High Road/Low Road 05.16.08: The Mike Adamle Situation

Posted by Sat & Uncletrunx on 05.16.2008

The Mike Adamle situation has caused chaos in WWE. Some say this is adding a much needed interest to the otherwise dull commentary, others that it is completely unnecessary. Which road are you on? Also, Uncletrunx is back from honeymoon and is just as miserable as ever!

Welcome back to the High Road/Low Road!

A brief explanation of the column: Uncletrunx takes the Low Road (negative view) on angles, gimmicks, and other wrestling related "stuff" while Sat takes the High Road (positive view).

Uncletrunx: Thanks for all the good wishes about my recent wedding. I had a lovely time, it was a great day followed by a lovely fortnight in Antigua with my beautiful new wife. Now I'm back and have recharged the batteries of woe and misery, just in time for another dose of High Road/Low Road!

The Results for Shark Boy:

High Road: 39.1%
Low Road: 43.5%
Both Roads: 17.4%

The Mike Adamle Situation

High Road:
With the walkout by Mike Adamle, it has definitely made him an interesting character. With all of the announcers, they really don't have any characters and that hurts them. John "Bradshaw" Layfield had a character and it definitely helped him become a great announcer. Now, I am not expecting Adamle to become a great announcer with this, but I think that he will be one of the most interesting announcers that the WWE has. I think the reason that I feel this way is that he is making some hilarious mistakes and then he walks out. When was the last time that we saw something like this?

Low Road:
I think the big problem is that the distinction between an announcer having a personality and them being an on screen character has once again been misunderstood by WWE. In my opinion, the reason JR is routinely hailed as the best in the business by many including me is that he not only adds genuine emotion to the matches he calls, he's also got a real, unforced personality. What he doesn't do is take up time promoting himself at the expense of what's going on in the ring; JBL also had this trait, he put the focus on the in ring action and was hailed as a great commentator. He also had a real personality which made him interesting to listen to but didn't overshadow the matches.

However, when the need for a personality in commentary is taken to an extreme, when the announcers are made to be the focus of the show, the focus is removed from the in ring product which in my somewhat old fashioned view is a bad thing. We've seen this before with "Heel JR" which most people including JR acknowledge as a failure. In short, commentators with personality who enhance the product are vital, but commentators who are themselves the focus of attention rarely work out well. What we have here is the latter when we needed the former.


High Road:
When Mike Adamle made his speech the show after he walked out, I thought that it was a brilliant move by the WWE. First, it explained his reasoning for walking out and I thought that he gave a pretty good explanation. But, the main reason that I liked his speech is that it he brought up all of his accolades. He mentioned that he had played in the NFL, commentated on the NFL, the Olympics and he was a part of the original American Gladiators. By having Mike Adamle announce all of this it gives him some credibility and now all of the fans of the WWE know this information, whereas before only a few of the fans knew about it. I will say that before he said this stuff, the only thing I knew about him was the American Gladiator thing.

Low Road:
You see, this is making my point. Adamle has a great history as a broadcaster, and had he been allowed to grow into the role and become more natural at it over time, he would have been an asset to WWE. Instead, they pick up on his "teething troubles" on his first show and saddle him with a terrible gimmick; they make him "so bad he's entertaining". Note one is that such comedy only works when it's natural, not when it's forced and note two is that in doing so, they're using a short term joke at the expense of a valuable and experienced employee's future. He has a great background and this is his strength, not being a comic goof.


High Road:
The walkout by Mike Adamle allowed for something else to happen and that was to introduce him to some of the fans that are not watching ECW. William Regal invited Mike Adamle to call a match on RAW and Adamle came out and called a match with Jerry Lawler. Personally, I thought that this was a smart move because most people are not watching ECW, so it allows for more fans to listen to Mike Adamle commentating. I think that only good things can come out of this. The one problem that I did have with him announcing on RAW is that I would have waited a week. He should have done his speech on ECW and then come out the following RAW to announce. It just would have worked better that way.

Low Road:
Does he need introducing to those fans as an on screen character? My view is he does not. As I mentioned above, to me an announcer needs a personality (and not a forced "I'm really bad, laugh at me" personality) rather than to be caught up in storylines. I've said it a lot of times before, to me the focus of a wrestling show should be on the wrestling, and outside angles should build matches featuring the wrestlers. Is this building to a match? If it is, it'll involve announcers; seldom if ever a good thing. If not, it's wasting time and focus which should be placed firmly on the wrestlers.


High Road:
Most of the stuff that we see currently in wrestling is something that we totally expect to see happen. The stuff that I find the most entertaining is when we something that is totally unexpected. That was the case with Mike Adamle walking out. It was totally unexpected and it definitely forced people to check out WWE.com and the next show to find out why Mike Adamle walked out.

Low Road:
It was unexpected, but as I said above, it diverts attention away from the wrestlers. I can think of no decent angles featuring announcers with the possible exception of those announcers who were already wrestlers. Will this be different? I'm not holding my breath.

Also, by having Adamle turn up on Raw, they're once again burying the brand split. Not even the commentators keep to the brand split now; was there ever any more proof needed that WWE has no idea how to handle the split? Either get rid of it or make it work; this half and half nonsense has long since become annoying.


High Road:
There really has not been a lot to talk about with ECW for awhile now. The main topics have basically been Colin Delaney and CM Punk. When Mike Adamle joined the announce booth and when he walked out, I feel that the interest in the show has definitely increased. For me, I would maybe watch one show every month, but with all the stuff that has been happening with Mike Adamle; I have now been watching the show regularly. Hopefully, the Mike Adamle situation will keep me tuned in.

Low Road:
This is a terrible situation; ECW is so dull and uninteresting, that it takes one of the commentary team walking out to make it interesting. How many wrestlers are on ECW at the moment? If none of them are able to draw the attention of fans, it speaks very poorly of the show. If a show is relying on the announcer to make people tune in, that show is in deep, deep trouble.


High Road:
Larry Csonka made a great point about this not getting any buys and I have to agree. But, I have a different perspective on this. I do not think the WWE is expecting any buys from ECW, so that's one of the reason I do not have any problems with the WWE trying stuff on this show and seeing what sticks. ECW is basically a development show on TV, so it is good place to try some stuff out. It would be nice if ECW was not that, but that is just what the WWE has made it. It makes sense for the WWE to do the walkout on ECW because I do not think that the main focus of ECW is to get buys; its focus is to find out what works and then transfer it to RAW or SmackDown.

Low Road:
I agree with Larry. How will this improve business? Will people say "oh, I must watch the wrestling in case the commentator walks out again"? Using ECW as an experiment is insulting to the fans who tune in, and if the experiments involve focusing on the commentary team instead of the wrestlers, that number will probably go down. If they use ECW as a place to see what works and then they use that on Raw or Smackdown, surely people will just watch those shows, as the quality will be proven.


High Road:
This has nothing to do with Mike Adamle walking out, but I feel that it needs to be addressed. One of the main problems with ECW was that Joey Styles was not doing a good job. The problem was that the WWE was not letting him be the Joey Styles of old and it definitely hurt the show. With Mike Adamle as the announcers, the show as definitely gotten better because you don't know what he is going to say next. With Joey Styles, I had basically started to tune out the announcers and with Adamle, I am again starting to pay attention to what the announcers are saying.

Low Road:
Joey Styles was doing a fine job. Joey Styles was an announcer who had his own style and personality, even if he did have to alter it for WWE. Adamle is a one joke commentator, and that joke stopped being funny when he started to do it deliberately. What they've done is removed a guy with personality who focused on the matches and replaced him with, in essence, a storyline. That they are doing this rather than making a stable and effective commentary team despite Adamle's undoubted credentials suggests to me that this will fail, as similar "angles" in the past have failed.

Are you taking the High Road or the Low Road?

High Road
Low Road
Both RoadsOR

Simply write "High Road", "Low Road", or "Both Roads" in the comment section.

E-Mails:

These are all of the e-mails that we received this week. We do not respond to the actual e-mail, but the reply to your e-mail will be below.

Freddy Neuwendyke Writes:

The Sharkboy Stone Cold angle would have been funny if they just did it as a one time thing following that cheesy stretch of skits that sounds like Vince Russo must have listened to to that song Wet dream by Kip Adotta before writing the show.

While sure it was a funny way to get Jay Lethal over at first the problem is TNA is falling for the age old booking fallacy that if one of something is good more has to be even better. Now you have Jay Lethal still being Macho Man, Sharkboy being Stone Cold and Petey Williams being Scott Steiner.

Furthermore all this has done is add more fuel to the fire of fanboys who say all TNA does is copy off WWE. TNA needs to find it's own identity.

Sat: You do bring up a legitimate problem with TNA, but I like the Shark Boy has Stone Cold just because it made him a credible threat to win. Before this, he always lost and it was getting pathetic.

Uncletrunx: There are other ways to make him credible. To me, it smacks of lazy booking.

Anthony Dios Writes:

It's stupid…and it just draws attention to the WWE

Sat: It does give the people that think TNA is copying the WWE a lot of ammo, but come on, this has been better executed than Jay Lethal and it was been fun to watch.

Uncletrunx: I don't think it has been executed better; Lethal, while an impersonator, was the first to do it on a big stage. Now it's becoming routine, and as I say, looks like lazy booking.

Comments:

411 has added a new feature. Below are the comments for last week's columns and our responses. The comments that will be included will be the ones that pertain to this week's column. Also, your comment will not be included if you are commenting on another reader's comment. The comments are as of Thursday Morning Pacific Time.

L'Mago Writes:

Both roads. It's hard to judge right now. TNA and Shark Boy can turn this gimmick into positive, or just drop it.

Sat: I think for Shark Boy to be a definite High Road is that he needs to win the X-Division title.

Uncletrunx: I think he needs to develop an original character which is a credible threat to a title if he wants to be taken seriously.

Raven Effect Writes:

This is a little difficult as the gimmick has been pretty fun, and obviously somewhat successful. I think I have to go low road on this one, though. TNA needs to establish itself and become a true competitor. They need to build themselves to the point where they are real competition for WWE and we are talking about the big two again.

Stuff like Stone Cold Shark Boy is just so amateurish. It makes your product look inferior because it is like saying your guys can't get over unless you steal a gimmick (and an old one at that) from the other promotion. They need to worry more about finding ways to get their guys over of their own accord rather than ripping off old gimmicks, especially when they are from a different promotion. That sort of thing can be good fun for a while, but can never be taken seriously in the long run. It makes that wrestler seem inferior and it makes the promotion seem inferior.

Sat: Again, you make some good points, but I like Shark Boy just because it is fun to watch. Plus, I think I have come to the realization that TNA is never going to get its own identity, so maybe that's why I am okay with it.

Uncletrunx: I agree; for a local indy fed it might be a fun thing to do, but if TNA wants to be a decent international alternative to WWE, they need to avoid being an upmarket tribute show.

Arnab Writes:

Low road all the way, if they don't have their own ideas, if they have no
creativity, it sends the wrong signal. It tells that TNA will just remain as they are or they will copy from somewhere.

Sat: Again good point. Seems to be from the emailers and commentors that it is low road on TNA and not on Shark Boy.

Uncletrunx: Absolutely; Shark Boy is undoubtedly doing as he's told. This does indeed send the wrong signal, it makes TNA look like they can't create their own gimmicks.

CM Wolf Writes:

Definitely high road. Both Vince and Steve LOVE what Sharky is doing with the Stone Cold gimmick. I think TNA's reworking pays just enough homage while allowing the worker to bring their own elements to their characters. We MIGHT be seeing the dark side of this though....."Little Petey Pump"?

Sat: Little Petey Pump is not doing it for me right now; it could change though. The thing I like about Shark Boy is that he is copying Stone Cold, but he is bringing in some of his own elements. Like instead of 3:16 its 24/7. Instead of the stunner, its the Chummer. Instead of Hell Yeah, its Shell Yeah.

Uncletrunx: Of course Vince loves it; it's keeping the focus on someone whose real fame came in his organisation.

Orlando Writes:

High road. What no one seems to understand is that it's going to take years, not days, for TNA to become a true competitor. That comes from consistency marketing, merchandise sales (whether Trunx likes to admit it or not) and characters that the fans can enjoy watching.

Shark Boy is someone that the fans obviously enjoy, even if it's a spoof of another wrestler. Even Stone Cold himself admitted he had no issue with it.

There is a totem pole in wrestling, some are meant to be superstars, mid-carders, and jobbers. Stone Cold Shark Boy fits in the lower tier and is enjoyable. Even if he does win the X Division title someday I don't think it will kill the division.

Sat: Shark Boy is a lot more fun to watch then he was before. Plus, Steve Austin has given his approval, so that means that he doesn't have a problem with it, so why should we?

Uncletrunx: I admit that merchandise is an important factor; if I could shift Uncletrunx T shirts, you'd better believe I would! What I don't believe is that merchandise and other such aspects of wrestling should be the focus ahead of the in ring action.

Ken Schmidt Writes:

low road, very low road. His finisher is called the chummer.... awful

Sat: First, be sure to read Ken Schmidt's work in the 411 Sports Section. Here are the links to them. Sports Fact or Fiction and Coast to Coast Podcast. I knew I forget something from above. The stunner is the chummer. Man, I love the Shark Boy character

Uncletrunx: Indeed, read Ken's work. Not least because he's gone Low Road and is clearly a man of supreme intelligence!

Kjfxxxo9 Writes:

both its good how he turns all the sayings into sea shit like shell yea but it is this a rip off and tna cant come up with their own ideas?

Sat: I have come to the realization that TNA is not going to come with their own ideas, so maybe that's why I am more accepting of it.

Uncletrunx: I refuse to accept that a company with international aspirations will ever get there if their well of ideas is completely dry.

Ray A Writes:

High road...if it's grabbing your attention, then you know that they're doing something right. Whatever it takes for you to get the job done, you should do.

Sat: Good point about getting your attention. This week feedback is pretty good. Why? Because everybody has an opinion on Shark Boy and what this does is that it gets people talking about TNA.

Uncletrunx: Conceded. However, will that attention remain there long term, or will it be a "point and laugh" type of quick attention grabber, which is not sustained in the longer term? If TNA want people to keep watching, they'll need something to hold the attention and this sort of joke character will not hold it long.

Anonymous Smart Mark Writes:

Low road. Yeah, sure, it's good for a few shits and giggles, but it's not elevating Shark Boy, and it's only proving that Russo and the TNA Bookers can't do anything unique and original to save their lives.

I get why they did the "Black Machismo" gimmick in the beginning -- it was to get Jay Lethal over by giving him a "personality makeover", and it worked. (Now he just needs to get out of that gimmick and up into the main event.)

But the Stone Cold Shark Boy gimmick serves no purpose other than to let Shark Boy do an admittedly good Stone Cold impression. I'm not saying Shark Boy had a future outside of the midcard, but at the very least, he could be a successful midcarder instead of just a complete joke.

Sat: Personally, I saw the old Shark Boy has a complete joke because he never won. At least, he is now winning. Again, as I wrote above, I have accepted the fact that TNA cannot come with their own ideas and that might be why I am more accepting of stuff like this.

Uncletrunx: I agree entirely with Smart Mark.

Blanky Writes:

High Road, it's a popular gimmick and it sells shirts and WWF had some comedy
characters during the Attitude Era: The Oddities, Blue Meanie, Mankind, etc.

Sat: Good point, the WWE had comedy characters. Plus, the important thing to note is that Sharky is selling merchadise, something that most are not doing in TNA.

Uncletrunx: As I said, merchandise should not come ahead of in ring product. WWE had comic characters and still does; how many of them were a) anything other than awful* and b)how many were based on blatant rip offs of old gimmicks?

*Mankind excepted; to me he was not created as a comic character; while a lot of Foley's work was comic, it didn't take away from his reputation in the ring.

Big Hustle Writes:

both roads. I can see the value in keeping the Sharkboy gimmick. It gets a cheap pop and it sells merch. However this shouldn't be used as an example to get your lesser stars over. Sharkboy does a good job with the impersonation portion of it, but his look, appearance and in ring performances are an utter joke. Therefore it should be treated as such. This could really get over with critics if it were just a comedy thing that was used sparingly. But putting him in high profile matches with a shadow of a chance of winning just shows how weak the X-Division truly is at this point.

I'd keep the gimmick, but use it as comic relief and use it SPARINGLY.

Sat: I find his in ring performance pretty good. The kicking that he is does is very Stone Cold like. I agree that he should stay away from high profile matches, but I would give him a few shots at the title and see how the fans react to it. If they are for it, then give him the title.

Uncletrunx: Used sparingly, it could be fun. Sparingly does not include title shots in my opinion.

Captain Smooth Writes:

High Road. I find Shark Boy to be an affectionate tribute to one of the best wrestlers of all time.

Sat: Shark Boy has done an amazing job doing the character. It is 100% correct.

Uncletrunx: An affectionate tribute is one thing, but it shouldn't be an ongoing gimmick on a supposedly international wrestling show.

KanyonKriest Writes:

About HBK/Batista: who would've thought that one week or so later and they completely dropped the angle? HBK gets a morally ambiguous pin on Big Dave and THAT'S IT? They've been doing this a LOT recently, and I've noticed a weird trend among these frustratingly anticlimactic angles too. Follow me on my look at these fizzled-out angles and try spotting the pattern... Orton/Jericho; Jericho/JBL; JBL/Finlay... well I can't really continue with it directly because for some reason Finlay was off TV for like a month following his big push and his first ever 1-on-1 match at WrestleMania... makes sense, right? (?!?!) So then, Batista/HBK - like I said, the second or third decent angle Batista's been part of, EVER - is the latest to be thrown out the window by WWE's ADHD-stricken creative team? What's next, they'll forget who the World Champion is? I can see it now; we'll turn on Smackdown next week and the Big Show will stroll out to the ring with the World Title. I know they're trying to entertain children now, but even some of them are on Ritalin!

Sat: You make a good point. Either the WWE drags out the feud for too long or not at all. I will say that HBK/Batista I was expecting only one match, but for Jericho/JBL, I was expecting a lot more.

Uncletrunx: Continuity. Is it too much to ask for?

Your reasons for taking the High Road, Low Road, or Both Roads and suggestions for future High Road/Low Road are welcome at [e-mail] or in the comment section. Your reply will be included in next week's column.