10 Things WWE Did Better Before RAW

10. Split Commentary

It might be pure coincidence that RAW came along right around the time Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan were wrapping up their tenure at the announce table, but the fact is that we haven’t seen a face/heel duo like them since.

The cable years gave us many quality voices, and the idea of the heel announcer does live on to this day (albeit poorly,) but things have gotten decidedly greyer.

Lawler spent the bulk of his career as more of a playful jerk, heel Cole was all about himself, and JBL would often cheer and jeer the same guy in the same match. Corey Graves is an improvement on his predecessor, but then a bucket and wet sponge would have been too.

When it came to two announcers constantly butting heads over black and white biases, the best work was done before cable. Heenan would drive Monsoon crazy with his comically shameless “broadcast journalism,” and the latter would instinctively mark out for the good guys even while trumpeting impartiality; the chemistry was awesome.

And let’s not forget Jesse Ventura’s body of work (pun intended) alongside a boisterous, squeaky-clean Vince McMahon.