Since the beginning of television, wrestling has been one of its (sports) staples thanks to its easy and relatively small setup. All you needed was a ring and a camera - and, of course, an announcer. While pro wrestling works just fine live and without an announcer calling the action, a good announcer can not only lay out the (back)story of a match, but they can also elevate the drama and relay important information to the viewers at home, such as tour dates or changes in television airtime.
Some announcers stayed on for so long that they became synonymous with a promotion. Even after the promotion moved away to younger colleagues, they would look for new opportunities, sometimes settling for smaller promotions just to keep announcing. They stayed around, even after time had passed them by - and those are the ones we want to focus on today. Here are ten wrestling announcers who overstayed their welcome.
10 Jerry Lawler
Jerry 'the King' Lawler was the biggest star in Memphis wrestling history. However, his switch to the WWE in late 1992 saw him take on another role: he became a color commentator. Cheering on the heels, the King did such a good job that, once Bobby Heenan left the company, he occupied the role full-time. In the Attitude Era, the pairing of Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler reached legendary status.
However, after a brief hiatus from the WWE in 2001 (he walked out of the company in solidarity to his released then-girlfriend The Kat), things weren't the same anymore. With every passing year, Lawler seemed to become more annoying and uninspired. His last run as commentator was rather painful to listen to and ended in 2020.
9 Gorilla Monsoon
Readers of the Wrestling Observer newsletter crowned Monsoon the 'worst commentator' every year from 1991 to 1995 - and it is honestly not hard to see why. While the duo of Monsoon and Jesse Ventura was amazing in the 80s, Monsoon's commentary seemed to get worse after Jesse's departure.
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Even though him and Heenan had good chemistry, the spark was gone. As the 90s rolled on, Monsoon seemed like a relic of yesteryear on the mic, although he did transition into a decent on-screen WWE president.
8 Gene Okerlund
'Mean' Gene Okerlund is widely considered the best interviewer in wrestling history. After switching from the WWE to WCW, Okerlund seemed to get even better as the Atlanta-based company gave him more freedom to show is witty side. However, by the year 2000, Okerlund's straight-faced demeanor didn't fit the Vince Russo craziness.
He was gimmicked into a Dirty Old Man and even wrestled against Mark Madden. Once WCW folded, WWE found a more fitting role for Okerlund as the host of studio shows such as Confidential.
7 Mike Adamle
The case of Mike Adamle is a curious one. Adamle debuted for WWE in January 2008 and, by the time he quit the company at the end of the year, he had failed in three different roles. First, Adamle was assigned to be a backstage interviewer. On his first night in the company, he referred to Jeff Hardy as 'Jeff Harvey.'
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Later, WWE put him on commentary duty for ECW and things only got worse from there. WWE's final attempt of making Adamle an authority figure was probably his best role, but that isn't saying much. By that time, fans had already gotten sick of of the former NFL player.
6 Bobby Heenan
Certainly the greatest manager of all time, Heenan retired from managing in 1991 and became a full-time commentator to avoid taking any more bumps. He brought the best out of a deflating Monsoon and made Vince McMahon's over-the-top commentary bearable.
Once he followed Okerlund to WCW, Heenan had another good to decent two or three years. But by 1998, the Brain was phoning it in which is quite understandable given the backstage climate in WCW at the time. WCW finally pulled the plug on Heenan in 2000. He retired from wrestling (for the most part) as a series of health problems began to dominate his life until his death in 2017.
5 Gordon Solie
The 'Dean of Wrestling', Gordon Solie, was the voice of Florida and Georgia Wrestling throughout the seventies and eighties. After both companies folded, Solie went to Continental Championship Wrestling, but after Turner Broadcasting took over Jim Crockett Promotions, Solie joined the company as a backstage interviewer and eventual commentator.
By the late 80s, however, Solie's dry and scientific commentary style was no longer fitting the increasingly crazy world of wrestling. Solie would stay in WCW until 1995, but he would mainly call secondary shows like WCW Pro.
4 Alex Marvez
Originally a journalist by trade, Marvez joined AEW's broadcasting team as a commentator upon the company's debut show, Double or Nothing 2019. After a terrible outing, Marvez was moved to the position of backstage announcer - which he inexplicably holds to this day.
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His comical deadpan delivery of obviously pre-scripted questions and lack of charisma or any emotion make him a deserving entrant on this list.
3 Tony Schiavone
Speaking of AEW: Tony Schiavone returned to pro wrestling by joining MLW in 2017 and would eventually join AEW in 2019. The longtime lead announcer of WCW had (and still has) a nostalgia bonus from many fans but his commentary work - which was always hit-or-miss, at best - has taken a serious nosedive recently.
Schiavone contributes little to nothing of substance and mainly talks in quick spurts, such as noticing Bryan Danielson's hair at Forbidden Door. Much like his former colleagues Gordon Solie and Bobby Heenan, the sport has passed Tony by.
2 Kevin Patrick
Kevin Patrick is one of the newest announcers in WWE. He began his career as a backstage interviewer but, in 2022, he was promoted to the play-by-play role on Monday Night Raw alongside Corey Graves.
Unfortunately, it is time to admit that the experiment is a failure. Patrick does not seem comfortable in the role and mostly speaks in quick spurts while Graves does the heavy lifting. The Kevin Patrick experiment has outlived its welcome.
1 Jim Ross
It always seems hard for the best in any sport (or profession) to retire while still being at or near their peak. Rarely is this more evident than in wrestling - where nobody ever really retires. Ric Flair, The Undertaker, Hulk Hogan - even a stroke-surviving Bret Hart - felt the urge to step into the ring long past their prime. Unfortunately, commentators are not immune to that either, not even the (arguably) greatest of all time.
Jim Ross has been a shadow of his former self for a while now. Age is catching up with 'Good old JR' and while AEW has the right idea of using him sparingly, his recent performances have not been notable. Maybe it is time for the voice of the Attitude Era to hang up the hat and call it a career.
