There is likely nobody in the history of the wrestling that could be as bad of an on screen performer as Mike Adamle was. It was obvious that when WWE brought in the former American Gladiator host and sportscaster that he didn't know how the wrestling business worked. The thing is, there have been lots of people in wrestling that didn't know how it worked when they started out. Eventually they learned just like Adamle should have. Adamle spent about a year in WWE in 2008. It would have been a good fit because fans knew him from American Gladiators, but that was a whole different kind of show. That was more of an athletic competition and since Adamle was a former football player as well as TV host, he fit it well. In wrestling, everybody is playing a character even the announcers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1Q2uK6Ses4 They tried Adamle in three different roles. First he served as an announcer that introduced segments, but he botched it on his first night at the 2008 Royal Rumble when he said "Jeff Harvey" instead of Hardy. When he became a play by play guy on ECW, he referred to his broadcast partner as "The Tazz" instead of simply Tazz as he was known. Then he became the bumbling GM of Raw towards the end of 2008 that did awkward things all the time because they knew he sucked at the job. His name is a running joke in WWE circles now. Nobody ever wants to "pull an Adamle" because that wouldn't be what's best for business.
John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.
