10 Wrestlers Who Made Terrible Commentators
Ring skills don't always translate to the booth.
However you feel about the product in general, WWE commentary is in a pretty poor state at the moment and has been for some time. While not terrible, the trio of Michael Cole, JBL and Booker T on Monday Night Raw is distracting from the in-ring action. They spend more time bickering with each other than they do calling the moves of the performers, getting on the nerves of fans who can't enjoy the event.
There actually hasn't been a point in at least the last decade where the commentary could be called good; it's been that mediocre for that long. Only so much blame can be put on the announcers themselves, however. Most of what they're saying is completely contrived by Vince McMahon and other producers through the headsets they're wearing, and it couldn't be any more obvious.
There's a common misconception that wrestlers make for the best commentators, but that couldn't be any farther from the truth. They might have the knowledge of being in the ring and telling a story, but it's not that simple. Former stars of the squared circle have cracked under the pressure of being an announcer for all the responsibilities that come with commentating.
For every Jerry Lawler and Gordon Solie, there's a JBL or a Booker T, talented in-ring performers who have failed behind as announcers. With that in mind, this list will only look at wrestlers who have served as commentators for an extended period of time, not for a match or two.
10. Randy Savage
Not even one of the legendary performers in WWE history is exempt from this list of shame.
Savage was a near-perfect Superstar because he could seemingly do it all: his wrestling abilities were extraordinary, his mic skills were exceptional, and he was one heck of a character. There wasn't anything he didn't excel at, until he left the ring.
After wrapping up his illustrious career as a wrestler in 1991, he traded in his multicolored boots for a headset, sitting in on commentary alongside Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan. With two of those three being among the greatest talkers of all-time, you'd think it would have been a dream team for commentary. You'd have been wrong.
Granted, Raw commentary two decades ago was significantly better than what it's devolved into, but that doesn't necessarily mean it was good. While passable as an announcer, he simply didn't capture that same magic he created when he was holding a live microphone; there was a disconnect there.
The Macho Man eventually found his way back into the ring, and perhaps it was for the best. When he left for WCW in 1994, it wasn't to be an announcer; it was to be an in-ring competitor, which meant he may not have have enjoyed being behind the booth as much as Vince thought he did.