Professional wrestling is all about making a show, which includes getting capable athletes, setting up interesting storylines and finding people who will lead the audience through it all. These commentators can make quite a lot of difference, improving otherwise dull matches or perhaps leading the fans through a confusing royal rumble. Of course, bad commentators can ruin entire matches, but we won’t talk about them here. What we will do, however, is introduce what we feel are the 5 best wrestling announcers of all time. Take a look at what we’ve come up with.
Gordon Solie
We’ll begin with Gordon Solie, a man you probably heard if you were a fan of Championship Wrestling from Florida, or later NWA or WCW. This announcing legend who left us in 2000, began his career as a radio disc jockey, promotions man, and even race track announcer. The third one proved lucky for him as that’s when a promoter Eddie Graham heard his powerful, distinctive voice and decided to hire him. What made Solie such an interesting announcer was the fact that he always had a serious, solemn tone that made all the events that much greater. During the 70s and 80s, Solie was pretty much everywhere, but it wore off in the 90s and in 1995 he retired.
Bob Caudle
It’s hard to believe that Bob Caudle’s career actually began in the late 1950s, but he’s really been around for quite a while. Jim Crockett Sr., one of the pioneers of wrestling promotions hired him to announce his matches, and in the 70s he moved to Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, where he became known for his usual greeting lines. Now, unlike Solie, Caudle was a lot more restrained and composed, but still one of the best announcers ever. He would get so caught up in the moment that you felt his reactions were genuine. Hearing him protest against some vile, cheating wrestlers is pretty much priceless.
Bobby Heenan
On a more villainous side, there’s the almighty Bobby Heenan. One of the greatest heel supporters in professional wrestling, Heenan started at the very bottom, carrying wrestlers’ bags and jackets, and worked his way up. Early on, in the late 60s, he became a wrestler and a manager going by the name The Brain, that eventually stuck with him. He truly rose to prominence, however, in the 80s, when he joined WWF first as a manager, and later as a commentator. He became famous for his taunting of the face wrestlers, talking tough but giving off a cowardly vibe perfectly. In 2004, he was rightfully inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Lance Russell
If you’ve ever stumbled upon some Memphis wrestling, the voice you heard was probably Lance Russell’s. When talking about Memphis, it’s worth noting that their wrestling scene was largely underrated for a long time. The fights that occurred there were exciting, brutal, and usually involved quite a lot of humor. When you’re commenting such events, you can’t go over the top and drown the action with your voice and hysteria. Russell knew that all too well and always talked with a calm, soothing voice, emphasizing those things that mattered. Besides that, he was also a great interviewer who knew exactly what the audience wanted to hear and how to pull that from his interviewees. Russell is certainly one of the best.
Jim Ross
Finally, who can be at the top of this list than the one and only Jim Ross. He is pretty much the first name that comes to mind when you think of wrestling. He started commenting way back while he was in college, which later got him a job at the Mid-South Wrestling promotion. In the 80s he worked for the Jim Crockett promotions, but he truly found himself at the WWE (or WWF as it was called back then). After making his debut at the Wrestlemania IX, he succeeded Vince McMahon and became the real voice of the WWE. Among other things, Jim Ross is the reason why Steve Austin became so popular, since they were good friends and worked great together.
We feel that these are the best wrestling announcers of all time. Would you add someone to the list?
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
