10 Ups And 7 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Jan 4)

By Scott Carlson /

3. Play-By-Play Without Calling A Move

We all know that Michael Cole receives his marching orders from Vince McMahon and the higher-ups, so this can€™t really be held against him. But what€™s the point of having a play-by-play announcer who never calls a move? During the Kevin Owens/Neville match, the two reeled off several high-impact, visually spectacular moves, including Neville hitting a shooting star press from the top rope to the floor, Owens DDT€™ing Neville off the top rope, and Neville hitting a 450 splash from the apron to a prone KO on the floor. Not a single one of those moves were called by name. Part of what helps casual fans associate with a sport or industry like professional wrestling is learning the terminology and understanding things so they can follow along. Using the names of moves doesn€™t turn off casual fans, it helps indoctrinate them into becoming regular, knowledgeable viewers.How are new fans supposed to have any appreciation for the industry if the action just moves from nameless move to nameless move? Imagine watching an American football game where the announcers didn€™t tell you the route a player ran, the coverage the defense used or any other useful details, and instead just yelled, €œLook at that! Wow, what a move! Incredible!€