Nowadays in WWE, everyone on camera can speak a lot more freely. But during the previous management regime, there were several words that were banned. Recently, WWE Hall of Famer JBL revealed that Michael Cole had written an Announcer’s Bible to help the up-and-coming announcers on what to say and what not to say.
While speaking on a recent episode of the Something to Wrestle podcast, JBL mentioned that Cole had an announcer’s Bible to help the other announcers and make them aware of what they can say and what they cannot. The WWE Hall of Famer also mentioned that he had never read it.
“Michael [Cole], at one point, wrote the Announcer’s Bible, trying to help people. I believe in there, I don’t I ever read it, don’t tell Michael. ‘I ain’t reading that s**t.’ He knows I didn’t. A little different level than a young guy coming in than the old guy who knew what was supposed to happen, wasn’t supposed to happen. I believe the list of banned words, I believe was in that announcers bible. I don’t know that for sure, but there was an announcers bible, I believe, at one point, Michael had written it.” [H/T Fightful.com]
JBL also mentioned that he hated that there were certain terms that they could not use like ‘Belt’.
“Absolutely. I absolutely hate it. These idiots out there, ‘We gotta say belt. We gotta say strap.’ Say something that denigrates the product. I agree completely. A belt keeps up your pants. It’s stupid. You want to do an insider term to get over with your 40 people that respond on Twitter? It’s one of the dumbest things I’ve heard. Call it a title. Call it something prestigious. I hate when the UFC guys, ‘I won this belt.’ Say it’s a title. Say it’s a championship. I completely agree with Vince McMahon on belt as compared to championship or title.”
JBL on ‘Pro Wrestler’ being one of the banned words
During the same episode, the WWE Hall of Famer shared his thoughts on the term ‘pro wrestler’ being banned.
“Guys wanted to die on this hill and I thought it was stupid. Guys wanted to get in ‘pro wrestler.’ ‘Oh, he said pro wrestler. Good for you. That’s going to get you a hell of a push.’ I never understood why people wanted to die on this hill. Vince wanted ‘sports entertainer.’ He wanted ‘superstar.’ He wanted to create something different than pro wrestler. You want to differentiate yourself from the days of the BFW halls or high school gyms. I get that. Today, people don’t associate it with anything like that. It’s different now. Now, if you say ‘pro wrestling,’ it has a different connotation than what it had 20 years ago, but 20 years ago when I was there, it was a negative connotation.
“I know people in the know liked that because it was part of their inner circle and it made them feel like part of something that nobody else knew, but that’s not where you make money. You don’t make money by catering to your hardcore fans. You make money by Stone Cold bringing in a family of four. By the Rock bringing in this family that wants to come in on a Thanksgiving weekend or Christmas. That’s where you make it. You want to differentiate yourself between the old BWF halls and superstars. Nowadays, that’s not the case because people assume pro wrestling, ‘you’re the guys who sell out big arenas.’ It’s different now. Back then, I agreed with it. It was important to characterize your guys differently than what the insiders would say,” JBL said.
Are you happy that there are not many restrictions with regards to what the wrestlers and commentators can say?
