Cole/Lawler, Like or Hate?

[Fansince1992]

Over the last few months , maybe longer the IWC bash pretty much everything that WWE produces.

Triple H is not Retiring and is a spotlight hogger, John Cena is stale, Brock Lesnar is greedy, The Rock is a sellout, Big Show is finished, Punk is boring me going on and on about Respect, AJ and Booker are the wrong ones for GM, Linda is ruining the industry, Ryback needs retraining, Raw has to many recaps and shouldn't be 3 hours, Sheamus is the new Super Cena.. I could go on and on.

Hate has now even come down to the 2 guys who call the action on Raw. Michael Cole and Jerry "The King" Lawler. People are saying we need new commentators. Some say that Josh Matthews is a better Play by Play commentator than Michael Cole, and Jerry Lawler isn't the Commentator he once was.

What do i think :

Cole

Michael Cole has been around a long time. Before he became the main commentator (or as he likes to say The Voice of WWE) he did backstage interviews. He has some memorable backstage promos with the likes of The Rock, and Steve Austin. I think Cole is really well spoken and he is perfect for the main commentary role. I enjoy listening to him when he is focusing on the Play by Play side, i think he is pretty spot on at calling the action.

Is he as good as Jim Ross or Gorilla Monsoon? Probably not, but i think he does the job very well.


Lawler

Jerry Lawler has been the Raw Colour Commentator for years. He first sat beside Jim Ross and now as we know is partner with Michael Cole. I guess with King you have to compare how effective he WAS with JR and how effective he is NOW with Michael Cole. I must admit i preffered Lawler during the Attitude Era when he was with JR. However i still think he does the job well enough to be sat in that spot at the table on Monday nights.

Was pretty impressed just last week how he did his bit for CM Punk's heel run. A 60 odd year old man gets into a steel cage, with one of the best Pro-Wrestlers in the world, and took some heavy punishment. I expected to see Punk take it easier on an older man, but he was kicking and beating the hell out of poor Jerry in there. Even though some didn't like the fact Punk was fighting an old Commentator i respect Lawler for taking that hammering.


Now it's your turn. Here are some questions to consider when replying.


- What is your opinion of Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler?

- Should 1 or both be replaced at the Announce Table? If so with who? (please try and avoid saying JR looks like he isn't interested anymore)

- Would you prefer they STAY behind the announce table all the time, or are you happy to see them compete in the ring from time to time?

 

[stavros241000]

First and foremost, although King had a pretty good performance vs. Punk, I would try to keep him and Cole both out of the ring as much as possible. Moving on to the main question, I like both Cole and Lawler, however I think WWE dropped the ball when they made COLE the heel instead of King. If King became heel again I could definitely see them working really well together, not saying they're bad now, that would just be better. However I think WWE will never turn Lawler heel again so i had a few replacements for him as color commentator. In no particular order, I would like to see the following people replace Cole, who I think does a pretty good job (he's no JR though, sadly) William Regal, Tazz(just a dream, liked him a lot with Cole) JBL would definitely be great. Paul Heyman would also be terrefic, but I don't think he wants to do that now. Joey Styles was great, I hate Josh Matthews' voice, it bothers me. Just for fun: Jesse The Body, Bobby the Brain, and Booker T wouldn't be that bad but he would never be heel. Bonus: CM PUNK. I AM ALSO VERY CURIOUS TO SEE HOW HBK OR RIC FLAIR WOULD DO ON COMMENTARY!

 

[Ethelion]

What is your opinion of Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler?

The commentary duo of Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler wasn't bad when they reunited in 2008, but now they're horrible. Cole keeps missing his cue, the latest being the CM Punk Rock Bottom Miscue last Monday, and Jerry keeps sucking up to the fans.

Some say that Josh Matthews is a better play-by-play commentator than Michael Cole

Cole doesn't even call the superstars' moves that much in matches anymore. He rarely does. As for Jerry, he was way better as a heel commentator. God, I miss him saying "puppies!" everytime he drools on Lita.

Should one or both be replaced at the announce table? If so, who should replace him/them (please try and avoid saying JR; looks like he isn't interested anymore)?

One of them should be replaced. That person is Michael Cole. Again, he's not even doing much play-by-play lately, giving us the impression that there are two color commentators. Jerry could still remain on commentary, but should he remain as a face commentator, the least that he could do is stop kissing up. He should focus on highlighting the positive traits that faces have and nothing more.

As for the person who should replace Michael Cole, I say bring back JBL. I've always been interested in hearing how a Jerry/JBL Tandem would sound. JBL could play the heel play-by-play commentator since he knows a lot of wrestling moves and Jerry could play the face color commentator who could "bring color" to the matches.

Would you prefer they stay behind the announce table all the time or are you happy to see them compete in the ring from time-to-time?

I'm fine with seeing Jerry compete from time-to-time, knowing that he could be necessary to put top heels over, but not Cole. Cena beating Cole like a "government mule" was just plain desperate to get Cena cheered.

 

[IT Factor]

Instead of having some long drawn out response, I'm gonna keep it light; Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross were the best two man team in WWE history since Gorilla & Heenan. WWE desperately wants to overshadow JR with Michael Cole, who doesn't have either the talent or vast knowledge that Jim Ross does. Just another example of WWE being out of touch with their fanbase and they would rather force Cole on their audience than to have anything resembling smart and efficient commentary. Quite frankly, I hate Michael Cole and would love to see him demoted to NXT where JR is. The roles should be reversed; Cole not being seen on television and Ross being where he belongs alongside Lawler, doing their two-man team right. Lawler was always sharper as a heel commentator agitating JR and it worked because both were talented enough to pull it off and still put the talents over. Michael Cole is a self-involved prick who somehow thinks he's the voice of the show or better than talents. JR always understood that your first job is to sell the story and put over talents, which Cole will never grasp or do correctly.

 

[MWRedskins]

ok, first and foremost, i disagree with some of your complaints about WWE on the top part of it. i think Punk is exciting, his respect promo is more on him turning heel and it's understandable from his point. Cena isnt really stale to me, just needs to keep being serious. agree on HHH and for Ryback, i just think they should not make him out to look like a Goldberg clone. As for AJ as GM, i say wait and see. it seems they have a storyline with her and Vickie which should be great and as for Booker, him as GM is great because he's now not at the announce table.

now to Cole and King. i think Cole is just ok. my issue isnt him as a heel, it's just his screaming. if he tones it down a notch, he could be fun. King is much better as a heel, but the problem is that not many will boo him anymore because he's a legend. JR and King were great and Cole was best with JBL in my book. they should hire JBL back as the at least Smackdown announcer.

 

[Pedigree1]

I like Michael Cole alot and im probably in the minority on this one. He is indeed the Voice of the WWE and does a good job at drawing reactions from Lawler and the crowd. he has calmed down alot but last year when he was in that glass booth of his,that was golden.

Cole if the product was tv-14 really would take off. But the one thing he doesnt do is rarely does he call any superstars moves. We the audience know what moves the superstars are doing maybe he would just feel as if hes rambling.

Lawler on the other hand well kinda of a sell out if you ask me. He just doesnt have the passion for doing commentary anymore IMHO. To me it looks like he is just collecting a paycheck and really just forces the stuff he says and pretends to sound interested.

I miss the Old Lawler,the one who said PUPPIES everytime Lita (who by the way is kinda of scary looking,but i still do her)Trish,the Cat,Dawn Marie,Torrie Wilson etc would enter the ring. He made the divas division interesting just by his pure emotion.

Also his heelish tactics,the way he would announce for the heels sticking up for them i also miss that. Being a TV-PG friendly environment maybe he is handcuffed in what he can and cant do. Also when JR left i think that was the last straw. Lawler and Cole together really have never meshed well and never will IMHO

 

[CleverName51]

Michael Cole, like him or not, is here to stay and honestly, he does EXACTLY what he's paid to do, be a heel announcer who gets under the audience's nerves. When it comes to missing moves or whatever while announcing, I blame Vince for yelling in his headset the whole show...

Jerry Lawler, he's getting older, he doesn't need to be behind the desk full time, now would be a great time to transition the next guy in

So, partially replace Jerry Lawler, on SmackDown pair Cole with William Regal, Regal can talk and talk well, he's a big enough name that people will take him seriously when he says things or, if the audiences want an "American" voice, Matt Striker is quite good at this as well


As for competing in the ring: Cole should never compete, he's not a wrestler...if he needs to get beaten up to further a storyline, that's fine. But he's not a wrestler

As for King/Regal: King can be the victim of squashes to put over heels, Regal on the other hand, is still young enough that if he announces AND has a match for a storyline, he could put up a decent fight.

That said, NO announcer should compete regularly, if they need to take a bump or two to sell a storyline or ONCE IN A BLUE MOON have a match, that's fine.

For instance, having CM Punk vs Jerry Lawler made sense as Punk correctly pointed out that the people listen to King and with his heel character wanting "respect" but the key is to not overdo it.

Use announcer's to BUILD storylines, not BE the storyline, if that makes sense...

 

[AndThat'sTheBottomLine]

Simply put I don't like either one. I used to like Lawler but it's to the point where he's not even funny anymore. I used to enjoy listening to him make jokes as a heel with JR but now he's just corny as hell. He doesn't even call play-by-play anymore. He just argues with Cole the entire time. And it's not that JR wouldn't be interested in doing it but he's a company man to the core so he'll do whatever they ask him to do. I'd like to see JR and Lawler together again and get rid of Cole. Cole is annoying when he interruptions. It's like when he had that stupid Cole challenge with JR. We ALL know that Cole was going to win no matter what. It wasn't even fun it was stupid. It was boring. Michael Cole is overrated by the WWE as a commentator and Lawler doesn't have it anymore. Lawler needs to retire and Cole should be fired.

 

[Kevin618]

The commentary in my opinion is getting really really stale. Michael Cole was a great heel commentator........back in late 10 to around June of this year when Johnny ace was canned. Alot of sites claim he's a tweener; I say that has some potential in it.....back to that in a moment


Enter Jerry Lawler from the past few weeks....namely 1000th Raw at the end when he claims CM Punk turned on the WWE Universe. This week Punk's insults of King reminded me of when HHH mocked Ric Flair in late 2002. What I'm trying to get at is that King could go heel and go back to the color commentator I loved. I'm hoping it will happen at Night of Champions at my hometown....cost cena the championship.

Back to Michael Cole.....Now he claims to be the voice of the wwe. I must admit he's come a long way from the attitude era, but he's no bobby heenan and no Jerry Lawler. Whenever he mocks JR, wwe creative gets bashed by antibullying advocates not to mention Bell's Palsey victims. That's why Cole isn't dishing out the heat much anymore. I say have him become a face commentator but at the same time have a heel commentator replace Matthews at SD. Sounds feasible too with Matthews current situation with Kane. JBL maybe?

 

[TheLoneCharles]

I never really minded Cole and Lawler until I began watching old WWF DVDs and realized how bad the current announcers are.

While I'll give Cole some credit: he's not trashing the divas and tearing down the product as much, he just doesn't make good calls. JR, Heenan, Heyman, and Gorilla would effectively put over a wrestler and make him seem to be a threat. Honestly I can't remember when Cole has ever done that aside from his bromance with the Miz 2 years ago.

Lawler is good as a number 2 guy, a color commentator. While CM Punk nailed it on his promo on Raw when it comes to Lawler I still don't mind hearing the guy talk. I remember in the early 90s how Lawler was pure gold with Bret Hart and his family so I don't mind seeing him in the ring here and there as a legend. Cole on the other hand...

From the lead announcer, I expect a play by play...put over the talent as legitimate and sell their moves. Too often, that isn't the case.

 

[Owen 3:16 says I just stole your Slammy!!]

I'm not that big of a fan of Michael Cole. His voice is irritating and annoying. I like Josh Matthews a lot better and I think Matthews should be on Raw. I use to like Lawler when he was a heel and make insults about the faces. Lawler needs to turn back to that douche bag heel he was in the 1990's.

 

[Galvatron]

I do not like either. Cole just puts himself, Miz and Dolph over in that order. He is not the voice of the wwe, he is the voice of Vince McMahon. Lawler was good back in the attitude era and even prior in the early years of raw, now all he does is mindlessly say how great every face is. If I had to pick teams for shows I would go with JBL/Lawler on raw and Regal/Matthews on smackdown. I would fire Cole immediately.

 

[Syborgg]

The thing is, Michael Cole doesn't call moves anymore because that's not the way Vince wants it done anymore. I hate to speculate, but I tend to think that that's one of the reasons that JR is no longer on the Raw table. The difference of opinions between Vince and JR as to how a match should be called may be a factor in the decision not to use JR. But that's just my opinion.

Anyways, on topic, I don't think Michael Cole is the worst guy they could have(cough Mike Adamlee cough). But I do wish they would calm down on the "heelish" character that they've given him. Also, if they were to put William Regal on SD with Josh, then we wouldn't have to put up with 5+ hours of Cole every week. Making Cole exclusive to Raw would make him a little more bearable in my opinion.

As for Lawler, he's not too bad, but I wish the former wrestler in any commentary team would try harder to sell the damage that some moves cause. Especially the big impact moves. Tazz used to do it all the time on Smackdown and I found it somewhat insightful, but it also added to the story being told in the ring. But Lawler has his style, and it seems we are stuck with it. I DO like the fact that he doesn't like to learn of the surprises ahead of time which makes his reactions to some surprises seem authentic.

 

[MasterHavik]

Well, I'm about to head off for college. But I got time to give my thoughts on this.


What is your opinion of Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler?

Cole: He fucks up the name of moves too much and screws up simple shit. it's also really annoying how he sucks the Miz,PTP,and Ziggler's dicks. I don't like that because he is kind of...meh with every other heel. Why can't they all get the same dickriding, what makes those four guys special? I also find it kind of odd too how he has random face moments. EX: How he calling Cody crazy for wanting to know what Sin Cara really looks like. I mean....he's a heel..why the fuck is he disagreeing with Cody? Lastly...and the reason why I'll never enjoy heel Cole and hope he never turns heel again....He calls Vicky is hot...there I said it...I don't care what you say. but that shit is so fucked up in many ways words can't describe. Vicky may be as ugly as a cow, but hell she can get heat and is a great heel. Still ugly as hell though.

Lawler: Growing up in the attitude era. I can remember Lawler being layback about everything when he was heel. He was so smooth about why this heel wrestler is so great and everything. He had a swagger about it. He has that same swagger as a face. He is just smooth. And...I know people don't like it, but his reactions when the divas come out or anything diva related is fucking funny as hell to this day. It was funny when I was kid, and I still find it funny and I'm 19 years old now. It's one of the funny things the WWE has.

Should 1 or both be replaced at the Announce Table? If so with who?

-Replace Cole...Who? William Regal? Say what? Eeeyup I want him no the mic. Why his wrestling knowledge is gold and really knows how to be a heel and be a face. But what I like about him the most is how he can give you a good breakdown about every wrestler.

Would you prefer they STAY behind the announce table all the time, or are you happy to see them compete in the ring from time to time?

-Stay behind that table with those comfortable chairs. Lawler can still wrestle, but he should just chill. It's okay for him to take bumps as long he can take them without no real pain. And Cole......let's just say...he shouldn't even get in between the ropes of the ring. He far worst than ass....He is the Dan Hibki of WWE, but worse and he's not really funny like the character Dan is.

P.S.

Dan Hibki is from Street Fighter if anyone was wondering.

 

[Piss Bucket]

IMO Cole is annoying (but he's supposed to be, he's a heel) but Jerry is a good commentator, I just miss JR's commentating and his "Bah gawd look at the carnage!" comments whenever there's more than 3 people (including the ref) in the ring having a brawl.

 

[theBec2101]

On Lawler. I dont mind him. He is not bad. He not as great as a he was and not as quick on the comebacks. But he better than the rest right now. I also think it helps or hurts depending on who he working with. Heel or face on the announce table with JR he is alot better. He even said that JR makes him better cause of JR's approach to the job.

Cole. I have no idea where they got him from. He was never good. I dont think he is or ever was a heel commentator. He was just annoying, there is a difference. He also sucks as a play by play guy too. He has no idea what the moves are, it just horrible.

 

[BaraaTZK92]

I used to like jerry as a commentator , but I'm really getting tired of him always being on Cena's side.

I hate cena and his awfully boring character, and I really hate how lawler is always by his side, thats why I was so happy when Punk did what he did to him.

Cole isn't that good either, I'm one of the so many people who dislike him.

I think WWE should turn jerry heel and replace Cole with wiliam Regal who is great as a commentator.

I really enjoy watching NXT because of JR and Regal.

 

[thebowtiekiller]

i still like the king but hes no where near as entertaining as he used to be like it or not you can blame the child friendly thing that wwe has been doing for that but cole is terrible hes not a good heel commentator because hes annoying hes just cringeworthy instead one of the coolest things that happened in recent memory for me was when kane returned masked it was an awesome return but cole blew it his commentry was so forced it sounded terrible that was the only bad thing about it jr would have been leaping out his chair going mental although i would imagine vinnie mac is constantly in there ear telling them what to say nowadays so mayby its not entirly there fault

 

[Dagger Dias]

I find them tolerable, but they both get somewhat hard to put up with at times. We have had far better announcing teams. Cole is extremely annoying and Lawler is nowhere near the level he was once at. They have been the Raw announcing team for 4 years now and it's time for a change. Cole will never call matches like JR did and will never be the heel announcer that guys like JBL were. He would be better off as a heel's manager. Lawler is even worse in some ways, he's absolutely nothing like he was a decade or more ago.

Both Lawler and Cole need to be replaced. The brand extension has more or less been done away with, so why do they need two announcing teams? Make Josh Matthews the main announcer for both brands. He does an awesome job and deserves to be the main play by play guy. Cole can just be a heel manager, we definitely need more of those and it's something he'd actually be good at. Lawler is the one I'm not sure where I'd put. Perhaps a face manager? He could still come and do announcing every now and then like JR does, I just don't want him there on a permanent basis. His time as an announcer should have already ended.

I'd like to see Lawler be replaced by Striker. He was my favorite announcer and with Booker now being GM the best route would be to bring Striker back to the announcing team alongside Matthews. The team of Striker & Matthews would be SO much better than Lawler & Cole. If they insist on having a different team for each brand then have Matthews be the play by play guy instead of Cole while Striker joins him on Smackdown and Regal joins him on Raw. No more annoying Cole (on commentary anyway) and no more terrible Lawler. As far as staying behind the announcer's table all the time or working a couple of matches if they remain announcers.... If it's Lawler trying to help a heel get some heel heat, I'm not against it, if it's done rarely. Cole should never work another match again, ever.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

Over the last few months , maybe longer the IWC bash pretty much everything that WWE produces.

^^WELL DUHH!! The IWC complains about everything, that's why it's the IWC.

For every guy that hates Cena and wants more for CM Punk, there is a guy that bleeds HLR & doesn't "get" Bryan or Punk. With so many people, you are bound to get an idea from every POV.


As for Lawler & Cole I think it comes down to their tenure w/WWE & the flagship show, RAW.

Cole: His best work is as the straight guy just calling the action, because that is what he is, a sports Journalist/Analyst. His heel character & being so outspoken like he is the boss of commentary is annoyin, stupid, & outplayed. He was the guy yhat got bullied by DX, not got to yell at Hall of Famers. But WWE went down that road and since they can't shake those images, he is deligated to some wierd tweener commentator that sometimes SAVES that booth & sometimes KILLS it.

Lawler: He is the opposite (why they work well together). He is a much better loud mouth, outspoken, heel because that is what he is, a performer. Problem is that he is WAY too much of a babyface for that now and unless he REALLY toned it down, it wouldn't be PG. He is still good but I think everyone agree's that all his recent work as the almost helpless commentator that comes out of "retirony" every other month to fight the newest, young, heel is just boring & repetative.

They are a realy good duo, but they this is their 2nd time being paired long term/semi-long term if I am not mistaken & they have done almost all shades of their characters. Especially a weekly episodic show that has been running for so long, it just needs something fresh to fit with the new wwe talent, stage, etc.


My only true PROBLEM with commentators, is that WWE thinks they are wrestlers. WELL THEY AREN'T! I get the nostalgia of the King & Booker because they were once in ring competitors but they are past their prime and the time would be better given to a young guy, not to mention Cole, JR, etc.