It wouldnt be an article about WCW botching without mention of the calamity that was the commentary team. In fairness, it wasnt always the announcers fault the company rarely informed them about storylines or swerves on the live shows, so half the time when something unexpected happened in front of them they werent acting, just reacting. Sadly, rather than making their commentary more realistic it just made them sound clueless to the television audience. Like when a fan dressed as Sting jumped the rail and entered the ring, and they assumed it was the real Sting, because they didnt know any better or the time when the announcers were told to repeatedly plug Nitros new blanket no-disqualification, every-match-a-winner policy on a show where three matches ended in a DQ or a no-contest. Then there was the time when Ric Flair had been in a taped angle where hed been beaten and dumped in a field by the NWO. When the Nature Boy finally turned up to Nitro selling the ass kicking, Bobby Heenan (who hadnt been told about the taped beatdown) was forced to speculate as to what was going on, concluding that Flair was drunk. Sadly, incompetence would rear its ugly head too. When Tank Abbott legitimately shot on Big Al after their leather jacket on a pole match (Vince Russo loved putting things on poles) and pulled a knife on him, threatening to kill him, and Tony Schiavone attempted to cover for it as the camera cut away by claiming that Abbott was trying to shave his clean-shaven opponents beard off. Not forgetting when veteran ring announcer Michael Buffer called Bret The Hitman Hart, one of the most famous professional wrestlers in the world, Bret Clarke. They even botch a high five.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
