odessasteps Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 Since I didn't watch it as a kid, I never really liked Gorilla as an announcer when I watched as a teen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 19 minutes ago, odessasteps said: Since I didn't watch it as a kid, I never really liked Gorilla as an announcer when I watched as a teen. I think what helps Gorilla during his heyday as a commentator is the voice. He has the PBP voice down. Problem is you can tell he became very disinterested in the product right around the time it started to go down (1991ish or thereabouts...maybe earlier). You can tell he would rather be out golfing or doing something else. Anything but calling wrestling. Why he had to do commentary all the way until Challenge got cancelled..god only knows. Like I understand Vince went hot and cold on everyone, but if he wasn't producing the show, I would take no gimmick Bruce Prichard calling Challenge over Gorilla and Bruce was never good on commentary (in or out a gimmick). The people who complained about Jim Ross really need to listen to Gorilla on autopilot for almost five years. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryArchieGus Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 Bobby Heenan's Royal Rumble commentary for Ric Flair's 1992 win is spectacular. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 I sort of feel back in hindsight for not liking Gorilla as a commentator, now knowing what a good guy he was to most people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nice Guy Eddie Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 (edited) I'll always have a soft spot for Monsoon, Heenan, and Ventura. They're the voices I grew up on, with JR to a lesser extent since I was more of a WWF kid than a JCP/WCW kid. Edited February 13 by Nice Guy Eddie 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 Taz doing heel commentary isn't any good either. You really have to be talented to pull it off is what it probably is, and when you're talking about having to stack up to a beyond generational, one-of-a-kind talent like Heenan, well. It ain't gonna be easy, brudda. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 Unsurprisingly I think the best heel commentators are probably also part of the booking, so they can help get the angles over. Look at Sullivan and Cornette in the WCW when they are the ones formatting TV shows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
For Great Justice Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 I also think with Heenan we had the advantage of years and years and years of understanding his worldview before he went on commentary. We knew The Brain, so when he was in the booth, it was all just things that character would naturally say. The audience doesn’t know Graves or Nigel like that. And yeah he’s arguably the most talented person in any role in pro wrestling, ever, so there’s that. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nice Guy Eddie Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 (edited) Heenan was right about Hogan all along. He would have been right about Vince if he had worked with Vince as much as he worked with Gorilla. The only thing we really know about Nigel, if you followed ROH during his tenure is that he thinks Bryan Danielson is a clamdigger. Edited February 13 by Nice Guy Eddie 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 2 hours ago, HarryArchieGus said: Bobby Heenan's Royal Rumble commentary for Ric Flair's 1992 win is spectacular. I fucking love Bobby Heenan's commentary on the 1992 Royal Rumble match. These are all on the top of my head. "Damnit!" as Ric Flair draws # 3. "This isn't fair to Flair." "All down the crapper." "I'm going to apologise, I'm not going to be my objective self." "Weasel yourself out." "Oh no." Roddy Piper is the next entry as Ric Flair is alone in the ring. "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" as Ric Flair wins. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 (edited) 2 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said: Heenan was right about Hogan all along. He would have been right about Vince if he had worked with Vince as much as he worked with Gorilla. There's a reason Bobby Heenan was the Brain. Fuck Hogan. Edited February 13 by The Natural 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamhock Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 (edited) To me, Ventura’s heel commentary gradually mellowed over the years; he went from “heel-aligned but willing to grudgingly respect a babyface” to “long-retired; analysis and understanding from a heel perspective”. Heenan was a heel comedian, and I was a big fan of that. Lawler I could never stand at all. Edited February 13 by Hamhock 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RazorbladeKiss87 Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 I didn't care for Tazz as a heel in TNA. I liked his work on... Velocity? Whichever C show he was on in WWE. There was a bit that made me laugh where there was some jobber named Poker Face getting destroyed. A few shows later Tazz calls another jobber getting destroyed as "shades of Poker Face." That's the energy I feel he has with Excalibur and I'm very into it. I also liked his call during the Joe/Hook match. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbarrie Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 (edited) Circling back to this past weekend's shows - I loved the announcers offhandedly referring to one luchador as "The Pharaoh of CMLL". Does every wrestling promotion have a Pharaoh? Does the Pharaoh of WWE outrank the Tribal Chief? Edited February 13 by tbarrie 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 Well, Esfinge does have a Pharaoh gimmick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 3 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said: The only thing we really know about Nigel, if you followed ROH during his tenure is that he thinks Bryan Danielson is a clamdigger. And I think THIS is potentially confusing to the uninitiated because if Nigel is a heel, why is he criticizing someone who ostensibly a fellow heel? (Danielson is about the hardest heel-leaning tweener possible if you want to look at it that way, at least.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryArchieGus Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 3 hours ago, For Great Justice said: I also think with Heenan we had the advantage of years and years and years of understanding his worldview before he went on commentary. We knew The Brain, so when he was in the booth, it was all just things that character would naturally say. The audience doesn’t know Graves or Nigel like that. And yeah he’s arguably the most talented person in any role in pro wrestling, ever, so there’s that. I don't know Nigel so well, but I believe him thoroughly. I totally cosign the bolded text. As the sparkles read Bobby 'Number 1' Heenan. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonidas Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 5 hours ago, Curt McGirt said: And I think THIS is potentially confusing to the uninitiated because if Nigel is a heel, why is he criticizing someone who ostensibly a fellow heel? (Danielson is about the hardest heel-leaning tweener possible if you want to look at it that way, at least.) His hate for Bryan transcends Heel/Face boundaries. If Eddie wasn't feuding with Bryan there's no way Nigel would be cheering him on. If Eddie goes into a feud with Christian after this for example I think you'd see a Heenanesque pivot in Nigel's opinion of him. It's all because he hates Bryan. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technico Support Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 (edited) I remember a Mania 3 lead-up promo when Bobby was discussing the trophies Hogan and Andre had been given and he described Andre's trophy as being "littler" than Hogan's. How could someone called "The Brain" make such a grammatical error? I was destroyed. In seriousness, I feel like heel commentary might be something left in the past. I don't know if it's this post-kayfabe world we live in or what, but it just feels forced and fake. Maybe it requires a more subtle approach, which I feel like NIgel is trying to work toward but is sort of missing the mark right now. It's funny because a straight up wrestling heel who joins the commentating team for one match and just acts like a prick, like Don Callis does, works fine. Edited February 13 by Technico Support 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorman Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 20 hours ago, Technico Support said: Shane Taylor hit Garcia with his finisher, which is just a hard punch, Shane once had me read off a whole bunch of nicknames for him, and one of them was "One-Punch Shane." 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Log Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 11 hours ago, For Great Justice said: And yeah he’s arguably the most talented person in any role in pro wrestling, ever, so there’s that. Totally agree. I think Heenan may be the best overall performer in pro wrestling history. He was a great worker, heat magnet as a manager and one of the best on commentary to ever do it. It’s a real short list of people who were successful in so many different roles. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
For Great Justice Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 5 minutes ago, Log said: Totally agree. I think Heenan may be the best overall performer in pro wrestling history. He was a great worker, heat magnet as a manager and one of the best on commentary to ever do it. It’s a real short list of people who were successful in so many different roles. Agreed. I got Brain, Terry Funk, Eddie Guerrero and Bryan Danielson on that list, and I think if we had more extensive footage of Heenan as a worker there would be a lot of concensus of him as the GOAT. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zakk_Sabbath Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 15 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said: I don't know if anything holds up as poorly as the Attitude Era, JR & Lawler included. The Invasion was a big, steamy pile of shit, but Paul Heyman did his best to put the Alliance over. Lawler never would have done that, aside from Stacey Keibler and Torrie Wilson. 15 hours ago, RazorbladeKiss87 said: That's a good point. Until I went back and rewatched a lot of Attitude Era stuff, my memories of Lawler and JR were much rosier than the reality. Agreed on both points - the J.R./Heyman booth during the Invasion is actually one of my favorites of all time. It was super interesting to revisit their WCW stuff after that too 2 minutes ago, For Great Justice said: Agreed. I got Brain, Terry Funk, Eddie Guerrero and Bryan Danielson on that list, and I think if we had more extensive footage of Heenan as a worker there would be a lot of concensus of him as the GOAT. I've unfortunately never gotten around to seeing a single Bobby Heenan match in its entirety but based on PWI covers alone I'd certainly buy it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 (edited) I'm just saying, regardless of feud, it feels like Nigel should be giving some grudging respect to Bryan for being an asshole. People don't have years of Heenan hating Hogan to go on here. This is me thinking under the presumption that fans don't know everything about everybody, I know, but it still irks me. Edited February 13 by Curt McGirt 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryArchieGus Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 I like Nigel hating Bryan. His seemingly unreasonable hate comes off as jealousy, and I think that's enough logic for the uninitiated. I also like not knowing if there may actually be a blow off. Intrigue! 1 hour ago, Technico Support said: I remember a Mania 3 lead-up promo when Bobby was discussing the trophies Hogan and Andre had been given and he described Andre's trophy as being "littler" than Hogan's. How could someone called "The Brain" make such a grammatical error? I was destroyed. In seriousness, I feel like heel commentary might be something left in the past. I don't know if it's this post-kayfabe world we live in or what, but it just feels forced and fake. Maybe it requires a more subtle approach, which I feel like NIgel is trying to work toward but is sort of missing the mark right now. It's funny because a straight up wrestling heel who joins the commentating team for one match and just acts like a prick, like Don Callis does, works fine. Another great example of the Brain falling on his face. A more subtle era compared to the standard Prime TIme adventures highlight reel. There's still heels and babyfaces, why would heel commentary need to be left in the past? Also, we live in a time full of heel 'hot takes'. A heel commentary is part of the fabric of the times. I'd be curious of any line that Nigel has delivered that sounded forced. His delivery is clearly smooth, and feels like his honest opinion. Obviously to each their own, but hard to argue passed personal prefernces that this guy doesn't have the broadcasting skillset needed and then some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts