7 Things WWE Can Learn From ALL IN

7. Getting Commentary Right

WWE's three-man announce booths vary in quality. NXT's works, because Mauro Ranallo and Nigel McGuinness are tremendous, and Percy Watson isn't so bad that he's a distraction. The main roster combinations? Less so.

Michael Cole, though clearly talented, is a shill who speaks exclusively in soundbites. Corey Graves increasingly bitter, brittle, and tedious with every passing week. Jonathan Coachman is an awful fourth-wall shattering goober who regularly draws unwanted attention towards botches and mistakes. As for Bryon Saxton, well, what's his point?

In contrast, ALL IN's trio of announcers were tremendous, with ROH's Ian Riccaboni on play-by-play, PWG's Excalibur on colour, and the fantastic Don Callis rotating with a handful of guest announcers throughout the evening. Excalibur was particularly effective, bringing great knowledge on a number of individual performers throughout the night, adding boatloads of context every time he opened his mouth. Though he's something of a jester in PWG, he was awesome at ALL IN.

If WWE dropped the corny catchphrases and endless branding spots for this approach, their characters and storylines would feel more fully formed, and their product wouldn't be such a glossy corporate nightmare.