In the back channels of The Overtimer, we often talk about wrestling then and now. One thing that a couple of us enjoyed was how WCW television was presented.
Nothing showcased that more than the announce team in the company. Depending on who was on the team—since they swapped out and brought people in—the team came off as laid back for most of the show.
Of course, once a heel did something rotten or the new World order popped up to derail WCW Nitro, they responded in kind. Let’s look at the company’s five best commentary teams.
Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay & Larry Zbyszko (WCW Nitro)
Tony and Larry Z were a capable commentary team together but really came together with the addition of Mike Tenay.
He was the announcer they needed during that time in the 90s with the influx of new, young, and exciting talent. The Professor had details on them all.
Zbyszko used to be my least favorite part of this trio. He always came off as pretty dry and boring but re-watching him with just Tony years later, I came to appreciate him as a color commentator.
Jim Ross & Jesse Ventura (WCW Saturday Night)
Ventura was just great on color commentary and I enjoyed him with JR in the early 90s. He just had this aggressiveness about whatever was going on in the company and could come off as combative.
It’s what you want from heel color commentators but he took it a step further. There were times when he tried to be topical that didn’t go over well but overall, he was good at the booth.
JR was always JR: skilled at storytelling and presenting professionalism. Especially when you consider that he was always surrounded by chaos and televised criminal acts that should’ve gotten several wrestlers arrested!
Tony Schiavone & Dusty Rhodes (Saturday Night)
In 1995, we saw the tandem of Schiavone and Big Dust at the booth for Saturday Night. I became a wrestling fan this year and it was this show I watched every Saturday at 6:05 PM.
The Mothership at this time was kind of like WCW having two A-shows even after Nitro debuted. Dusty and Tony were an extremely good team.
Tony was similar to JR presentation-wise. The main difference with this team is that Dusty was a face and enthused about everything going down in the ring.
He’s also the best example of how laid-back WCW could be on TV and during PPVs. Once you saw “The American Dream” with the headset on, you knew that there was going to be some wild commentary.
Just listen to him on any PPV between 1996 and 1998.
Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan, & Steve McMichael (Nitro)
This was actually a good trio back when Nitro was one hour. Eric Bischoff was underrated as a play-by-play guy.
He could call the action well but was stronger at setting up the next match or next week’s show as well as opening it with his fast, loud delivery.
It was like he really wanted you to know that this was the place to be on Monday night. Heenan’s banter with Mongo made for good comedy—especially when Mongo’s damn dog was around.
Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, & Mike Tenay (Nitro/PPV)
Let’s throw in the combo of Tony and Bobby. Just Schiavone and Heenan. These three were the WCW announce team.
Tenay did the lifting on matches with the luchadores but could also commentate the hum drum of WCW action such as the new World order popping up and eating up time.
Schiavone in the late 90s was on top of the action when having to deal with Heenan’s shenanigans.
He told the stories for us at home and hyped things up—which was important as there was more stuff for him to hype than there was when he came into the business during the 80s.
The real showcase of this team’s skill was how Tony and Mike—two play-by-play guys—managed to jam without stepping on each other’s toes!
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