WWE/TNA Hall of Famer Bully Ray and TNA World Champion Nic Nemeth have shared their two cents on Joe Tessitore’s WWE RAW debut.
Tessitore debuted as a commentator on this week’s show. He comes to WWE with a background at ABC and ESPN and his signing was announced in July.
On a recent edition of the “Busted Open Radio” podcast, Bully Ray suggested that Tessitore was fine in his new role. He said,
“I thought Joe Tessitore did a good job last night. Did he blow me away? Absolutely not. What I did say to myself is when I was listening to his voice, when I wasn’t watching him on camera, when I was just listening to his voice, [and him doing] his thing, he almost sounded like Michael Cole to me, at least. And Cole to me is a friendly voice, a recognizable voice. So it wasn’t very abrupt. I thought for a night one, he did a fine job.”
Nic Nemeth argued that Tessitore’s background as a sports broadcaster helped the show feel more like a legitimate contest. He said,
“I don’t know how much of the wrestling fan audience actually follows sports, because if you do, it really sounded like there was something in his voice that made you feel like I was watching ‘Sunday Night Baseball’ or a playoff game. To me, hearing that, it always makes me subconsciously feel like we’re watching a legitimate sport, plus all of the story that goes into it, plus all the feeling that comes out when not just giving the play-by-play.
“So someone like me who used to watch ‘Sunday Night Baseball,’ watches football, hockey, baseball, you name it, I really, really liked his voice. I like how it went. I like the emotion that he had with it.”
While Nemeth mostly enjoyed Tessitore, he did pick out some issues, such as during CM Punk’s segment when he was attacked by a hooded figure.
Before the person revealed their identity, Tessitore immediately revealed it was Drew McIntyre, a decision Nemeth found questionable.
Tessitore himself has said he was not great during the show but was passionate and is excited to continue as a WWE RAW commentator.
