IMPACT Wrestling’s Tom Hannifan believes that the “Hype-Tastic Antics” of Pat McAfee have made it okay to show raw emotion in commentary.
Speaking on Monday’s Busted Open Radio, former UFC commentator Tom Phillips credited John McAfee for changing the way he and other wrestling announcers are perceived.
“I think the beauty of Pat McAfee is that he made it okay for commentators to jump up and down and literally get on the desk,” Hannifan said. “I mean [Michael] Cole’s not doing anything like that but we all feel that emotion so, if anything it’s just kind of loosened everybody up in commentary in all of professional wrestling.”
This past Saturday, Hannifan called the action at IMPACT Wrestling’s Rebellion pay-per-view. Reflecting on his time at IMPACT, Hannifan admitted he had to unlearn “a lot of things” after spending nearly 10 years in WWE
“It’s been great [at IMPACT Wrestling],” Hannifan stressed. “I think one of the first tapings I did, I kept saying the word ‘superstar’ and you guys are like, ‘You don’t have to say that man. You can say wrestler, you can say whatever you want.’ Even Scott D’Amore being like, ‘You can say belt. You can say that for the title’ so it was just a lot of things that I’ve had to, you know, habits that — that’s the way that WWE likes to do things.
