WWE Wrestlers upset over treatment of Jim Ross

[He who knows more than Nation]

If someone with twice more brains than ego ran TNA, Ross would be, in all seriousness, the most pivotal pick up for TNA. A recognizable voice often times goes further than a recognizable face in sports. Howard Cosell put ABC Sports on the map, Madden and Summerall took third place Fox Sports to the top watched of all football programs, Gordon Solie launched successful TV programs for 5 territories. Imagine if some first time viewers heard JR screaming "My GAWD" on TNA, it would do wonders and add some credibility.

I really like Striker, Mathews, and Grisham they actually sound like they know about wrestling. I like Lawler and JR but they're Vince's type of commentators who more or less tell stories than actually call the match.

See, that's the thing. They just sound like they know about wrestling, but all them combined don't know half of what JR knows. Don't believe me, go watch ANY classic NWA-WCW matches and hear the genius that is JR, he puts those guys to shame. Just because he doesn't sound like he knows wrestling, doesn't mean he doesn't. Being a "Vince commentator" is what the job is supposed to be about. Lawler and JR, in their primes were on equal footing as some of the absolute best commentating teams ever, Gorilla and Heenan, and Gorilla and Ventura, who were "Vince commentators".

And then there's a HUUUGGGEE difference between the new guys and JR, they can't even put half the emotion that JR can into a match. Not even close. JR was the voice for an entire generation, all the greatest events from the WWE's greatest period have JR's voice behind them and without his contribution they probably wouldn't be as memorable. For all the smark stuff they spout, Grish, Striker and Matthews have not even come close to putting any decent emotion into a match, and as awful as Cole is, he can at least be decent in that respect sometimes. To me, the new guys aren't even good enough to suck JR off, let alone get his spot on Mania.

 

[Hometown Kid]

Absolutely agreed with Enzo, he's "sold out" in recent years and done what Vince tells him, but back in his younger days he had more pure wrestling knowledge than any of the announcers today combined, and all of TNA creative combined. I'll go a step further and say that if the management had any idea what they were doing, they'd sign him and not only make him head broadcaster, make him head of creative. His mind for wrestling could ace any of the current regime's plans, and would get rid of that jackass Russo while he's at it, along with making Tenay and Taz look like amateurs.

 

[hndsmepete]

If someone with twice more brains than ego ran TNA, Ross would be, in all seriousness, the most pivotal pick up for TNA. A recognizable voice often times goes further than a recognizable face in sports. Howard Cosell put ABC Sports on the map, Madden and Summerall took third place Fox Sports to the top watched of all football programs, Gordon Solie launched successful TV programs for 5 territories. Imagine if some first time viewers heard JR screaming "My GAWD" on TNA, it would do wonders and add some credibility.



See, that's the thing. They just sound like they know about wrestling, but all them combined don't know half of what JR knows. Don't believe me, go watch ANY classic NWA-WCW matches and hear the genius that is JR, he puts those guys to shame. Just because he doesn't sound like he knows wrestling, doesn't mean he doesn't. Being a "Vince commentator" is what the job is supposed to be about. Lawler and JR, in their primes were on equal footing as some of the absolute best commentating teams ever, Gorilla and Heenan, and Gorilla and Ventura, who were "Vince commentators".

And then there's a HUUUGGGEE difference between the new guys and JR, they can't even put half the emotion that JR can into a match. Not even close. JR was the voice for an entire generation, all the greatest events from the WWE's greatest period have JR's voice behind them and without his contribution they probably wouldn't be as memorable. For all the smark stuff they spout, Grish, Striker and Matthews have not even come close to putting any decent emotion into a match, and as awful as Cole is, he can at least be decent in that respect sometimes. To me, the new guys aren't even good enough to suck JR off, let alone get his spot on Mania.

EXACTLY! To me JR is better than Solie, but the current way they have announcing doesn't let JR be JR. Lawler was a great foil for JR until they made him yell "Puppies" any time a woman would show up. I bet most WWE fans don't remember that the whole Puppies comment came from Road Dogg Jesse James talking about Debra's breasts, Lawler repeated the phrase laughing & the rest is history. I really think that the Lawler/JR team began to suffer when King came back to WWE. Listen to any PPV from that era & Lawler is terrible & they made him attempt to be confrontational with JR, but all it did is succeed in making him sound incredibly annoying. Gorilla & Ventura were phenomenal, especially with all the remarks they would make about each other & Gorilla's constant misuse of the word "Literally". Heenan was excellent with anyone, especially with McMahon. The only bad time in Heenan's career was in WCW when they made him a face announcer, it just didn't work well for "The Weasel". Ventura may have pioneered the heel commentator, but Heenan perfected it. A lot of Ventura's stuff comes off as racist in current times. Look up the Boxing match with "Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs Mr T from Saturday Night's Main Event. Near the finish of the match, Piper takes off his belt & starts whipping Mr T with it. Ventura's commentary was: "McMahon, it looks like Roots 2 in there." That is his exact commentary.

 

[hndsmepete]

Absolutely agreed with Enzo, he's "sold out" in recent years and done what Vince tells him, but back in his younger days he had more pure wrestling knowledge than any of the announcers today combined, and all of TNA creative combined. I'll go a step further and say that if the management had any idea what they were doing, they'd sign him and not only make him head broadcaster, make him head of creative. His mind for wrestling could ace any of the current regime's plans, and would get rid of that jackass Russo while he's at it, along with making Tenay and Taz look like amateurs.

He still does have pure wrestling knowledge, the problem is that WWE announcers have always had to follow what Vince wants or else you don't work. JR never "sold out", he's always followed what his bosses want, which is why we have heard his voice for so many years. The problem with him announcing right now is that we have no idea how far along he is in recovery. Calling a match while currently going through a problem with Bell's Palsy could be more than what JR can handle at this point. I guarantee that is the real reason he wasn't calling HBK/Undertaker @ Wrestlemania. The problem with Bell's Palsy is that it may never go away. A relative of mine had it for 6 months to a year & was lucky enough that all the symptoms disappeared, it doesn't happen like that to a lot of sufferers. WWE would be better served having him involved with creative, he has a better mind for it than anyone currently used.

 

[Lady Redfield]

Striker tries way too fucking hard. I don't know how people can even like him, he is so goddamn annoying and boring. JR's enthusiasm >>>>>>>>> Striker.

 

[Hometown Kid]

He still does have pure wrestling knowledge, the problem is that WWE announcers have always had to follow what Vince wants or else you don't work. JR never "sold out", he's always followed what his bosses want, which is why we have heard his voice for so many years.

That's what I meant by sold out, he stopped doing his work at his full potential, in order to appease Vince and be a good company man. (Which I don't understand because they get off on treating him so poorly. He must really hate TNA is all I know to stay.) But if he goes to TNA, he can shine, hence why I said they should hire him to be not only announcer, but give him some real booking and creative power.