JRH Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 While watching various programming from both companies lately, i noticed that WCW commentary seemed to focus more on the in-ring abilities rather than the gimmick of a wrestler. Yes, there were plenty of gimmicks there, some incredibly absurd for that matter, but it was always treated as just an aspect of their personality, and the wrestling was what mattered. Meanwhile, with the WWF, the gimmick was what was being "sold", and that continues even to this day. To make an example, watch any wcw match with an absurd gimmick (ie, big josh, glacier, even the dungeon of doom) and compare the commentary with wwf/e matches with absurd gimmicks (ie, repo man, IRS, or for a more recent example, the wyatt family). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 I always felt like WCW was better at coming up with goofy gimmicks a lot of the time, but couldn't market them nearly as well as the WWF did. The WWF would pay marketing teams big money to come up with gimmicks nowhere near as charmingly camp as Johnny B. Badd, Vinnie Vegas or the York Foundation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 I thought the announcers were a lot better at not being so partisan with towards faces or heels in WCW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted October 3, 2015 Report Share Posted October 3, 2015 I always felt like WCW was better at coming up with goofy gimmicks a lot of the time, but couldn't market them nearly as well as the WWF did. The WWF would pay marketing teams big money to come up with gimmicks nowhere near as charmingly camp as Johnny B. Badd, Vinnie Vegas or the York Foundation. Â Â Dusty -----------------------> marketing "geniuses" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drew wardlaw Posted October 3, 2015 Report Share Posted October 3, 2015 I always felt like WCW was better at coming up with goofy gimmicks a lot of the time, but couldn't market them nearly as well as the WWF did. The WWF would pay marketing teams big money to come up with gimmicks nowhere near as charmingly camp as Johnny B. Badd, Vinnie Vegas or the York Foundation. This seems like an extension of the consistently poor production values WCW had compared to WWF. The goofy gimmicks just felt so second rate, like the pyrotechnics or the stage setups. Â As far as commentary, my vote is for the Ross/Schiavone team of 1991. Schiavone as a color man did great explaining the logic behind the moves being done in the ring, and Ross was toning down the college sports talk and just called the matches. No one trying to get themselves over, you barely notice they're there, and I mean that in the best way possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Migs Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 Â As far as commentary, my vote is for the Ross/Schiavone team of 1991. Schiavone as a color man did great explaining the logic behind the moves being done in the ring, and Ross was toning down the college sports talk and just called the matches. No one trying to get themselves over, you barely notice they're there, and I mean that in the best way possible. Â Â I find Ross and Schiavone both tried way too hard to get everything over as the biggest deal in the world. In watching some old WCW as of late, Ross commentating solo has me so frustrated that I've gone without sound - I just find him grating unless he has someone with a personality to bounce off of (Jim Cornette, Michael Hayes). Weird to think of WWF commentating as more low-key, but it was, and it's much more pleasant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 WWF's gimmicks were better because every character could be reduced to 2-3 USPs which could be instantly recognised by iconography. You can see this reflected in branding on SNME shows, for example, in which every single wrestler on the card had their own individual logo.  Every character had something you could instantly identify with him and Vince was always borderline psycho in enforcing the non-replication of details, down to colour of tights, two people having the same name on the roster, etc.  Ergo:  Brutus Beefcake had his sheers. Jake had a snake in the bag. Bossman had a night stick Mr. Perfect had a towel  etc. etc.  Even someone like Terry Funk coming in was given distinctive iconography and even today on WWE merch he is mostly pictured as presenteed in 1985:   Likewise Flair would always be in the robe in WWF, never in the suit and shades.  The only exceptions I can think of to this general rule are Arn and Tully, who were just "The Brainbusters" with seemingly zero gimmicks and no iconography. Maybe Vince thought Heenan was enough.  So anyway, better branding on gimmicks certainly.  Re: commentary, I'd take Vince and Jesse over all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 I always felt like the WWE and even WCW to an extent tried really hard to recapture the magic of Monsoon/Heenan, which remains my favorite team. I thought Monsoon sounded like a skilled sports announcer. He brought legitimacy when he was talking and then that gets cut by Hennan’s humor. They always had a great chemistry, helped the wrestlers cover any mistakes, told larger story for each wrestler, and didn’t feel TOO cartoonish. I think they tried to find that color/heel to play-by-play/face dynamic well through the attitude era.  I can never figure out if I like Venture on the commentary team. I think his unique voice and understanding of character work was great, but I almost think he over explained things to the point where it wasn’t aligning with what Vince or Toney were trying to do. He also pointed out entirely too many flaws in the match and the psychology. He would call guys out for making mistakes when he didn’t need to. It just felt like he took away from matches too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 helped the wrestlers cover any mistakes Uh oh ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drew wardlaw Posted October 6, 2015 Report Share Posted October 6, 2015 Â Â Â As far as commentary, my vote is for the Ross/Schiavone team of 1991. Schiavone as a color man did great explaining the logic behind the moves being done in the ring, and Ross was toning down the college sports talk and just called the matches. No one trying to get themselves over, you barely notice they're there, and I mean that in the best way possible. Â I find Ross and Schiavone both tried way too hard to get everything over as the biggest deal in the world. In watching some old WCW as of late, Ross commentating solo has me so frustrated that I've gone without sound - I just find him grating unless he has someone with a personality to bounce off of (Jim Cornette, Michael Hayes). Weird to think of WWF commentating as more low-key, but it was, and it's much more pleasant. Yeah Ross solo is straight punishment. I feel like Tony was able to cool him off a bit at the right times so when he starts really freaking out it was really impactful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted October 6, 2015 Report Share Posted October 6, 2015 I still like Jim Ross, but as I've watched more stuff, he's definitely someone with some huge holes in his game, where I used to see him as the perfect wrestling announcer. That old UWF stuff -- how much can one guy yell? A lot, apparently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted October 6, 2015 Report Share Posted October 6, 2015 I still like Jim Ross, but as I've watched more stuff, he's definitely someone with some huge holes in his game, where I used to see him as the perfect wrestling announcer. That old UWF stuff -- how much can one guy yell? A lot, apparently. Â Oh yeah, Ross was almost unbearable in UWF. The story of Rosss being that all-time greatest announcer ever really derives from WWE history again. He could be great. He could be downright annoying and grating too at points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted October 6, 2015 Report Share Posted October 6, 2015 The older I get, the more Bob Caudle climbs my list of announcers I like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteF3 Posted October 6, 2015 Report Share Posted October 6, 2015 I still think Marc Lowrance is in the next tier down from the all-time greats. He wasn't a guy you turned to if you wanted a breakdown of the pressure points of a figure four, but few people have been better at getting over heel atrocities. Lowrance *made* Embry-era World Class/USWA--Embry himself was the only guy more important in making that run as ridiculously fun as it was. I'd be curious as to what El-P thinks of him as he makes his way through WCCW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted October 6, 2015 Report Share Posted October 6, 2015 "She just sprayed him in the eyes with that tear gas women use to keep from getting raped!" is an all-time classic line. "Now, let's not bring religious fundamentalism into this, we have enough problems around here" would be my other favorite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteF3 Posted October 6, 2015 Report Share Posted October 6, 2015 AND NOW THAT FAT SLOB IS CHOKING JEFF JARRETT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted October 6, 2015 Report Share Posted October 6, 2015 I think my favorite exchange ever was Jay Saldi and Stevie Wonderful. Â Saldi: The Sandman is a great wrestler that goes both ways. Â Wonderful: Both ways huh... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted October 6, 2015 Report Share Posted October 6, 2015 AND NOW THAT FAT SLOB IS CHOKING JEFF JARRETT. Â Wrestling announcing for the absurdists among us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clintthecrippler Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 "She just sprayed him in the eyes with that tear gas women use to keep from getting raped!" is an all-time classic line. "Now, let's not bring religious fundamentalism into this, we have enough problems around here" would be my other favorite. What the hell matches are THESE from? Â My favorite Marc Lowrance quote is from when Billy Travis broke a beer bottle over Chris Adams' head and Lowrance starts screaming about how "Adams just had a beer bottle broken over his head. HE MIGHT BE DEAD!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteF3 Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 The tear gas line is from the 5/5/90 episode of USWA-Texas, when Jeannie pepper sprays Chris Adams. No recollection about the religious fundamentalism line and am baffled as to its context--maybe something he said to Akbar. Â My favorite non-ironic Lowrance call is from the Gordy/Roberts vs. Von Erichs Badstreet Match of 1988, pleading for Kevin to be okay after Gordy has piledriven him and is sitting on the mat, cackling with glee. One of the indelible images from my wrestling childhood--I didn't watch much World Class as a kid but I did happen to see that on ESPN one afternoon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 I'm not even sure when the religious fundamentalist line was said, but it was quoted in an old issue of Matwatch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drew wardlaw Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 So on the other side, my vote for worst play by play of all time is Eric Bischoff. Absolutely deplorable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lust Hogan Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 Favorite WCW team: Jim Ross and Bob Caudle  Favorite WWF team: Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 The most underrated announce duo of all time are, of course, Dick Graham and Kal Rudman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted October 8, 2015 Report Share Posted October 8, 2015 Dick Graham commentary makes me wish I was deaf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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