10 Times AEW Turned Trash Into Treasure
4. The Commentary Team
The original AEW broadcast team was not great. It was very poor, in fact.
The idea was thus: Excalibur was to call the in-ring action as a former pro with a studious and enthusiastic grasp of the modern style; the legendary Jim Ross was to provide the gravitas and authority; Alex Marvez was to fill a new audience in on the backstories of the unfamiliar talent, à la New Japan Pro Wrestling's Chris Charlton.
The problem, God bless his very nice-seeming heart, is that Marvez - a close friend of Tony Khan's hired through nepotism - was awful. Where his analogue Charlton is a true company expert who genuinely enriches the stories of NJPW epics, the happy-to-be-there Marvez interjected himself at awkward times with an easily-pleased, gee-whizz wonderment. He disrupted the flow of the matches, you could hear in the silence JR's contempt of him, and in general, the man sounded like he had won a competition.
It was untenable, unpopular, and AEW made the call to transition him to a backstage interviewer role and replace him with Tony Schiavone ahead of Dynamite's launch.
Schiavone is wonderful. There are few sounds as blessed as the man saying "That was an ass-kicking match, guys", he tempers JR's more abrasive qualities by popping over the dives on Rampage, and is simply a warm and wonderful presence.
Nearly four years in, his gee-whizz wonderment still doesn't feel carny. He sounds like he's having the time of his life.