Remember that scene in “About Schmidt” when Jack Nicholson’s character makes the drive to his childhood home, only to find a tire store in its place?
That’s kind of how how I felt about ECW while witnessing Mike Adamle's debut as the new voice of the brand last night. There’s almost nothing left of the Extreme Championship Wrestling that inspired me to take a two hour ride to Orange County, NY, 13 years ago to catch the insanity in person for the first time; or withstand 100-degree-plus temperatures in the overstuffed and un-air conditioned Elks Lodge on many a summer night.
I’m not fooling myself. ECW hasn’t been ECW since WWE re-launched the brand on SciFi, but there was a small bit of comfort and familiarity in listening to Joey Styles put his stamp of approval on the product. Now, even that is gone.
I may be in the minority, but I didn’t have a big problem with WWE hiring Adamle a few months back. Like a lot of boys growing up in the 80s, Mike Adamle’s call of the action on American Gladiators was a fixture on my Saturday afternoons after WWF Superstars. What’s more, in his initial WWE role as a roving analyst and working with a script, Adamle’s experience and professionalism added a dose of sports legitimacy to WWE.
But having Adamle take over the reigns as ECW’s play-by-play commentator has all the makings of a disaster. It’s not a dig at Adamle, but he simply does not know the product nearly well enough to do even an adequate job. And, at nearly 60, he’s much too old to invest the time and energy in developing.
I thought Styles - as castrated as he had been in recent years - was doing a fine job at the announcer’s table, but if WWE brass wanted to go a different direction, that’s their call. That said, there are plenty of better options than Adamle. In fact, I’d be hard pressed to think of a worse one.
Of all WWE’s third-string announcers, I’d say the one with the most potential - even more than Jonathan Coachman - is Todd Grisham, who is young, charismatic, enthusiatic, and knows the WWE product fairly well. Watching his antics on “WWE Experience” on Sunday mornings was a guilty pleasure of mine for the couple years the show was on the air. And even as recently as this year’s Hall of Fame ceremony, Grisham showed his ability to be both witty and professional when called upon. He’s also done an admirable job when called upon to fill in for Jim Ross on Raw.
But WWE decision makers seem intent on shoving their picks down our throats, even to the detriment of their own product. Smackdown has already taken a big hit since Coach replaced JBL behind the mic, and now ECW has taken a turn for the worse, too, with the addition of Adamle.
At least we still have JR and the King.
Comments (16)
what about michale p s hayes he would be great on smackdown than use todd on ecw and styles can do the gig with wwe.com
At least we have the King? The King has been downright aweful the past five years, and I wish he never came back in 01. He makes the womans division look liek pure shit and rarely adds anything to the match.
Good God, at least we have the King.
if king was commentating on any other women's sport (or entertainment venue), he would have several harassment suits
The thing that bugs me about Todd Grisham is, every time they cut to him in the back, the camera is always too close to his face. And they usually cut to him before JR and King are finished introducing him, so we get Todd Grisham's big head standing there silent for a few seconds.
jeff harvey..........
God god that was awful Tuesday night! Adamle was already getting some heat with fans for "knocking" Joey out of "his" job, The WWE will keep him on for a few reasons:
a. They won't admit this was a bad decision (see: Coach on SD)
b. they pay him $300,00 a year.
It's not that he dosen't have skill. The guy has been doing some kind of sports reporting or something involving sports most of the time I've been alive, but I wonder if his heart is in this, or is it just a payday? We'll see if the bad reviews inspire him to bring his A game next week.
The King has been as bad as any announcer in sports or sports entertainment since he became a shill for all the good guys. "THE CHAMP IS HERE!!" I mean he actually blamed Paul Burchill for taking a cheap shot on Hacksaw when the bell had already rang!! I mean he's impossible to listen to.
Am I the only one who remembers Josh Matthews? He's been put on Heat for a little bit but the guy was great on Velocity, he even made a good team with Tazz when Tazz filled in on that show. I don't think they should have replaced Styles, but if you have to pick somebody to fill the spot Matthews would have been a great fit.
Reach out and touch somebody Michael!
Was it just me or was the one cut they did of just (The) Tazz and Mike hilarious? Tazz looked like he wanted to punch him.
Are you kidding? The trainwreck that was Adamle's PBP debut makes ECW way more awesome than it was with Styles' more mundane brand of awfulness.
Why is Adamle still on the payroll? He kept fumbling over himself with his mis-pronunciations as the roving reporter on Raw, and they gave him Styles' spot? There are better possibilities that could handle the job better than Adamle. Grisham wouldn't be bad. Possibly Matthews, as someone mentioned earlier. What about Tony Schiavone? He's the old WCW guy, and they probably wouldn't want him because of that, but he was a solid announcer once you got passed the crap he had to call. Working one night a week wouldn't be a bad gig.
the king is GOD-AWFUL. he used to be a GREAT heel announcer that would do a great job building up the heel wrestlers (like all great heel announcers of the past) but hes fallen to being generic...rarely funny and mostly building up the faces (which is stupid kuz thats jrs job)
and yes i agree....replacing joey styles is stupid...i had a hard time watchin ecw the past year or so...and now i doubt ill watch it for a long time unless they make some MAJOR changes
As much as I hated it at the time, I have found myself revisiting the glory days of J.R. and Paul Heyman. Sure, they bickered a lot (and I presume that Vince encouraged it to build a "worked shoot" atmosphere), but they were two great minds in the business and really could add a lot to a match.
Before his departure, Lawler was a good color man. After his return in 2001, he narrowed in on his specific 'trademarks' (such as puppies) and made himself into a bad caricature of who he was before. That's what happens when you try too hard.
I have to agree: what's Josh Matthews doing and why isn't it calling ECW with Tazz? Oh yeah, WWE didn't possibly waste their money on Mike "the Goldberg of announcing" Adamle.
The King is not as great at he was cause he's not the typical heel color commentator that put over the bad guys and was always arguing with Vince or J.R.
I thought Coachman moved over to MSG?
I think The King and JR suck now too. If you have long hair on Raw look out. You'll get called HBK, Jeff Hardy, Edge, Chris Jericho, Matt Hardy etc.
Case in point, Survivor Series 2006. Jeff Hardy and Shawn Michaels do dives over the top rope and JR calls them The Hardy Boyz. Interesting. And how many times did he call Jericho Christian and Christian Jericho in there matches as tag champions back in 2002.
I mean Jim Ross was way better in his WCW days.