Let's be clear: You cannot completely blame the poor announcing entirely on Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, and Jerry Lawler. They have voices in their ear telling them what to say and when to say it. It's a well-known fact that WWE announcers are told to deliberately ignore the moves being performed in the ring and instead "tell stories". To understand how oppressive Vince McMahon is to his announcers, you have to first understand that he has certain "rules" that announcers must follow. The titles in WWE are "championships", they are not "belts" or "straps". When you are referencing a body part on someone, you have to say the body part before the wrestler's name. For example, if John Cena is applying a submission hold to Batista's leg, you can't say "John Cena is really working over Dave Batista's leg!' You have to say "John Cena is doing a number on the leg of Batista." After you notice the announcers doing this, it's impossible not for it to drive you crazy. But the problems don't stop there. In addition to ignoring the match and having their own weird language, the announcers also have to play stupid when it's clear the crowd is not reacting how they are supposed to. Remember when Michael Cole was making fun of fans for liking Daniel Bryan and basically calling Bryan a loser who couldn't headline a flea market? That was to sway fans away from cheering Bryan. Most recently, the announcers are attempting to get the fans to stop booing John Cena (as they have been for the last 8 years or so). Their newest tactic is to tell the people booing Cena that their hate only "fires up" John and causes him to win more matches. It's one thing to put over the match in the ring as something special but it's entirely another to try to manipulate fan reaction because they aren't reacting to your lame performers. Go back and listen to Jim Ross, Gordon Solie, and Bob Caudle to hear how an announcer can put over a match or a storyline without resorting to manipulation, bad jokes, or screaming like an idiot. Ross got excited at times, sure, but it was always within the context of what was occurring. JBL tries to be a heel but is more concerned with getting himself over, Jerry Lawler is a parody of his 1990s self, and Michael Cole sounds like he's imitating a wrestling announcer rather than being one.
