10 Things You Learn As A Wrestling Commentator

10. It's Not One Long Promo

As a manager, I found it fairly easy to talk non-stop about clients like Joe Hendry, put them over and hype up matches. It's not that I have some God-given ability or anything, it's just that the role makes sense to me. I've been training to do it my entire life; countless hours were spent watching Bobby Heenan, Jim Cornette, Paul Heyman, Jimmy Hart and more.

Young me picked up a thing or two from every single one of them.

Of course, early promos were horrendous and it took time for me to find my feet. The same goes for being on commentary. Ask my Defiant broadcast partner Dave Bradshaw what it was like at first, and he's likely to smile. At first, yours truly did the only thing he really knew. He ended up treating announcing like managing.

That was a big mistake. I learned that commentary is not an extended promo. It's not supposed to be an elongated hype piece that shines the spotlight on you. Nah, it's meant to be an elongated hype piece that shines the light on everyone else.