The 5 Best (& 5 Worst) Smackdown Commentary Teams

In televised pro wrestling, the commentary is crucial to the in-ring product. It exists to help tell the story of the match, get casual viewers up to speed, and sell the severity and impact of wrestling moves. Expert commentary can make a great match feel like an all-timer and inept commentary can actually ruin an otherwise solid match.

In its over-two-decades of existence, WWE’s blue brand known as SmackDown has gone through countless changes in broadcast teams -- from classic pairing to some regrettable configurations of commentators who sometimes felt like they did their best to make the show worse.

10 Best: Jim Ross & Tazz

Jim Ross had a couple stints calling SmackDown alongside various color commentators, and the best JR pairing on that show has got to be with former ECW star Tazz. For some fans, Tazz is an acquired taste, as his style can be loosey-goosey, but he’s always fun to listen to and feels like he’s actively trying to do a good job. He worked with Michael Cole for a spell on SmackDown, but he worked better with a veteran commentator like Jim Ross to pick up the slack.

9 Worst: Todd Grisham & Matt Striker

Somebody at WWE must have liked Todd Grisham and Matt Striker’s work calling the ECW revival in 2008, because they ended up also working together for nearly a year from 2009 to 2010. As a broadcast announcer, Todd Grisham is 2010 WWE in a nutshell -- sanitized and adverse to the slightest hint of excitement. Joining him at the commentary table is Matt Striker, whose smarmy, condescending, know-it-all approach to the spoken word has propelled him into a career as a veteran of ruining otherwise great wrestling shows.

8 Best: Michael Cole & Corey Graves

For years now, WWE has opted for a three-man booth on most of its shows: a play-by-play guy, a color commentator, and a third person to argue with the second. When SmackDown moved to Fox, they chose to stick to a two-man booth to set itself apart from Raw, and it’s been successful.

While Michael Cole, the “Voice of WWE” by sheer virtue of tenure is much criticized by fans, he does a better job when he’s got room to breathe without a third guy taking up space. Corey Graves has spent several years as WWE’s broadcasting MVP -- the normal definition of MVP, not the wrestling version -- but shines best in a two-man set up because he doesn’t spend the shows arguing with Renee Young or Byron Saxton.

7 Worst: Michael Cole & John "Bradshaw" Layfield

Not all two-man booths are created equal. Throughout 2013 and 2014, Michael Cole was paired with John “Bradshaw” Layfield as his broadcasting partner, and no configuration of human beings can salvage a booth with JBL in it. Layfield was a surprisingly great heel in the ‘00s, but on color commentary he spent most of his time shouting over his colleagues when he wasn’t just straight-up yelling at them, invariably derailing a viewer’s ability to enjoy whatever was happening in the ring.

6 Best: Rich Brennan, Jerry Lawler & Booker T

This one is severely underrated. Rich Brennan was NXT’s play-by-play guy from 2014 to early 2016, and for a few months in late 2015, he had been promoted to the position of SmackDown’s head commentator, with veterans Jerry “The King” Lawler and deposed King of the Ring Booker T as his surprisingly regal color guys. Late period Lawler and Booker T, in general, aren’t exactly beloved by fans when it comes to broadcasting, but this arrangement had a real “Island of Misfit Toys” vibe that was charming while it lasted.

5 Worst: Mauro Ranallo, John "Bradshaw" Layfield, David Otunga & Tom Phillips

Mauro Ranallo doesn’t deserve to be on a list of worst anything, but for some unclear reason, from Winter 2016 to Spring 2017, SmackDown was running a four-man commentary booth. Mauro’s the best, but this team is overcrowded with the inoffensive-at-best David Otunga and Tom Phillips, who seemed like a superfluous addition to the table. Worst of all is JBL, whose toxic-at-best presence is even worse knowing that he nearly bullied Mauro out of WWE while they were working together.

4 Best: Michael Cole & Jerry Lawler

Originally a backstage interviewer/punching bag, Michael Cole became SmackDown’s resident play-by-play guy with the show’s second episode in 1999 and stuck around until about 2008. He had numerous color commentators during this time, but for the first few years, he had Jerry Lawler.

Say what you will about the corporate shill Michael Cole of the 2010s, but he did a decent job as a newbie in the early years, especially with the more seasoned broadcast veteran Lawler as an anchor.

3 Worst: Michael Cole & Jonathan Coachman

If you’re going to have an announce team led by Michael Cole, you need a good color commentator to back him up. Unfortunately, for a few months in 2008, he had Jonathan Coachman. “Coach” has the unique distinction of being considered by many fans to be one of WWE’s worst broadcasters. He seemed to acquit himself well with broadcast gigs for ESPN and the PGA, but as far as wrestling work was concerned, he was often criticized for his inability to effectively tell the story of the match and sometimes actively worked against what was happening in the ring.

2 Best: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves & Byron Saxton

One of the best and somehow underrated broadcast teams in all of SmackDown has got to be Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, and Byron Saxton. Maybe it’s because they’re all relatively young dudes, but they’ve got a ton of chemistry together, making for a fun, breezy show to listen to. Phillips has been a likable professional going back to his days calling NXT, while Saxton’s vanilla persona makes him the perfect foil bag for the more aggressive Graves.

1 Worst: Josh Mathews, Michael Cole & Matt Striker

Can you imagine a worse combination of human beings besides JBL three times? For about a month from December 2010 to January 2011, SmackDown had the most cursed commentary team of all time. Matt Striker’s sins have already been covered, and while Michael Cole has been on some good commentary teams in SmackDown history, this is the reviled “heel” version that threatened to tank all WWE programming in the early 2010s. Rounding out this cast of characters is Josh Mathews, a Cole protege who is, at best, kind of tolerable sometimes.

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