Yeah #3 is the big issue with it-- people don't get to #2 they just tune in briefly and hear this guy putting the dudes down. And to expand on it, Cole is annoying. New viewers that find an announcer annoying aren't going to tune in long enough to know "you're supposed to hate him and here's why it's great" they're just going to say "god that guy's voice is annoying time to change the channel." Him burying guys doesn't help either but I'm not sure that even matters as much as the guy just being grating.
Good booking of the Cole thing would've been to turn Jack Swagger face on him-- that was so perfect and they ruined it by having Swagger stick with Cole.
But even without Cole, I don't think the current teams quite work. Even without un-hype working against you, I feel the HYPE guy is very important for new people to watch more than a few minutes.
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I tried to have a fierce rivalry with SuperNiceDog, but he made me look worse than a GameFAQs Contest!