From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A ring announcer is a paid in-ring (and sometimes, on-camera) employee for a boxing, professional wrestling, or mixed martial arts event or promotion. The primary duties of a ring announcer are as follows:

• To introduce the participants involved in the scheduled matches to the viewing audience, be it strictly an arena audience (as in a professional wrestling house show), or a live televised event.

In boxing and mixed martial arts bouts such as UFC, the usual format for ring introductions is as in this example introduction of UFC fighter Rich Franklin, in a common format used by announcer Bruce Buffer: "Introducing first: wearing black with white trim, he stands 6-feet-1-inches tall, and he weighed in this evening at 185 pounds. He holds a mixed martial arts record of 20 wins and 2 losses, with 10 wins by knockout. (At this point, if the fighter being announced holds a championship title, the ring announcer will say what it is in the format of "He is the current, reigning, and defending _____ Champion...") Fighting out of Cincinnati, Ohio, RICH...FRANKLIN!"

In professional wrestling, the common format used by most ring announcers is as in this example introduction of professional wrestler Hulk Hogan: (Depending on how far along a wrestler is in his entrance, the ring announcer might begin with one of the following: "About to come down the aisle," "Making his way to the ring," "Coming down the aisle," or "Currently in the ring"), from Venice Beach, California; weighing 303 pounds (If the wrestler being announced holds a championship title, the ring announcer will state which title it is at the point in the introduction, in the format of "He is the _____ Champion..."), HULK...HOGAN!"

• It is also common for the ring announcer to state the underlying rules of the match to be held. In boxing and MMA, the announcer will state the number of rounds scheduled for the fight, as well as how many minutes each round will last.

In professional wrestling, the ring announcer will state the stipulation required to win the contest. If a ring announcer says, "The following contest is scheduled for one fall," this means that a wrestler can win or lose by pinfall, submission, disqualification, or count-out. However, as it has been well documented, professional wrestling promotions have invented new match types over the years, creating new stipulations that a wrestler must perform in order to win the bout. Examples of these include:

• Ladder match
  • A wrestler must bring a folding ladder into the ring, set it up, climb it, and obtain the object hanging above the ring to be declared the winner.
• Casket match
  • A specialty match of WWE mainstay The Undertaker, the only way to win is to beat your opponent badly enough that you can roll him into a casket sitting at ringside and close the lid.
• Over-the-top-rope Battle Royal
  • Fairly self-explanatory, this match usually pits four wrestlers or more against each other. The goal is to eliminate opponents by throwing them over the top rope to the arena floor, with eliminations counting only when both feet of the eliminated wrestler touch the floor.

• Lastly, when a bout reaches a conclusion, it is the ring announcer's job to announce the decision of the referee. However, if a fight lasts through all scheduled rounds, the announcer will read the fight judges' scorecard totals.

• In boxing and MMA:
  • Michael Buffer (boxing and MMA)
  • Bruce Buffer (Octagon announcer for UFC)

• In professional wrestling:
  • Mike McGuirk (former WWE ring announcer during the WWF era in the late 1980s to the early 1990s)
  • Howard Finkel (WWE)
  • Lilian Garcia (WWE Raw ring announcer)
  • Tony Chimel (WWE Smackdown ring announcer)
  • Jeremy Borash (former TNA ring announcer)
  • Gary Michael Cappetta (former WWF, NWA, and WCW ring announcer)
  • David Penzer (former WCW ring announcer, current TNA ring announcer)
  • Bobby Cruise (Ring of Honor ring announcer)
  • Brian Rogers (AWA Supreme Championship Wrestling ring announcer)