Should WWE Allow Announcers to Comment on Other Promotions?

[cero2k]

Source: Bleacher Report

JBL stepped in on commentary for Jerry Lawler at Night of Champions and then again on Raw and there was something about his time at the desk that made him stand out from everyone in WWE.

He made numerous references to wrestling history as well as acknowledged wrestler's accomplishments outside of WWE.

At NOC, JBL talked about how Rey Mysterio as a former AAA superstar and champion while also highlighting Sin Cara's career in CMLL. I still don't know why he called Mil Mascaras selfish, though.

Another nice tidbit from JBL was how he mentioned Tensai's hugely successful career in Japan while wrestling for New Japan Pro Wrestling.

We also got a history lesson from JBL as he mentioned many legendary names in the business including Frank Gotch, who is credited with making pro wrestling popular in the US.

This is something you almost never see in WWE because Vince McMahon has built his own little "universe" so to speak and acknowledging anything outside of it is usually taboo for announcers.

These little comments and facts may not seem like they would add much, but to those who pay attention to the entire world of wrestling and not just WWE it really adds a lot to the experience.

Hearing JBL put over guys by talking about things they have done outside of WWE made it seem a little closer to regular sports commentary, in a good way.

When you listen to announcers for any major sport, they always talk about where the players came from and what they accomplished before making it to the pros.

Why can't WWE do the same thing?

For all intents and purposes WWE is the equivalent to the "Pro" league of the wrestling business while TNA could be compared to a standard Triple-A ball club.

ROH could be the Toledo Mud Hens. I'm just spit-balling here.

WWE has made more references to Indy wrestling in recent months, but mentioning the names of the promotions or titles won by superstars in them seems to still be off limits.

If Christian's TNA record were allowed to be acknowledged then he would be called a four-time world champion instead of a two time champion.

If ROH was to be talked about, then they could go into more depth when discussing the history between superstars like CM Punk, Daniel Bryan and Antonio Cesaro.

Many of the superstars in the company have history in Japan and Mexico, which could actually help get them over if fans were exposed to it.

WWE's style of only really giving credit to superstars from their ECW and WCW days is understandable. WWE owns these companies' names and history, so they are free to be brought up.


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We do have to remember that WWE is, above all else, a business and businesses do not like to give props to their competitors.

You don't see Pepsi saying how awesome Coca-Cola is, so we have to expect WWE to keep most of the references they make to be in-house.

It is a double-edged sword because mentioning other promotions might make WWE scared of fans jumping ship like in the WCW days, but at the same time it would allow for superstars to have a greater understanding of their career conveyed to the audience.

Whether JBL took it upon himself to make these references or if Vince McMahon had approved it ahead of time is not known as of now, but what we do know is that JBL made commentary interesting again.

I was just as entertained by what JBL was saying during most of the matches on Raw as I was by the matches themselves, and that speaks volumes about JBL's ability on the headset.

Hopefully WWE realizes how entertaining it is to hear these types of things from the announcers and continues to integrate more facts from outside the walls of WWE into their commentary.

What do you think?

Should WWE start talking about other wrestling companies more often to drum up more interest in the sport as a whole?

Would it help get superstars over if casual fans knew more of their back story?

[yourcrapsweak]

I think it would make WWE look even better. "This guy was here but he came to us instead." Makes the product look more important.

[Big Red Machine]

I think it would make WWE look even better. "This guy was here but he came to us instead." Makes the product look more important.

Exactly. It makes it look like all of the great wrestlers and champions from all other promotions want to be in WWE.



I will, however, disagree with the analogy of TNA being like a triple A ball club. A better analogy for TNA (and ROH, too, but especially TNA) is that the WWE is the NHL and TNA/ROH are the WHA. A triple-A ball club knows that it is not the big leagues and it never will be. That is not its place. TNA and ROH both see themselves as (and, in reality, are) fledgling organizations going against the established, industry-dominating giant, but are not content to be feeder-leagues. They see themselves as one day being able to challenge the WWE.

EDIT: Wow. I just read my post in Bob-O's comment and realized that this thing was riddled with typos. Dozer was right. I am losing my touch.

[Bob-O]

JBL was a real treat Monday night. He actually added to the show, which is a sore reminder that Jerry Lawler hasn't done a whole lot lately. Especially putting over Santino and Ziggler the way he did. THAT is what the color commentator is supposed to do. I didn't give a crap about that match, but JBL's little tidbits of background on both guys made me interested. It made me BELIEVE that Ziggler is worthy of being a world champion. It made me BELIEVE that Santino isn't a throw away comedy bit. I mean, I KNOW Santino isn't a throw away comedy bit, but it helps A LOT when I'm reminded of this while he's on my screen during a "Sorry you were booked to lose at the PPV again" match with Ziggler.

The way he went about it was pretty genius, too. If Joe Casual Fan has his interests perked over a mention of AAA, or CMLL, or New Japan he might feel inclined to look up said promotions. The only way Joe Casual is going to find these things is on YouTube (Joe Casual will do this before he spends his casual dollars on DVDs). He'll find some "rare" clips and matches of his favorite WWE Stars before they were signed, but his interests in these companies will end there due to the language barrier. All the companies JBL used for reference and background don't speak English. Joe Casual Fan likes a good match, but he's not going to invest in a company where he doesn't know what the hell is going on. He WILL be more invested in the guys he recognizes, making him more interested in WWE's product.

I will, however, disagree with the analogy of TNA being like a triple A ball club. A better analogy for TNA (and ROH, too, but especially TNA) is that the WWE is the NHL and TNA/ROH are the WHA. A triple-A ball club know that it is now the big leagues and it never will be. That is not its place. TNA and ROH both see themselves (and, in reality, are) fledgling organizations going against the established, industry domination giant, but are not content to be feeder-leagues. They see themselves as one day being able to challenge the WWE.

Absolutely this. The ONLY companies that could be compared to a Triple A ball club are nXt and OVW. Triple A ball clubs are all owned by Major League Teams.

[Big Red Machine]

The way he went about it was pretty genius, too. If Joe Casual Fan has his interests perked over a mention of AAA, or CMLL, or New Japan he might feel inclined to look up said promotions. The only way Joe Casual is going to find these things is on YouTube (Joe Casual will do this before he spends his casual dollars on DVDs). He'll find some "rare" clips and matches of his favorite WWE Stars before they were signed, but his interests in these companies will end there due to the language barrier. All the companies JBL used for reference and background don't speak English. Joe Casual Fan likes a good match, but he's not going to invest in a company where he doesn't know what the hell is going on. He WILL be more invested in the guys he recognizes, making him more interested in WWE's product.

This is an absolutely outstanding analysis.

[RedSon]

I think it would make WWE look even better. "This guy was here but he came to us instead." Makes the product look more important.

Exactly. It makes it look like all of the great wrestlers and champions from all other promotions want to be in WWE.

these. the point is just to be smart enough about doing it. it makes sense not to mention tna, but aaa, cmll, njpw, etc don't even affect wwe's viewership.