WWE: Who Is Responsible for Booker T's Commentary?

Booker T: You either like him or you don't.

It's that simple.

As a wrestler, I can't think of many other guys who had what Booker had.

Sure, he was no Mitsuharu Misawa or Kenta Kobashi, but he was entertaining to watch in the ring and occasionally on the mic.

That said, I have to be the one to say what I'd like to believe some are saying about Booker's commentary: his voice is good enough to bring something new to the commentating table, but his actual commentary is rather...well, let's just say he doesn't commentate circles around Jim Ross's commentary.

Not to say Booker would top JR if he were allowed to make sense, because few can top JR in commentating pro wrestling anyway, but the job of a commentator in sports is to convey the story of the game, match, or fight they are covering, and if you were to ask my opinion, I would say that Booker has not been allowed to do that.

He is a veteran of the sport and has the knowledge of a legend in the sport, as he has been up, down and around the squared circle in his days.  There should not be a question as to whether he can offer anything to the already diverse commentary team.

However, the way he has commentated in recent months--because it seemed like he was able to do it somewhat when he first took his place in the three-man team--is only doing well enough to make fans wonder whether Booker is still capable of talking about Pro Wrestling, let alone the WWE.  To say his commentary is a bit atrocious would be an understatement, but it still beats Mike Adamle's horrendous calls any day of the week.

This is where I have to question who is responsible for this. Whether you started watching back when Harlem Heat was one of the top tag teams in wrestling, or whether you started noticing Booker through his less-memorable "King Booker" phase, you might argue that while he does make sense at times and is not terrible to listen to, the moments when he does sound "off his game (or rocker)" can't help but make fans wonder who is feeding him these wild outbursts to use on air.

Is it someone in the WWE brass that comes up with this stuff and thinks it would be funny or any bit appealing to the mainstream to have Booker talk up his Twitter followers or his "Fave Five"?

Is it Booker himself thinking that this will get a laugh out of the people who don't care about the matches and could survive five minutes hearing about Booker's "Fave Five", which changes every week to the point that it could be called the "Booker T Top 100" by Wrestlemania season?

If not either of the aforementioned, is it possible that this is Vince McMahon's way, or the way of someone in the WWE Brass, to more-or-less punish Booker for finding success in TNA instead of staying "WWE 4-LIFE" (to reference the NWO days)?

As a fan of Booker and Pro Wrestling, who believes that Booker is very capable of expressing the wrestler's point-of-view on what is going on in the ring (while jabbing at Michael Cole as needed), I find it outrageous that anyone in the WWE Brass from Vince McMahon and/or Triple H on down would allow a clearly knowledgeable individual to speak as if he just started watching Pro Wrestlng for the first time ever, only letting him show his knowledge in small doses.

I would hope that this is merely a case of Booker T trying to develop his own exciting style of commentary in a gradual manner, because if it's not, this is a boneheaded mistake that really shows where the WWE is headed right now, despite being as major as it will clearly always be.

As if the lack of individual star power outside of Alberto Del Rio, Awesome Truth and CM Punk was not enough, there is also the seeming lack of strong commentary outside of Cole and Ross, and the notable skills of Jerry Lawler and the occasional Josh Matthews.

Booker T is still commentating for a reason, but right now, his commentary is helping me consider a "Fave Five" plan for my phone rather than helping me give a damn about the fact that the WWE is doing something other than running segments and promoting their films.

To put it another way: Booker T can tell a story through his commentary when he is not being held back and forced to shove untimely lines and random flashes of his in-ring persona in our faces.

Therefore, either let Booker T tell his story, or tell Triple H to text Shawn Michaels asking him if he'd like to come back to the commentating table.