Welcome to the latest Roundtable discussion here at iFight365.com where this week, we’re asking the question: If you could choose anyone from any promotion, at anytime, to be your dream announce team, who would you choose?

Mark Bright: As soon as I read the topic title I knew instantly what my answer would be. The dream announce team of all time in pro wrestling would be “Good Ol’ JR” Jim Ross circa 1998 and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan circa 1992.

Heenan could be the pure heel commentator without edging into being annoying like Jerry Lawler has done and JR would be excellent at acting all indignant towards him. He could do all the Gorilla Monsoon “Will You Stop?!” lines, but with being a great announcer too.

Heenan announcing like he used to for Flair, while JR announces like he used to for Austin is a televisual dream. JR’s passion, Heenan’s comedy, both guys’ long history and credibility in the industry, it’s the perfect team. The lower card stuff is made better by Heenan’s hilarity, while the main events have JR, and NOBODY has ever been able to make the main events feel like this apocolyptically huge deal that changes your life and have you believe it.

Both guys’ most famous lines are the remembered by everyone who watched them and make the in-ring product much better and much more entertaining and much more grandiose than they would’ve been if called by anyone else. “Be Fair To Flair!” “As God Is My Witness, He Is Broken In Half!” “By The Time Iron Sheik Gets To The Ring It’ll Be WrestleMania 38!” “The Billion Dollar Princess Has Become The Dairy Queen!” How can you possibly go for anything else?

Martin Smith: My first thought was Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler and I was certain that I’d pick those two. However, I had a long think about this. While I like that team, it has lacked something for years.

Perhaps it’s their originality and ability to say what they want. I always felt that during the attitude era, Lawler in particular just said what he felt, and I loved that. Don’t know what I mean? When was the last time Lawler screamed “puppies!”?

So with that, Lawler unfortunately drops out of my dream team. Jim Ross is kept, purely for the fact that he is the best announcer of all time. No consideration there. But who do you put with him?

I considered several different names. The list started with Josh Mathews, Mike Tenay, Don West and ended along the lines of Jim Cornette, Michael Cole and Tazz. However, there is a problem. If you put someone with Ross, then they will always be compared to Lawler and let’s be honest, Lawler is a fine second man to Ross. So, who out there can be put with Ross that wouldn’t be overshadowed by the former RAW announce buddies?

I then got it. How amazing would a three man team of Jim Ross, Bobby Heenan and Joey Styles have been in the day? Ross could’ve been the straight-up announcer like he always has been, Heenan could’ve played his role perfectly (and I still think he was the best secondary announcer of all time) and Styles could chip in with the moves, the facts and the geeky stuff to add to the very impressive line-up.

I can even picture now Heenan trumping up a modern day MVP and Styles hitting back with some incredible stats about his opponent. I can imagine them scrapping like Paul Heyman and Jim Ross used to do, pushing each other near the announce desk and then flinging themselves over the announce table. It would be absolute gold and I can totally imagine Jim Ross sitting there and doing his usual “CALM IT DOWN FELLAS! WE’RE LIVE ON RAW AND ALL YOU TWO CAN DO IS THINK ABOUT YOURSELVES!!”.

It’s hard for a modern day fan to appreciate how good Bobby Heenan was back in the day, but he was great. So, while I hate three man announce teams, I’ve actually gone for one. But whereas the likes of West, Tenay and Trigg have failed, as have Ross, Lawler and Coach, my one is definitely something special and one that I would have loved to have seen over the years.

Steve McLaren: I’d have to go for a Jim Ross and Bobby Heenan combo.

To me, Jim Ross is the voice of wrestling and probably the very best play by play man I’ve heard in any sport. Whoever he partners on a broadcast, he always clicks with and it is so apparent now that Jerry Lawler is near unbearable with Michael Cole, but while with JR, he was totally tolerable.

Bobby Heenan was the funniest announcer ever, mix that in with being a great heel announcer and you have a winning combo. Heenan’s best pairing was with Gorilla Monsoon, but much like JR, Heenan could be with anyone and still be great. I mean take a look at some of the earlier Nitro’s; he worked with Mongo (The Ricky Ortiz of 1995/6) and a rather annoying Eric Bischoff, but still was on form every night.

I think Heenan’s banter would play off so great with JR, who can come out with some quick and witty replies.

James Mustoe: I would have Jim Ross from early 1990s WCW, JBL from his 2006-07 Smackdown run and Mike Tenay from his early WCW days.

Jim Ross has always been able to add that extra bit of importance to a match or angle by his calling of it, while also being a credible lead play by play man and also being emotionally invested in a good programme.

JBL was quite simply the most entertaining colour analyst to come along in a long time. His experiences throughout a lengthy career as a wrestler lent added impact to his statements, and he never shy to put over whomever he was talking about, unlike some otherwise good colour men, such as Jesse Ventura and Bobby Heenan, who while hilarious and capable in most ways, often ignored the talent on display and instead tried to get themselves over.

Mike Tenay, while he has become a joke in present day TNA, was one of the best at actually explaining the actual technicalities of a wrestling match when he gave a damn about the product he was involved in. With two very capable co-commentators of JR and JBL, Tenay would not be put in the role of lead play-by-play man and could use his strengths, which if you listen to his work in 1996, definitely did exist at one time.

Michael Campbell: Great question. For all the talk about historical commentary teams when this subject arises amongst wrestling circles – all the nostalgia for the duos of bygone years – I tend to opt for more recent folk. See, while there were great commentary teams (or more specifically, especially in the WWE, there were often good individuals, paired with AWFUL ones…ahem..Vince), the fact is, as wrestling has evolved, it’s been necessary for those calling the action to evolve also.

Gordon Solie may have been great in his day, but his work has dated and would not add to a contemporary announce team. I thought about this along the lines, of whom, when combined, could take their best efforts and add to the current wrestling product. And I’ve always preferred three men teams, because I find they remain fresh and while not consistent, there’s less awkwardness, less dead air.

So I’d go for a three-team unit of Jim Ross, Mick Foley and Bobby Heenan.

Jim Ross, circa mid-to-late nineties, was just unbelievable. He called the action in a way that really reeled the viewer in, which is absolutely crucial. He knew how and what to emphasis, and when his love of wrestling is allowed to show through, has been the best commentator in the business. He has a great mind for wrestling.

I chose Bobby Heenan because for my money, he was the most entertaining heel commentator around. His work carried the commentary booth in the early Nineties, and when he played off against straight guys (in this case, that would be JR) he was magnificent.

Foley is here, because he’s the baby face colour guy, to balance the heel act. But he’s also one of the greatest minds in pro wrestling (more so in relation to others, than himself in recent times) and unlike JR, has a wider insight into the grap game and moves with the times somewhat more. But also, as a former World Champion and one of the biggest stars of the late Nineties, he adds an instant credibility and an ability to give the insight into psychology that his Play by Play may lack in certain areas.

If we’re talking the WWE, I’d also have JBL and Dave Prazak on board. Prazak, because with the right guidance, he could be a great successor to JR. JBL because, well…JBL is frickin’ hilarious.

Phil Lowe: Picking the first half of my two-man team is easy. Jim Ross is the best play-by-play man I’ve ever seen in my lifetime and right now, there’s not even a close number two. Looking at an all-time dream announce team you’d have to have Gordon Solie up there, but based on the matches of Solie’s that I’ve seen (and granted its a lot less than those I’ve seen called by Ross), JR still comes out on top.

Elsewhere, there’s Mike Tenay I guess, but his TNA work is pretty awful when you hold it up against some of his good work in WCW. For me, Tenay works better as part of a three-man team. When he was part of a trio in WCW, it worked really well as he was there to clue viewers up on the guys from Mexico etc. and it worked well.

At one point, I also thought Tony Schiavone was a really good announcer, but not for long and unfortunately (whether he was produced or not) he eventually became a bit of a joke with the whole “greatest night/event/match/promo/angle/run-in/ in the history of our sport” crap.

So Ross makes up one half of the team.

As for who I’d have alongside him, that’s actually a tough one for me. In recent times, Jerry Lawler has obviously forged a great working relationship with Jim Ross in WWE. But he’s grown stale over time and while still decent is not as good as he was in the late 90s and into the early 00s.

Honourable nods also go to Mick Foley and JBL, both of whom I enjoyed on Smackdown. But since this is an all-time thing, I can’t consider either based on their lack of longevity.

Paul Heyman I thought was awesome when he replaced Jerry Lawler for a while in the WWE. Heyman and Ross worked real well together and I would have loved for Heyman to continue in that role.

But for me, there’s only one guy who you could have alongside Jim Ross, and that would be Bobby Heenan.

Heenan was awesome alongside Gorilla Monsoon. When I was kid, together they brought an extra something to the squash match-heavy editions of Prime Time and such like. Even in later years during his spell in WCW, Heenan was often one of the highlights.

In the early 90s, before, during and after Ric Flair’s time in the then WWF, Heenan was on fire and for me, the best ‘number two’ in the history of wrestling. Him and Ross would be a hoot to listen to.