Posted April 30, 200619 yr comment_4878813 Meltzer: --Jim Ross will be lead announcer for tonight's Backlash PPV, in the place of Joey Styles. The internal decision has been finalized for Ross to take over as lead announcer on Raw, either tomorrow, or within a few weeks. Just a matter of time.
April 30, 200619 yr comment_4878868 He'll be the announcer for the "ECW Brand" no doubt. Tazz too, probably. I think it's a good move since Styles has been uncomfortably lame during this stint on RAW once Vince started getting up his ass over every little thing and completely cut his balls off.
April 30, 200619 yr comment_4879619 Next time Jim Ross has to perform sexual favors for a McMahon family member or take bumps off HHH on television, he has only himself to blame. I know I won't feel sorry for him again.
May 1, 200619 yr comment_4880041 If nothing else, the Joey Styles Experiment proves that part of the problem with RAW is the way Vince "produces" the announcers, forcing them to call storylines for later on in the show rather than focus on the people in the ring. Not that you need to call every move in the ring, but you should be able to call the STORY going on in the ring rather than suck Cripple H's dick on commentary.
May 1, 200619 yr comment_4881533 Teke pretty much hit the nail on the head there. I still have yet to figure out why Vince refuses to see that his idea of focusing on something happening later on in the show is counterproductive. How can he make new stars when the only thing the announcers are allowed to talk about are the main event and the divas' breasts?
May 2, 200619 yr comment_4884191 That splash you heard was the internet having a collective orgasm over Joey's promo on RAW tonight.
May 2, 200619 yr comment_4884393 Also, is it me or was Joey's new gimmick "cynical internet wrestling fan"? I swear it sounded like every jaded smark on every internet wrestling board. Did anyone else see those black dudes sitting behind the announce desk during the Lawler/Styles segment? Bruvva did the whole OH SNAP/ AW NAW HE DID-ENT routine when Styles slapped Jerry.
May 2, 200619 yr comment_4885954 "You wanna apologize like nothing happened? Like you didn't knock me on my ass in front of millions worldwide? I'm not coming back! And now thanks to the magic of live television I'm gonna show the whole world why for seven years I was the uncensored, unscripted loose cannon of commentary. Six months ago called me ? I didn't call this company because I was looking for a job. I didn't need a job. WWE called me because they had humiliated and fired ? again ? Jim Ross. So I get JR's spot and from week one ? week after week ? I've got an ongoing lecture about the differences from professional wrestling and sports entertainment. I'm not allowed to say pro wrestling. I'm not allowed to say wrestler. I'm supposed to say sports entertainment and call wrestlers superstars. I'm told to deliberately ignore the moves and the holds to tell stories. Well ignoring the moves and the holds is insulting to the wrestlers ? not entertainers ? to leave their families 300 days a year to apply their craft in that ring. Well ? since I'm not a sports entertainer storyteller I get pulled from WM because I don't sound like Jim Ross who is the guy they fired in the first place ? does that make sense? Then I get bumped from Backlash? I'm not good enough for Backlash? In ECW ? I called live pay-per-views by myself! Wasn't done before me, hasn't been done since. But I'm not good enough to call Backlash because I'm not a sports entertainer storyteller. I am sick of sports entertainment. I am sick of cheerleaders and boogers and bathroom humor. I'm sick of our own chairman who talks about his own semen and who mocks God ? he mocked God! He makes out with divas. Most of all ? I am sick of you fans who actually buy into this sports entertainment crap. I never needed this job and I don't want this job anymore. I QUIT!" That was awesome! I would also say that the "heel turn" was necessary. For ECW to really work, it's got to be "us vs. them." ECW fans always considered themselves more knowledgeable than your run of the mill wrestling fan, and did so condescendingly. If he had tried to embrace the fans it would've been an open invitation for all of them to come be part of the ECW family, when the whole point was to be the alternative. Before last night I was looking forward to seeing what ECW 2.0 would be like. Today I'm a little more confident it's going to be the real thing.
May 2, 200619 yr comment_4886690 I think fans versus fans may be the new concept WWE has been looking for that isn't stale like the Attitude era. Cena splits fans, ECW splits fans ... they should be playing up both sides huge of all their storylines and maybe come up with hand signals or special slogans for one side or the other and really capitalize on this opportunity that has really fallen in their lap.
May 2, 200619 yr comment_4886809 I tend to feel they should play up the PPV big, but after that don't play up anything at all. For this to work both sides have to treat it almost like a divorce, with bad-mouthing followed by ignoring it other than the occasional snide remark. Yeah, most to all ECW fans will know it's all under the WWE banner, but being adversarial is the difference between this being the new ECW and being the new Velocity. ...and maybe come up with hand signals... ...WWE "GANG SIGNS"?
May 2, 200619 yr comment_4886948 Hogan, NWO, Cena, etc have all had hand signals the fans can do with the wrestlers. It's part of connecting with the crowd.
May 2, 200619 yr comment_4887188 Random thought- Anyone else think that the Cena-RVD finish will be either RVD winning or getting screwed in such a way that he's prepped for an ECW title run?
May 3, 200619 yr comment_4888947 They've got to be very careful how far they push ECW as heels though, because if they push it too far you risk the WWE audience rejecting ECW matches out of hand when they start taping their shows in front of them. That said, the adult male fans will probably embrace ECW if John Cena is flying the flag for sports entertainment.
May 3, 200619 yr comment_4888988 This is a huge statement, but maybe WWE finally figured out with no competition that they can play fans from both sides and still make money off of them, even if they don't like the Titan style, by providing their own alternative. Or maybe not. My hopes aren't up for sure.
May 3, 200619 yr comment_4890085 My hopes are up, until they give ECW their own night and own venues. The ECW product could still be ok the way they're going now (although not likely). But, the project won't succeed on the level they want unless they change the way it's going to be presented.
May 3, 200619 yr comment_4890152 They've got to be very careful how far they push ECW as heels though, because if they push it too far you risk the WWE audience rejecting ECW matches out of hand when they start taping their shows in front of them. That said, the adult male fans will probably embrace ECW if John Cena is flying the flag for sports entertainment. Is the world ready for the new DX-volution of HHH, HBK, Orton, Cena?
May 3, 200619 yr comment_4890256 Ok, so if DX is reunited, who are their opponents going to be? HHH/Cena is about to run out of steam and Edge's longtime tag team partner who would be made for the feud is in TNA. Are there any potential feuds that could result from DX getting back together?
May 4, 200619 yr comment_4893610 Wow, the more things change ... Which is what everyone is complaining about. Just like Cena "overcoming all odds." Everything is a rehash. That's why the product is so stale. Everything has been done and the bar is too high.
May 4, 200619 yr comment_4895063 Wow, the more things change ...Which is what everyone is complaining about. Just like Cena "overcoming all odds." Everything is a rehash. That's why the product is so stale. Everything has been done and the bar is too high. More reason for turnover of WWE "Creative", starting with Steph and Vince.
