Favorite Ring Announcer

[ohtani's jacket]

The NJPW ring announcer Hidekazu Tanaka was good. His Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band costumes not so much.

[Zenjo]

GMC is definitely my favourite American announcer. I liked the ever pompous Fink as well, especially after a title change.

 

In Mexico the louder and more dramatic the better.

 

For Japan I'd have to look up the names but the old AJW announcer had a very stylised delivery that I liked. The NJ guy who was with the company for decades. It was always reassuring seeing him there poised with the timekeepers bell, just in case that early match working hold were to lead to an unlikely submission.

 

The comical FMW guy cracks me up in small doses, but soon starts to grate.

[ohtani's jacket]

The famous All Japan ring announcer was Ryu Nakata, who died earlier this year. The All Japan Women's announcer was Nagaharu Imai, who passed away in 2013.

[El-P]

Shoichi Arai and his very distinct way of announcing and counting to ten during deathmatches was part of what made FMW so different and enjoyable to me. He was part of the unique atmosphere.

[DMJ]

Finkel #1, GMC #2 for me, but what I really wanted to add to this conversation was a quick nod to Hank Hudson.

 

Hank Hudson is the ring announcer for Absolute Intense Wrestling, Cleveland's major indy fed, and, prior to that, was the ring announcer for Cleveland All-Pro Wrestling, which ran for many years under the guidance of local trainer, JT Lightning.

 

I've been to lots of shows of over the years and seen many talents, famous and unknown, indie darlings and household names, but Hank Hudson might still be the most over guy in that ring on any given show.

 

Is this similar in most indies - where the ring announcer might be the only guy thats been around year-after-year?

[Loss]

I always thought one of the signs of a promotion dying is when the ring announcer starts changing regularly. From what I can recall, it always seemed like a pattern. The NWA in 1988 was like Murphy Brown and her secretaries, but at least it gave us that awesome soulful intro of Ric Flair at Clash IV.

[VIP Slick]

Parv,

 

Thanks for the info on Dr Miller. I had a hard time finding any background on him as well. Interesting that Tito used Steamer's real name, and of course Dr Miller mentions Steamer in the call as well. Nice little TV match for 1978!

[PeteF3]

All this talk about Tom Miller, and no mention of his immortal call, "And now, GIT READY TO BOOGIE!" before introducing the Rock 'n Roll Express at Starrcade '86. No other announcer could pull that off.

[Blazer]

Who was the dude who did Maple Leaf Wrestling for Titan and was at all of the MLG shows in the mid to late 80s? He actually looked quite a bit like Tommy Miller and sounded like him a bit too.

[Hollinger.]

Hollinger is pretty awesome.

[Happ Hazzard]

I liked Joe McHugh, who used to do the old WWF TV Tapings in Allentown. Great voice for an old-time wrestling or boxing announcer.

[JerryvonKramer]

That's the guy with the slow voice I was trying to remember!

[kretzl]

The World's Most Dangerous Announcer (whatever that means). Gary Michael Cappetta. He has always been my favorite ring announcer. I've just always loved his style and energy. I wish ROH would have done more with him when he popped up back in 2002/2003.

[Bigelow34]

Growing up a WWF hardcore fan, Fink will always be my answer. I did enjoy GMC as a kid as well and my appreciation of him has only grown.

 

Anyone remember the dude that randomly did WWF shows in 1995? I am blanking on his name...Manny Garcia? He came and went so quickly... anyone know why Fink was bumped during that year? Was it just part of them trying to mix things up so much?

 

In case anyone hasn't heard it before, GMC chatted with me, Scott and Graham Cawthon a couple of years ago and gave us a long interview with some really cool stories from his career

 

http://placetobenation.com/place-to-be-podcast-episode-121-gary-michael-cappetta/

[Kevin Ridge]

Bill Dunn seemed to randomly share responsibilities with Fink in 1994. But Finkel is my favorite. I love how he announced new champions as mentioned by others. It was pretty funny when he did Punk's entrance for Survivor Series and just waited on camera for his cue to do introduction.

[goc]

NOT Steve Rossi

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iBbFdEt374

[pantherwagner]

I liked Arturo Rivera and the fat guy that did CMLL ring announcing that died in his ringside seat back in the mid 90's.

 

That was Vitorino and he is my favourite of all time in any country. Perfect for CMLL at that time.

 

 

I also really like the dude who did All Japan Women.

[Ricky Jackson]

Cheap plug, but Parv has an awesome bio of Joe McHugh on a future episode of Titans - an all-Allentown spectacular with challenges, chairs, blood, jobbers, masked jobbers and Dominic "The Van" DeNucci

[artDDP]

I'll say "The Fink" because I grew up on his epic calls of title changes.

 

I also loved his re-introduction of Gorilla Monsoon immediately prior to the main event of WrestleMania XII, minutes removed from the Goldust-Roddy Piper lunacy.

[claw64]

Jimmy Lennon Sr. from Los Angeles was the best ring announcer I ever heard/watched.

 

Re:: AWA before Mean Gene

 

Marty O'Neill. You should be able to find plenty of Marty on you tube and I'm sure khawk has a decent amount on Marty in his video collection.

[sek69]

A title change just doesn't seem right without the Fink declaring a NEWWWWWWWWWWWWW champion. Every WWF/E announcer since then seems like a substitute teacher.

[Johnny Sorrow]

A title change just doesn't seem right without the Fink declaring a NEWWWWWWWWWWWWW champion. Every WWF/E announcer since then seems like a substitute teacher.

I agree. The Fink is just heads and tails the best ever.

[dgrblue]

Hello all,

 

This is my first topic so don't beat me up too hard! I was thinking about ring announcers today, so I would like to get some input on who everybody's favorite ring announcer was/is.

 

I will go first by giving my top 3, along with a short description and favorite call by each announcer.

 

1. Dr Tom Miller (Greensboro/JCP/NWA)

I loved everything about the late great Dr Miller. His booming voice, authoritative tone, enthusiasm for the product, and rapid fire delivery. How he referred to the Horsemen as the "dreaded Four Horsemen." My favorite call by Dr Miller occurred when he announced Dusty as the new champ at Great American Bash 1986, after Big Dust defeated Flair in a bloody cage match. I am far from the biggest Dusty fan, but I love the way Dr Miller basically screamed the announcement at the top of his lungs. It really made Dusty's win seem like a legitimately huge event.

 

2. Gary Michael Cappetta (NWA/WCW)

Like Dr Miller, I really enjoyed the enthusiasm of GMC. While he did have a great voice/tone, I simply liked Dr Miller's better. GMC was also an excellent promoter for the product. It was a big letdown to me when they brought in Penzer/Buffer to replace GMC. I loved all his Flair calls, but my fav was after Flair beat Steamboat at Wrestle War 1989. "Here is your winner, and for the sixth time, World Heavyweighf Champion, Nature Boy, Riiiiiccc Flaaaaiiirrr!!!!!"

 

3. Howard Finkel (WWF)

Like my top two, the Fink always came on strong with his top notch voice and delivery. He always made title changes sound huge. My favorite Fink call was when he announced Sgt Slaughter as the "neeewwwww" WWF Champion after Sarge's shocking victory at Royal Rumble 1991. This was after Fink gave a dramatic pause for effect, which I found awesome.

What about GMC back in WWWF days in late 70s and early 80s?

In my opinion, I never really cared for Dr. Tom, do not get me wrong, he is good at what he does, but not my style. I was partial to Finkus Maximus, being that I grew up on WWF. However, I have grown to like GMC, and I believe that he is better as a introducer, and explainer, however, Fink has far more enthusiasm and delivery when a new champ is crowned.