The art of commentary

Pro wrestling is an action-packed sport with nonstop action. We often see the wildest moments. Jeff Hardy was falling 16 feet from the air, Edge spearing Jeff Hardy from high in the air, you name it, and each moment was wilder than the last. The commentator's job is to enhance the moments and make them feel special so they stand the test of time. Men like Jim Ross, Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, Pat McAfee, and Excalibur are just some of the men who have been the supporting core to help moments live forever. Often in wrestling, we have various combinations of commentary teams consisting of a color commentator whose job is to help lend their experience from wrestling over the years and provide in-depth analysis other commentators and fans can't give. We also see a play-by-play commentator whose job is to keep up with the action, capture the moment and speak with passion and captivate the imagination of the fans.

A prime example of color commentators is listening to Tazz on AEW tv! His impressive knowledge of submissions and suplexes is so insightful, and most times, he goes into detail on how to perform a suplex or critiques how a submission is performed. Tazz brings an aura of legitimacy to the spots performed on Tv, which helps build the audience and further drives home that pro wrestling is a real sport with actual danger. Other calls can make a moment feel monumental, like Michael Coles's well-timed call "Rollins with the heist of the century!!" after Seth Rollins made history by cashing in his money in the bank briefcase DURING Roman Reigns versus Brock Lesner for the WWE Championship. Cole made Seth feel like a sneaky smart snake who slid in and capitalized on a moment of a lifetime. it perfectly encompassed the historic and groundbreaking moment. We often see these types of calls in wrestling. Some commentators know precisely what to say at the moment, like Vince Mcmahon famously yelling, " the boyhood has come true!" at WrestleMania when Shawn Michaels finally won the WWE championship in a grueling iron man match.

Shawn Michaels worked his entire life for that one moment, and when he finally achieved it, the whole arena was on its feet for it. Somehow McMahon managed to find the perfect response to the iconic moment; it was so unique you can still hear that famous call every year when we inch closer to Wrestlemania. Another important job for commentators is to invoke emotions into fans; JR screaming, " CLIMB THE LADDER KID!! MAKE YOURSELF FAMOUS!!!" still gives me goosebumps to this day. The passion and joy in Jim Ross's voice will be permanently engrained into my brain for the rest of my life. I can close my eyes and watch Jeff Hardy climb that ladder trying to grab the WWE championship to shock the world. Performances can change a wrestler's career trajectory, and Jeff Hardy turned himself into a star after that loss, but Jim Ross made him look like a million bucks; he convinced the fans to buy into that scrawny underdog. Jim Ross is a living legend; he always had the perfect response to a huge moment. When Undertaker tossed Mankind off the top of the Hell in a cell, it shocked the world, leaving almost everyone speechless. Except for JR, who shouted, " As god as my witness, he is broken in half!" in a genuinely shocking moment, nobody knew what to say, and it was an unscripted situation. Mankind wasn't supposed to fall off, so nobody knew what to do, so Jr's emotional please resonated with the fans channeling everyone's fear into one emphatic rant begging for it all to stop. Shocking moments often leave fand wondering what is happening. It's the commentator's job to explain what we are watching, so at Wrestlemania, when Stone Cold, Steve Austin shocked the world by allying with his arch-rival Vince McMahon. Fans couldn't believe it, so when Jr spoke up, utterly disgusted, bellowing out, " Stone Cold is shaking hands with satan himself," encompassed everyone's disappointment and disgust in Austin turning his back on the fans.

In pro wrestling, a championship is life-changing, but without good commentary, it falls apart and gets lost in time. When Daniel Bryan won the championship in the main event of Wrestlemania, we saw a shocking upset. Daniel was facing two Hall of Famers in Batista and Randy Orton, so when Bryan won, Michael Cole nailed the moment by uttering, " The Miracle kid! A miracle on Bourbon street!!" Michael Cole bottled up the shock and joy from the bans and put it into words screaming what we all were saying at that moment; he shared our excitement with us and reminded us why we are all fans. Back in the 1990s, we had an iconic championship win when Mick Foley truly shocked the world when he captured the WWE championship on Raw! Nobody thought Mick could ever win. He was a fun wrestler who never could win the big one. So when he shut the doubters, only Cole had the call to make that moment stick " Mankind has achieved his dreams and The Dream Of Everyone Else Who's Been Told 'You Can't Do It." Foley was a loser, and fans resonated with his struggles. That night everyone lived vicariously through Foley because when he won, it felt like we all won, and Cole did a fantastic job capturing the moment.

Recently we saw how moment-changing commentary could be; Michael Cole and Pat McAfee at Money in the Bank had one of the best calls in pro Wrestling history. Liv Morgan won the money in the bank that night, guaranteeing herself a championship whenever she wanted, and it was a long road to that moment.

Liv failed 100 times and always picked herself and kept going but never gave up. She was the perfect underdog everyone was invested in, so when Morgan ascended to the top of the ladder and ripped that briefcase free, the pop was iconic, and Cole and Pat sharing their shock, drove home; you could never predict what would happen in WWE. Later that night, Liv would cash in on Ronda Rousey, shocking the fans worldwide. When her music hit, everyone's jaws dropped. Cole heard Cole scream, " OH MY GOD!!!! LIV MORGAN IS CASHING IN HER MONEY IN THE BANK BRIEFCASE. OH MY GOD!!!" it gave me goosebumps even when the match started. Cole kept that same passion and excitement, making the fans invested in the matchmaking us all wonder what would happen next. When Liv won, Pat and Cole thrived most. They jumped up and down, celebrated, screaming and cheering. It was a moment that will always stand out because they embodied how all the fans felt, excited and shocked. That night Cole showed emotions we hadn't heard on commentary in years; his passion made all of us invested and excited. Pat McAfee is no slouch on commentary. He's a funny guy who nails comedic responses every chance he gets! Just watch Sami Zayne versus Johnny Knoxville, and Pat was in his element; he had fun with it, and the jokes were flying. Even his description of Brock Lesner is perfect hearing Pat yell " THE ALPHA MALE OF OUR SPECIES" is entertaining and a very fitting description of the genetic freak known as Brock Lesner. Pat was a shot of adrenaline fans, and Michael Cole needed it; his love of the sport is infectious and forces Cole to step up his game. A moment that isn't talked about enough was when Brock Lesner ended the Undertakers streak Michael Cole and JBL could have made the moment loud and shocking, but no, the team was silent. JBL was silent in disbelief, allowing us all to sit there and comprehend what we saw. The arena went silent and set the tone, and Cole and JBL picked up on it beautifully. Even Coles's quiet and tamed " F-5 ! The Streak... is over..." is memorable due to the pure shock behind the call. At Summerslam, Corey Graves was on another level at commentary during Brock versus Roman in the Last man standing match. When Lesner lifted the ring with his tractor, we heard the shock and fear in Graves's voice as the crew was hoisted in the air. Graves was scared, confused, and had no idea what to expect; he was genuine and scared. That wasn't a character; that was a man who had no idea what was happening. The pair that night shared terrific moments during that match, driving home the violence and pleading with both men to stay down. The carnage didn't stop as Cole and Graves cringed and described the brutality we saw at each turn in the match. We watched each passing second as the duo made each moment feel bigger than the final. When we got to the ending, Cole was begging for it to stop screaming to the ref, "COUNT FASTER!!!" making us all worry about Lesner's safety, making us even more emotionally invested. In my opinion, no call is bigger than the famous call by Gorilla Monsoon at Wrestlemania " The unstoppable force meets the immovable object" still stands the test of time. That night we got the largest man in wrestling in Andre The Giant versus Hulk Hogan. The two were the world's biggest stars, and we watched history unfold. Andre was billed as undefeated and had never been slammed, and Hulk was the megastar who changed the wrestling landscape with the power of ten men. The moment was larger than life, and somehow, Monsoon managed to capture the moment perfectly.

Commentary is an essential part of wrestling; it is the job of the commentators to talk over the action, turn wrestlers into stars, and give a reason to invest our time into them. They can make or break a moment and turn a regular wrestler into a global superstar. It's not an easy job; you must keep the fans engaged and excited and know exactly what to say.