that Rey Mysterio lost a "loser leaves" match on Smackdown several months ago. Does that mean Rey will become a Monday Night Raw regular? I'm for it and we will all know in time, as Rey is scheduled to be 100% healthy soon. What if Rey went to ECW??

Pfft. That was several *months* ago, as you said. WWE viewers aren't expected to have that long of memories. Why else would Khali be said to "never have been pinned" (when that's only true of the last month or so) or Chris Master's Masterlock "never being broken" (when it has been broken on several occasions)?

As has ben said many times over the years (but who would remember?) "professional wrestling is no place for people with long memories".

P.S. I think I heard that Terry Funk wrestled one or two matches after "retiring". ;-)

Finally, many have inquired about the possible return of Chris Jericho to the WWE. As I have mentioned before I think this is simply a personal decision Chris needs to make, because even this old Okie can figure out that the WWE could use a reinvigorated superstar like Chris Jericho, as could any similar organization. If the playing field is level and Chris is comfortable in all aspects of his potential return, I think Chris will pull the trigger and come back to the WWE. As we have said here before, if all the i's can be dotted and the t's crossed to Chris' satisfaction, I think there is a better than a 50/50 chance of Jericho returning to the WWE this year. He's one talented son of a gun.

If he's smart (and I have no reason to believe he's not) he should realize how much WWE needs him, and use that as leverage to get:

  • A maximum of 70 matches per year. Any number over this amount gets paid by a minimum of $100K per match.
  • An uninterrupted block of one month off to rest up each year.
  • The option to take on movie roles (either through WWE Film, or outside of WWE if he so chooses).
  • At *least* as much pay as he was making before when he was wrestling a full-time schedule (if not more).

    You know TNA would jump at the chance to offer him all that.

    Until next time, this has been OttoBlog.

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