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Earlier this month, ESPN broadcaster Joe Tessitore was officially onboarded to the "WWE Raw" brand as the new play-by-play commentator, placed alongside color commentator Wade Barrett. Prior to joining WWE, notably made his name calling NFL and college football games as well as boxing contests for ESPN. During a recent appearance on "Huge Pop Radio," WWE Hall of Famer and former broadcaster John Bradshaw Layfield weighed in on Tessitore's transition to WWE.
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"Joe seems like a really bright guy. He does a wonderful job with football and he's very well-researched," JBL said. "I think he'll do well, but you don't know until you get out there. It's such a different dynamic because you're not a real announcer calling a real sport. You're part of the show, it's important how you call the match."
According to JBL, professional wrestling is more an art form than a science, unlike some of the sports Tessitore has called contests for in the past. As such, JBL points out that WWE commentators must additionally cater toward the storylines surrounding the matches they call.
"You can't just say, 'I'm going to call this match,'" JBL said. "It depends who wins or loses. It depends on where you're going afterwards. You can say, 'This guy has a zero chance; there's no way he'll ever beat this guy,' if that guy is going to win, because of what you've done is you've put the underdog way down there and you give them a chance to come back. If it's a guy that doesn't mean anything to the roster, you can say that, but you don't want to do that to a regular person that's on the roster that's going to be there forever."
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While Tessitore may be more familiar with commentating "real" sports, JBL ultimately believes that he is smart enough to fill in the necessary gaps in his play-by-play work for WWE.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Huge Pop Radio" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

