10 Notable Changes Made To WWE Raw In 1997

Vince McMahon was the yuk-yuk emcee. Jim Ross was the folksy fact-spouter and storyteller. Jerry Lawler was the antagonising fiend. Together, the three worked in concert through these character veils to call the action on WWF programming, playing within their kayfabe roles.

With the shift towards edgier programming, those veils started to lift, and the announcers started to colour outside the lines.

Ross took more of a centrist role than ever, still siding with babyfaces, but letting some foul-mouthed disgust and irritation out along with his down-home calls.

Lawler 'defended' the WWF against an ECW menace that he felt was beneath human decency, while also gawking at the WWF women without any sort of filter.

Meanwhile, most of today's announcers are as artificial as a prosthetic foot.