Sunday, September 7, 2008

Matt Striker: The best man for the job?

Matt Striker. Your teacher. Your color analyst for ECW. Your man for the job?

Although this seems rather far-fetched, it actually makes some sense when you think about it. Now, I'm not a poster boy for the Matt Striker fan club, but I do recognize talent when I see it. As a wrestler, he's very sound, although most people don't know that. But, on the mic, he can come off very entertaining as well. That said, Matt Striker positioned as the color analyst on ECW is actually a very good fit. Why say this? Why make this claim? Well, here's a few reasons I think you might agree on, or not:

1) He has that old school-heel color analyst mentality. I mean, who here doesn't miss that of the good old days? Who could forget Jesse Ventura tearing into Vince McMahon every Saturday night (or afternoon if you count Superstars)? Who would want to forget Bobby Heenan going barb-for-barb against Gorilla Monsoon? Those were the things of legend. Where does Striker fit in? Just like Ventura and Heenan, he's smart, he will lean towards heels if needed (although not as much as the aforementioned two), and he has a heel mentality. I mean, he swears he's better than all of us b/c he's smarter than us as a teacher with a wide vocabulary and a mind for intellectual pursuits. That's perfect in my book for color analysis. Now, I know things have changed over the years, but giving a nod to the mod is always a good thing once in a while.

2) For the most part, he actually sounds like, if not, knows what he's talking about. When he makes references to what should be done, or when a wrestler does something specific to someone else, he at least makes good on describing it to the point where it makes sense. If not that, he doesn't sound like a complete idiot. That's Todd Grisham's job. I mean, let's look at some of the many color analysts of the WWE: Jerry Lawler (earlier WWE days), Bobby Heenan, Mr. Perfect, Ted DiBiase, Jesse Ventura, and Jim Cornette, to name a few. If these guys did anything right behind the microphone, it's come off sounding very evil, for one. But, whenever they could, they would try to sound smart when it came to analyzing a match by saying what a wrestler should do to get the advantage (albeit underhanded, since these guys were mostly heels), or why they would do something differently.

3) When it comes to the wrestlers, he knows them well. He's been in the new ECW long enough to have wrestled the guys who were there for the most part. So, he knows their tendencies, he knows what they are known for without having to rewrite their history on the mic (something Tazz and Cole are very guilty of), and he knows why they may or may not be winning whatever match they are in. He's feuded with Dreamer through the New Blood/Old School faction war. He's battled Hardy once or twice, I believe. He's been on the same brand with the likes of Miz and Morrison. He's battled Finley and has managed Mark Henry for a bit. So, when he makes note of what they can do, he knows.

4) When it comes to the new guys, he knows them well. This is my banking point. My thesis, if you will. I was elated when I heard Striker mention that Evan Bourne was from the Dragon Gate organization for a while, learning his craft. Now, when Bourne was there, he was Matt Sydal, but he didn't mention that to keep the mystique of it all. He knows Ricky Ortiz's background, and was even able to mention that Gavin Spears was a former casino worker and hockey player. I'm sure as Spears starts to win matches, Striker will mention that Spears has wrestled under many Canadian organizations and has much talent under his belt. This is very important in my book for this reason: ECW is a televised farm system brand. If you can't make it a point to explain the new people to the viewers, why will they care? He is at least giving some listening viewers something to think about when these new guys come out with little or no fanfare. You may think it's not important. If not, then tell me why Vince McMahon makes it a point to yell at all his commentators in the headset about things? The reason is b/c he knows that some people are listening to what the commentators are saying. They are a necessity to explain whatever the heck is going on, who this person is, or the like. You can't just have any old person do that, in my opinion, otherwise we have Mike Adamle. Sure, some people call his ineptitude behind the mic a work since he has done commentary for football, but Tony Schiavone has done Braves baseball games and he was the worst commentator on the mic in wrestling history. You can only call so many things a "dragon screw" when they aren't, and, no, Tony, this isn't the biggest night in the history of wrestling. That was a few nights ago, remember?

5) He is a talented individual who shouldn't be wasted. Without a doubt, Matt Striker is a well-versed mat wrestler. He brings a good amount of stuff to the table. However, his gimmick and his stature don't have him winning many matches against many people. But, as I said, he's good on the mic as a heel. Now, he's got a mic on him. His gimmick has him as a teacher who is an intellectual. It's only fair that you utilize him as a color analyst. He can come off very standoffish, aloof, and rather nerdy. But, he will make good points here and there. I remember a certain someone who did come off as nerdy and sarcastic behind the mic on ECW. Now he's on WWE.com. I miss ya, Joey Styles. Now, Striker is here to fill that void. Although he's not a play-by-play man, he does the trick in being a lot like Joey in those cases, which is helpful, b/c listening to the White Coachman, Todd Grisham, can get annoying after a while. We need entertainment behind the microphone and headset once in a while, and Grisham is far from it.

6) Simply put, this is the new ECW. I was not made any more clear of that fact than the day Joey Styles got demoted to WWE.com for Mike Adamle. As you notice, there's only one ECW-related person on the show, and that's Tommy Dreamer. However, without Dreamer, there is no ECW as he has been called ECW's heart and soul (I'll make a blog on this aspect on 9/21). Everything else on ECW is different. New belt, new theme song, new wrestlers. It would not help to keep things that no longer truly connotate with ECW anymore on the show. Now, Styles, he connotated with ECW, don't get me wrong. I'm just saying that when he left, he was the last part of the original aspect of the new ECW. Heyman was the other part. I can't count Dreamer that much, sadly (once again, wait for 9/21). Since, there's no semblance of the original, there's no point in avoiding the use of Matt Striker.

There you have it. There might be some ideas you do like, and some you don't. Quite frankly, I hope either is the case. To close this up, let me say that Matt Striker is good at what he does on ECW, and might have a very good future in color analysis. If he continues to work on it, who knows? It could be J.R. and Matt Striker calling a match. It's a good thing that this came when it did, though, or Striker's time on ECW and in the WWE would be shortened, despite his talents. School would be out permanently, and sadly, it wouldn't have bothered many of us. I mean, who doesn't have an annoying teacher who can be very good at what he or she does? Wait, does that even make sense?

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