5 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE NXT (Aug 12)
2. Vic Joseph
Poor Vic Joseph.
The lanky announcer did precisely nothing wrong during his short stay as Raw's lead commentator, but he was bumped back down the pecking order in favour of Tom Phillips. Now, after landing on 205 Live, big Vic has come to NXT, and...well, the brand didn't really need him.
This might sound controversial to NXT's long-time audience, but the show has never needed a third wheel behind the commentary desk. Mauro Ranallo and Beth Phoenix work well together, and they're in a good groove; they recognise one another's speech patterns and rarely step on their partner's toes.
Nigel McGuinness did, and Phillips was wasted as a third analyst too. Joseph is exactly the same, so much so that it's hard to see this working out in the long run. His corny style ("Oh no!") doesn't lend itself well to NXT, and he didn't complement Ranallo or Phoenix this week.