8 Ups And 6 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Jan 29)

Ups...

8. Coach = Upgrade

It’s unclear right now whether Jonathan Coachman has gotten better as an announcer, or if the quality of WWE announcers has gotten so bad that the returning Coach simply sounds that good.

But as WWE used its post-Rumble Raw (and first episode after its 25th anniversary) to reset things a little, they brought back Coach as a new voice for the booth, replacing Booker T. While Booker’s energy was always constant, he also constantly contradicted himself and flubbed a lot of analysis. He had a couple good observations and stories now and again, but he certainly wasn’t causing anyone to forget Jesse Ventura or Bobby Heenan.

Right away, Coach showed that his years on ESPN had made him crisp on the mic, and his knowledge of the product was still sharp as well. He asked questions to drive the conversation, offered analysis, and even worked in a few barbs, including warning Corey Graves not to insult him when Graves accidentally called him Michael Cole.

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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.