Whatever Happened To The Heel Announcer?
I have been meaning to write this article for the longest time, I just kept putting it off and putting it off. Then the other day I was reading a magazine and *BAM* someone mentioned it, well it’s safe to say that lit a fire under my nether-regions and convinced me I should write the article I had intended before someone else fully acknowledges the importance of the heel announcer.
From what I have read and people told me, the majority of people who read these articles only started watching during or around the Attitude Era, I’m not saying everyone but the majority at least. So, if you don’t have a clue what I am talking about which you wont ’cause there was no truly great heel commentators around that time, not even in WCW to the best of my memory Heenan was dying out and when Eric Bischoff announced well.. What can I say, he wasn’t a favorite of mine and nowhere near in the leagues of Ventura or the King in his hey day.
I know many people find the commentators in wrestling pointless and boring, my missus being one of them, she found they was just annoying (Took me long enough to get her to watch, and even longer to get her to appreciate the announcers). So I had to go back in time with her, was all well and good showing the high spots of Shawn Michaels career (Lets face it if someone can’t get into a HBK match from around 2002 – present day, they wont ever get into wrestling), but I had to show her in olden days long since gone that the announcers did have a purpose.
So, naturally continuing with my Shawn Michaels related theme, I showed her some of the stuff from around 1993 – 1998, again realizing his in ring content from that era also couldn’t be beaten (Yes, I realize this article should be called the Shawn Michaels Appreciation Article). More importantly though, the birth of Jerry “The King” Lawler. I wonder how many of you remember him calling the audience “Peons” or before divas and he turned into a dribbling, geriatric puppy lover? When he proclaimed Shawn Michaels (I know here he is again) the next big thing while everyone else was booing him for his despicable actions with Sensational Sherry. True ole Jerry wasn’t the best commentator then, nor was he the best heel commentator in the world but, it was a start in showing how commentators could be entertaining and not always kissing the rear end of the faces.
After all, what does that accomplish having two people sitting at ringside saying how good for example John Morrison is or how moral HHH’s sledgehammer wielding actions are, if no one can sympathize with Randy Orton or Jack Swagger. After all, not everyone in the world is going to fall in love with Evan Bourne or hate C.M. Punk. The heel commentator when used properly can voice the reasoning behind the heel and his actions, can argue with the face commentator, in most cases causing the heel wrestler to gain more heat, because the heel commentators reasoning and justification most often can be more low down and dirty than the actual actions themselves. Also it creates a sense of realism to the commentating having two people disagree on situations and on peoples motives. Just look at Don West and Mike Tenay on TNA, okay it’s not the perfect example of heel/face commentating, but it’s a step in the right direction. Don West’s cowardly sucking up to Team 3D or Beer Money Inc is simply superb. When he then sticks up for the heels (After the faces have left the commentators table of course) it places his cowardice onto the heels too. After all isn’t that what a heel is in all reality? A coward who has to cheat to win?
To see perfect examples of the relationship a heel/face commentator can have you have to go back to the 80’s and very early 90’s when you had Jesse Ventura and Gorilla Monsoon. Jesse Ventura although not overly cowardly done an excellent job at getting over heels as well, heels. Even Ventura and Ross in WCW in the early 90’s was outstanding. Ventura pointing out that Ross or Monsoon always stuck up for the faces cheating, and totally ignoring the fact it was in retaliation to the heels previous cheating. Bobby “The Brain” Heenan was another excellent heel commentator and probably the best the business has ever seen.
I am all for going back to face/heel commentators, for the added realism, for the added drama that goes on between the two, and simply for the added comedy. Who could ever forget Heenan’s classic lines such as “See them two women in the front row wearing the same outfit?…. Oh, that’s one BIG woman.” You just don’t get material like that anymore. How can you not hate a wrestler who a commentator like that is sticking up for? The closest thing to that the WWE has is Matt Striker, and that really is poor. I would love to see Striker go all out heel on the broadcast he has the capabilities to sound intelligent and have the whole “WWE Universe” hate his guts and the wrestlers he could stick up for. TNA could do it perfectly if only they got rid of Don West, I personally think he is a horrible commentator, Mike Tenay is a natural face commentator and if paired up with the right colleague it could be a really good announce team if they carried on the formula him and West have.
Jimmy Wheeler.
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Nice article i agree completly but dont you think you could have mentioned jbl he was a heel commentator though not as good as the men from your article still did his job backed the heels and often insulted the faces when given the rare oppurtunity.
Very trueeeeeeeeeeeeee, I completely forgot about J.B.L. I’m sure I forgot others also, but J.B.L. was a really good commentator.
I loved JBL as a commentator – much more than his in-ring stuff. I was hoping he’d come back but doesn’t look like it, huh?
The “Heel” Commentator has been gone for a couple of years now. Are you only just working this out now?
I agree. I loved JBL on commentary, and he is smart enough to play heel commentator in a PG WWE, but I don’t think we will see this happen any time soon.
Incase you mised at I said at the beginning, I’d been meaning to do this article for a long time anyway. As far as just working it out, I had hope that with all the shift changed with the WWE announce team once they had the right structure then they would possibly revert back to heel announcing.
Well, I thought I’d be clever and mention JBL first. Umm…
Lets all just hope that bradshaw goes to TNA sometime soon. Who knows; he may even improve his in ring wrestling abilities and/or take a creative stance.
As soon as he left WWE it immedeately went downhill (and for some reason, even other promotions)
Thank PG for no more heel announcers. Before this bullshit rating happened there was at least one. Now there is none
It is an annoying aspect of the PG era. When I wrote my article on this I targetted when the turn happened and I think it was before the WWE started targeting kids but it definitely didn’t help.
I said it was Lawler’s turn to the face side but the kids initative was like a knife wound to an already wounded animal. The heel announcer position was limping and the kids initative slit it’s throat. It saddens me but I really do think that the great back and fourth announce teams of days gone by are truly extinguished, at least in the WWE anyway.
TNA’s team are alright but there is no real consistency. It went from them hating each other to barely bickering, then argeeing, then back to despising. I think the whole thing just started off oo strong and it soured the turn as it felt just like a fan pleaser.
My favourite announce team at the moment is on ECW since there is some antagonism there and heel support, but still within the bounds of a “kid friendly” environment. You can thank the brains of Matt Striker for that, who seems to want to support heels but is aware that the WWE announcer mission statement is to put over faces whenever possible and sell heels as evil. I made the point that the old back and fourth would be better for the kids initative as it adds a pantomime feel to the program. But apparently the WWE thinks kids are to simple and want everything very clear cut for them.
I’ll tell you who else was really good; Michael P.S. Hayes. I don’t know if any of you were fans of ole Mid-South, but Hayes could tear up the mike. Sitting next to J.R., I thought they were the perfect team. Hell, he probably can still do it today.