Paid Members BomberPat Posted July 16, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted July 16, 2019 I've been more pleasantly surprised by Jim Ross than I thought I would be. Taking him out completely would be a mis-step. Getting rid of Alex Marvez is an absolute necessity, he's awful. Transition him into some kind of panellist/backstage interviewer role. Maybe have Jim Ross in something like the Mike Tenay "expert" role and just bring him for main events/the second half of the show, and rotate other guest announcers - an expert for the women's division, for example, or a wrestler with a vested interest in the match. No idea if they'd be any good at it, but some of the agents/veteran wrestlers they have could be tried out as colour guys - Billy Gunn, Dean Malenko, even Dustin Rhodes. Tony Schiavone popped up on one of their hype packages, and he was great with MLW recently, really sounding enthusiastic and like he'd got a newfound love for wrestling, while enough of it was new to him that it lent him a kind of audience surrogate role in that he was seeing some of these people for the first time just like you were, so if he's available, he wouldn't be a bad addition to the team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 3 minutes ago, FUM said: I think it's madness to suggest taking JR out of the role. He is there so that when they get to TV, there is a recognisable voice for the casual. He's not great anymore but he is by far the most sensible available choice to start up your company that you want to seem big time. I don't know, I can only imagine that if I was one of the 'lapsed fans' they claim to be going after, who dropped off in about 2001, I'd wonder if JR had had some kind of significant brain injury or a lobotomy since I last heard him. I don't think it'd be a positive draw in the slightest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrodyGraham Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 I'd keep Ross and Marvez but take both out of the booth. Use Marvez as a ring side/ backstage reporter who they cut to for audio reports mid match. Ross I'd use for long form interviews with talent that you break up over a few weeks to push stories or hype emerging guys. I'd keep Excalibur in the booth either as an analyst with a guy like Schiavone or of you could poach him, Ian Riccabonne, or as the play by play with a wrestler or ex wrestler as colour guy. I'll cop shit for this but I don't mind, the perfect guy for AEW to do this with, if you could convince him, would be CM Punk. I can't think of anyone that could be Jesse Ventura for this generation like Punk. Of course he probably wouldn't want to but that's where I'd go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Arch Stanton Posted July 16, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted July 16, 2019 1 hour ago, BomberPat said: Is Excalibur wearing a mask really any worse than Jerry Lawler spending most of the Attitude Era on commentary shirtless in a crown? It is to me, because Jerry Lawler was a star before the Attitude era and he still looked and certainly sounded and carried himself like one when he was behind the desk. Excaliber isn't a star, isn't at all familiar to the casual audience and in that cheap mask he looks and sounds like a smelly wrestling nerd. Be different if it was Rey Mysterio out there, but he'd be about the only masked wrestler in the world I'd consider to be big enough to get away with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCW Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 JR sounds so depressed and sometimes sounds genuinely confused about what's going on. I'd bin him to a commissioner/figurehead role or something along those lines where whatever he has to say can be pre-taped or rehearsed a bit so it sounds like he knows what's going on. I'd keep the mask lad as it's something different at least and he's not too bad, try and find another decent play by play lad to go with him. Has to be someone out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merzbow Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 2 hours ago, Supremo said: That Goldenboy fella on the Fyter Fest show was infinitely better than Marvez. I’d make Excalibur and Goldenboy the regular team. Bring Jim Ross out for semi-main and main events. Put Alex Marvez in the bin forever. This was exactly what I was going to say, I'd make sure Goldenboy used a "real" name though as having two people with that kinda gimmick name is too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted July 16, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted July 16, 2019 If he wasn't such a car-crash of a person, I'd say stick Del Rio back under the Dos Caras Jr. mask and have him commentate, if you want a masked commentator. For all his faults, he wasn't bad at all on the mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 I’d split them up, like raw was mid 90s. Have two do hour one, and others do your 2. Two man booths easier to manage. Three is too cluttered trying to provide exposition on everyone and everything that is going on to a new audience  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members mim731 Posted July 16, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted July 16, 2019 They'd never get him due to his commitments with NJPW and Impact, but Excalibur alongside Don Callis would be just fine by me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidzero Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 4 hours ago, Arch Stanton said: You can't be having a lad sat there with a mask on, it looks ridiculous. Especially when no fucker from the casual audience has a clue who he is or would recognise the mask from anywhere. It looks so tinpot Argree with this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRooster Posted July 16, 2019 Author Share Posted July 16, 2019 I question the value of Jim Ross in 2019...they keep going on about wanting to target the lapsed fan, but given the youthfulness of their roster their target market may very well end up being the new fan, who won’t be massively familiar with Jim Ross anyway. Even if they are, I’m not convinced by the idea that people will switch over, hear Jim Ross’s voice and stick around. In the off chance they do, his lack of passion for their product probably isn’t going to be helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted July 16, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted July 16, 2019 No "casual" fan is thinking JR has a lack of enthusiasm. Not a chance. The fact he sounded like he was talking through the hose off his vacuum cleaner for most of Saturday would be more damaging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UK Kat Von D Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 Ross needs to be moved to a backstage role and be the person who conducts interviews. If he is asking a couple of questions it will add importance to all their interviews rather than distracting from the entire show. Excalibur is decent so keep him. I did really like Vampiro as a colour guy, so I’d stick him in as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merzbow Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 I'll take any excuse to get Vamp on TV, so good shout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrodyGraham Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 6 minutes ago, UK Kat Von D said: Ross needs to be moved to a backstage role and be the person who conducts interviews. If he is asking a couple of questions it will add importance to all their interviews rather than distracting from the entire show. Excalibur is decent so keep him. I did really like Vampiro as a colour guy, so I’d stick him in as well. Vampiro is simultaneously the best and worst commentator going. He can be very good and he rarely lacks enthusiasm for what's going on, but the weird barrio slang and general Vampiro character can get in the way. Still, I'd rather that, than JR sounding bored, offended or disengeneous by turns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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