3 Ups & 2 Downs From WWE 205 Live (Dec 20, 2016)

Downs...

2. Austin Aries: You Still Suck

We’ve been spoiled as it pertains to the heel commentator role.

Bobby Heenan’s best performance, famously, was at the 1992 Royal Rumble, in which he shouted himself hoarse screaming “It’s not fair to Flair!”, when his charge was ransacked by the 29 other men. The structure of the Rumble match alone guarantees drama - and, largely thanks to Heenan, what is fondly recalled as the Flair Rumble is often regarded as the best ever. If Heenan had casually dismissed the likes of Sid Justice and Roddy Piper, with sarcastic putdowns, that drama would have been nullified.

Jerry Lawler, when not triggering feminists the world over, was equally histrionic in his anxiety when the heels he was biased toward received their comeuppance.

Austin Aries, meanwhile, has not grasped that balancing act; he’s there to poke fun at the faces, not to unravel them at the seams. Lince Dorado, in the opening seconds of his match against Ariya Daivari, performed his trademark, lightning quick kip-ups as a psychological taunt. Aries offhandedly remarked that he was wasting his time. He was - Dorado lost - but you don’t say that.

The heel commentator’s jibes need to be conditional (see: Corey Graves). Aries is too quick to grab the shovel.