5. Addition By Subtraction
https://twitter.com/PaigeyGuy/status/617411113920135169 Unlike most WWE broadcasts and PPVs, Beast in the East featured a two-man boot with Michael Cole and Byron Saxton. JBL and Jerry Lawler were not present and the result was an immediate upgrade. Cole and Saxton were widely praised on Twitter for their work calling the matches and enhancing them rather than bickering with each other, putting over stupid angles and carrying on with mindless prattle. They started out on the right foot by informing viewers of Jerichos history in Japan and noting that Neville spent time there before. They acknowledged that Brock Lesnar won New Japans IWGP Heavyweight Championship, discussed Finn Balors stardom in Japan and referenced several Japanese stars and major events that might be known to American fans. Although it probably wont carry over to Raw or the PPVs, fans got to see how good commentary can be if the announcers arent forced to do mindless pre-planned banter and are allowed to just call the matches. Perhaps JBL could have risen to the occasion as well under the circumstances, but it was a relief to not hear him carrying on for a change.
Scott Carlson
Contributor
Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.
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