What Was So Wrong with Byron Saxton’s Announcing Last Monday Night Raw?

By Nick “Red” Conley

Following the angle on the March 30 edition of Monday Night Raw where Brock Lesnar attacked announcers Michael Cole, Bradshaw, and Booker T, to include an F5 against Cole, the three were left unconscious and unable to continue programming. As a result, WWE Creative sent out Byron Saxton, who has long been thought as a possible candidate to replace Cole, Bradshaw, and Booker T one day as an announcer on Raw, and played a lead role in the pre-WrestleMania 31 show. However, following his performance on Raw, the rumor mill has been spinning with reports that WWE Chairman Vince McMahon and others in management were “furious” and “frustrated” at Saxton’s play-by-play announcing. If you watched Raw on March 30, you would have noticed that Jerry “The King” Lawler later joined Saxton at ringside to assist in the broadcast, which unconfirmed reporting suggests was management’s attempt to “breathe life into Saxton.” Another report suggested that McMahon “ignored” Saxton backstage after the show to express his frustration.

So what happened with Byron Saxton’s announcing that was so bad and led McMahon to express such anger and frustration? I for one did not think it was that bad. If anything, it was a breath of fresh air to have a different style of announcing from what we experience each week from Michael Cole, Bradshaw, and Booker T. These three bicker constantly and often seem more focused on their petty arguments than what is going on in the ring. There is a reason why the WWE University went ballistic when Michael Cole got F5’d. One of the several complaints I have with Cole, Bradshaw, and Booker is that during the Divas matches, they are more focused on other things that announcing the match, which does a disservice to the Divas division. I will admit that last Monday Byron Saxton did not have the level of energy that Cole, Bradshaw, or Booker T typically have, but he did focus on the matches themselves. Saxton seemed a little nervous in the beginning and was certainly quieter on the microphone, but it was not so awful that it warrants all of this criticism, and especially being ignored by management.

I am not saying that Byron Saxton is ready to replace one of the three regular announcers on Raw, but his performance was not so bad that it should preclude him from any future announcing positions. Being loud, obnoxious, self-gratifying, and argumentative should not be the only traits that qualify you for being a WWE announcer. Sometimes it is nice just to watch a wrestling match without the buffoonery.