Michael Cole Claims Vince McMahon Said Some Very Inappropriate Things To Him On Commentary

Michael Cole has been a commentator and backstage interviewer for the WWE since 1997. He first held the role of a backstage interviewer for the WWF Monday Night Raw television show. When WWF SmackDown premiered, he was thrust into the lead commentator role. He only missed two episodes of the show during his initial tenure there. He also still did backstage interviews for RAW until others were brought in to help, such as Jonathan Coachman. When the WWE felt that Jim Ross had surpassed his ability to hold down the lead commentator role for the flagship show, they had Ross “drafted” to SmackDown and Cole “drafted” to RAW.

Cole then became the “voice of WWE” despite Ross still working for the company. Eventually, however, JR was essentially released, and fans were unhappy about his departure. Often, we as fans blamed Cole for the move and hated him for being “terrible” on the desk compared to Ross. This only got worse when Michael was made into a “heel” announcer, essentially becoming a character on the desk. It only infuriated fans more to hear him speak, which might be great for a wrestler but not for an announcer or commentator.

However, this slightly changed the night Jerry “The King” Lawler had a heart attack/stroke while on commentary. Cole muted everything as it took place and dropped the “heel” persona right there. Still, fans hated Cole because he was essentially not fun to listen to. However, whenever Vince McMahon was not in his ear during shows, Cole was really fun. In fact, fans began to notice whenever Stephanie McMahon or Triple H were in his ear for shows instead. This only became more apparent when Vince was gone entirely.

THE MICHAEL COLE/VINCE MCMAHON ISSUE

Michael Cole has been absolutely incredible on the desk since Vince has been removed from WWE entirely. While they have moved him around across both WWE Monday Night Raw and WWE SmackDown, he has been fun in every area. Whenever he is not at the desk, Cole is the person in the back that announcers hear in their ears. Cole took this role on because it freed Vince up for other things. However, Cole also took on this role because it helped others grow in their role while not having to deal with Vince in their ear every week.

Mick Foley has mentioned that he loved the idea of working on the desk and was good at it, too. However, he left because Vince was in his ear all night. Right after Foley left, Cole would slowly take on that role instead when he wasn’t on television. Therefore, Cole essentially protected the rest of the commentators from the ire of Vince.

During a recent interview, Michael discussed the Vince issue with Bryan Curtis of The Ringer. His article profile on Cole was tremendous, and we recommend checking it out when you can. However, the parts about Vince were a highlight. Cole claimed:

“I’m not going to lie. There have been times where he has said things to me that were inappropriate. I would go back to Gorilla after the show and get in his face and tell him, ‘That was bullshit.’ He respected that I did that. Over the next few years, people still didn’t accept me because they looked at me as being a puppet for Vince. And I think some of that probably was true. Listen, I’m not a rebel. I’m here to make money, take care of my family, and provide myself a good living. And when your boss asks you to do something, you do it. I still think, at that time, I was a hell of a good announcer.”

THE CHANGE UNDER TRIPLE H

Of course, Vince is now gone, and Triple H is in his ear. A better, freer Michael Cole has emerged, especially when paired with Pat McAfee. Ever since this change has taken place, the only note he has been given was to mention a feature of a wrestler’s costume once.  Cole went on to say in the same profile interview:

“Ever since Paul took over, he’s allowed me to have this freedom. The first 24 years, Michael Cole was out here, I was playing a broadcaster. The last three years, Sean Coulthard [Cole’s real name], … that’s who you’re seeing. That personality I’m bringing out now is who I really am. I’m bombastic, I’m sarcastic, [and] I’m a prick. But I’m also a hell of a good broadcaster.”

This seems to be why Michael Cole has been so much better. Beforehand, he played an announcer and dealt with the pitfalls of a billionaire yelling at him all night. What people forget is that Cole was a great broadcaster prior to WWE, too. He was actually a war correspondent at one point!

He is now actually becoming who he is as a real man, a real broadcaster. Triple H is letting him become who he has always been, but also someone fans have never seen beforehand. The sad part is that we needed to see this version of Michael Cole for years. Thankfully, we now get to experience it.