Now that JBL has officially left his job as color commentator on Smackdown to return to the ring on Raw, the question remains as to who will fill his seat next to play-by-play man Michael Cole.

There are two schools of thought out there. One is that Tazz, who has filled in recently when JBL left his post, will return to Smackdown and WWE will find a new ECW analyst. The other is that Tazz will stay put on ECW and WWE will find a new color commentator for Smackdown. Personally, I’m hoping for the latter, as I think Tazz is better-suited for ECW.

WWE hasn’t let on who is in the running to replace JBL, but I came up with a list of a dozen candidates – some realistic, some not – off the top of my head.

For starters, the company has three of the best talkers of all time working behind the scenes in Michael Hayes, Dusty Rhodes and Arn Anderson.

Hayes is probably the best of the bunch. The former leader of the Freebirds is no stranger to doing commentary, and he still has the gift of gab, as he proved recently in an interview segment with MVP. As Smackdown’s head writer, however, he might not be able to juggle two roles.

Rhodes, who is a member of the ECW creative team, faces a similar conflict. “The American Dream” probably isn’t a good fit anyway. When Rhodes did color commentary in WCW, he wasn’t all that good, which was surprising because he was magic on the microphone when cutting promos.

Anderson, a producer (agent) for WWE, was known for cutting soft-spoken yet intense promos. He would probably be very good, although he might not have enough sizzle for Vince McMahon’s liking.

Here’s some other candidates (in alphabetical order):

Mick Foley: Another one of the all-time great talkers, Foley would be tremendous. He’s witty, he can be intense when the situation calls for it and he has credibility with the audience. I’m guessing that Foley has no desire to be on the road 52 weeks a year, however.

Funaki: Well, he does claim to be Smackdown’s No. 1 announcer. That should at least get him an interview, right? Biggest drawback is that he doesn’t speak English very well – but, hey, that never stopped Pat Patterson.

Paul Heyman: The former ECW boss has done a good job as a color commentator in the past, but he reportedly has too many powerful enemies in the company for WWE to bring him back anytime in the foreseeable future. He probably wouldn’t be interested in returning, either.

Mark Madden: The former WCW announcer was in the news recently when it was reported that ESPN ordered him to tone down his controversial antics on his Pittsburgh sports talk show or risk being fired. If WWE had any interest in Madden, it would have hired him long ago.

Diamond Dallas Page: His dreams of movie stardom haven’t materialized, so he would likely welcome a return to wrestling. DDP has a distinctive voice and announcing experience – he was a color commentator in WCW in the 1990s. When I asked him about returning to wrestling in an interview I conducted with him in 2003, Page said: "If Vince wants me to come back at some point, I will. The first time I tried out in WWE it was for Jesse Ventura's spot as a color commentator after he had left in 1990. Of course, at the time I was nowhere near ready for that spot, but now I sure am. [WWE executive producer] Kevin Dunn always said that my voice cuts right through the crowd.”

Matt Striker: He’s probably a longshot, but he does seem very comfortable on the microphone.

Tammy Sytch: The original WWE diva resurfaced on the Raw 15th anniversary show, and she has made it known that she wants a WWE contract. She is articulate, opinionated and a student of the business. Plus, it would be something different to have a female color commentator.

Val Venis: It might be time for WWE’s most famous jobber to think about hanging up his bath towel and trying something new. Like Page, Venis has a distinctive voice, and he’s also intelligent and well-spoken.

Jesse Ventura: OK, I admit that this is just wishful thinking, but he might be craving a return to the spotlight. And he did reportedly have some sort of meeting with Vince McMahon back in June. Would “The Body” actually come back to work for WWE? As the late Gorilla Monsoon, Ventura’s former broadcast partner, used to say: “Highly unlikely.”