9 Big TNA Changes Billy Corgan Must Make
8. Shake Up The Announce Team
When it comes to wrestling play-by-play announcers in North America, Josh Matthews would probably land in a distant third place, or maybe fourth. Mauro Ranallo is doing great work on SmackDown and on the CWC, Matt Striker is doing a solid job in Lucha Underground and Josh Matthews is...well, he’s just okay.
He’s fine, really, he is. But at times he takes an uneven stance on the faces and heels, and has been a bit condescending towards the audience (calling people who questioned why Austin Aries was back in the company after losing a loser leaves TNA match a bunch of nerds, and telling Jim Ross on Twitter at one point to “go away"). Besides that, he doesn’t have the pipes to be a great announcer. He can’t make the dramatic moments even better like Ross or Ranallo. You're either born with that ability or not.
Matthews could stick around as a backstage interviewer on Impact, but as the voice of the product, they should try someone else.
Meanwhile, The Pope is just not improving as a color commentator. He’s not that funny or interesting. He doesn’t have the joyous passion of ex-wrestler Daniel Bryan in the CWC, and he’s leagues behind Corey Graves. Sure, he’s better than David Otunga and Byron Saxton, and he’s less annoying than JBL, but that’s not really saying that much. He would better serve the company back in the ring if he's willing to work full-time.
But most of all, it’s hard to get across the point that it’s a new era when everything still looks and sounds exactly the same.