Report: Michael Cole not taking his job seriously anymore ... can you blame him?

[Ambiguous Turd]

This was from another news website ....

- Sources say that Michael Cole has some major heat on him right now from within WWE. The feeling is that he isn't taking his job seriously anymore and officials aren't happy with some of his "stupid" comments made on TV lately. They also feel that he is no longer putting the company first.

There may be another shuffling of announcers soon as Jerry Lawler being attacked last night and Matt Striker filling in for him was done so WWE could test the waters
to see how the different announcers work together.

Word is that several people who had been trying out for the new WWE announcer spot were contacted this past week and thanked for applying but were told that someone else had been hired.

I mean, you have the now CEO and Chairman of the Board telling Michael Cole to utter the word "vintage" several times a broadcast, because it tickles Vince McMahon to the funny bone hearing Cole do this ....

and if that isn't bad enough ... can you remember back to the Hornswoggle vs Chavo Guerrero Bullrope Match? Cole was about to utter a line, and then paused to wait for the guys to setup the spot where Hornswoggle put on the giant Cow head to jump off the rope. What followed next from Michael Cole?

"What a Mooooooooooove!!"

And again, it was pretty clear with Cole pausing that Vince fed him that line to use as well, but did so before they were ready for the spot .... hence why Cole began to utter the line, but then had to wait for them to get in position.

Vince McMahon tells his announcers to tone down their excitement level and speak more like real sports commentators and analysts. Then, Vince isn't happy with the outcome, and gets mad at the announcers.

And people wonder why Michael Cole has a hard time taking his job seriously when you get direction like this on how to do your job?

I dare say people like Cole and King would be fine together, if Vince simply put things back the way they used to be:

Go back to the concept of Play by Play wrestling commentators, and Heel color commentators ... and ditch this "Analyst" crap.

But I find it increasing frustrating to actually blame talent anymore, or even people like Stephanie with Creative, when you know damn well that Vince is the one pulling all the strings ... and if you don't do what he says, then all Hell will break loose. The problem is if you do what he says, and he isn't happy about it, all Hell will still break loose and you will be the one blamed for it, not him.

With that said, can you blame Michael Cole for not taking his job seriously anymore, given McMahon's ever-changing mind and unwillingness to blame himself for Creative failures? Why or why not?

 

[DeadmanCometh]

I don't think that I can blame Michael Cole.

I really don't see a problem with Cole's announcing. He gets serious when he has to. There just isn't anything to get serious about on Raw or in the WWE these days. With the whole PG movement, the WWE is trying to target a much younger audience than in the past. So you would think that Cole's, no so serious, announcing would be warranted. I mean, honestly, do people want him to act like it is the end of the world every time something happens?

Look at Monday's Raw. He got all serious when Lawler got attacked. He announced seriously when Kingston beat the holy hell out of Orton (which was outstanding to watch). I just don't see what the problem is with the WWE trying to lay all of their blame on their talent. The talent, for the most part, do what they are told to do. If Vince would step up and admit to his mistakes, then the WWE product might be a little better. Instead, he tries to have the talent fix problems that don't even exist.

BTW, I'm quite fond of Cole's "Vintage". That's Vintage Michael Cole.

 

[johnbragg]

I really don't know that they're going for a "real sports" feel while telling the announcers to tone it down. If you listen to a sportscast, the announcers are more animated than WWE announcers get about most anything except Hornswoggle.

I think that it derives from the whole de-emphasis of the wrestling and athleticism in favor of "sports entertainment."

I'm not bagging on Matthews here because he's bad, but because that's what I have running this morning on DVR. He's doing what WWE wants out of their announcers, what they've trained him to do. In the Hurricane-Burchill match, they did a really good job building the Mask vs Career angle, which I am all for. But Burchill did a standing reverse somersault to kick Hurricane in the face, and Matthews just grunted before calling it on a replay.

Now, maybe Matthews was caught off guard by that move. But just before the finish, they did a resthold on the second and then top rope, presumably as they worked out the spot. Matthews was subdued when (IMO) he should have been selling the drama of who would come of out of the struggle in control of the highspot.

I think, if they were going for a more sports feel, you'd want things like the "Homer Call of the Week", a bit most sportsradio stations do where they take audio from around the country of a play-by-play announcer getting a little overexcited about what his team is doing. The most iconic sports call of all time is "Giants Win the Pennant! Giants Win the Pennant!" How different is that from JR geeking out "STone Cold!! STone Cold!" ?

 

[Suneeboy]

This was from another news website ....



I mean, you have the now CEO and Chairman of the Board telling Michael Cole to utter the word "vintage" several times a broadcast, because it tickles Vince McMahon to the funny bone hearing Cole do this ....

and if that isn't bad enough ... can you remember back to the Hornswoggle vs Chavo Guerrero Bullrope Match? Cole was about to utter a line, and then paused to wait for the guys to setup the spot where Hornswoggle put on the giant Cow head to jump off the rope. What followed next from Michael Cole?

"What a Mooooooooooove!!"

And again, it was pretty clear with Cole pausing that Vince fed him that line to use as well, but did so before they were ready for the spot .... hence why Cole began to utter the line, but then had to wait for them to get in position.

Vince McMahon tells his announcers to tone down their excitement level and speak more like real sports commentators and analysts. Then, Vince isn't happy with the outcome, and gets mad at the announcers.

And people wonder why Michael Cole has a hard time taking his job seriously when you get direction like this on how to do your job?

I dare say people like Cole and King would be fine together, if Vince simply put things back the way they used to be:

Go back to the concept of Play by Play wrestling commentators, and Heel color commentators ... and ditch this "Analyst" crap.

But I find it increasing frustrating to actually blame talent anymore, or even people like Stephanie with Creative, when you know damn well that Vince is the one pulling all the strings ... and if you don't do what he says, then all Hell will break loose. The problem is if you do what he says, and he isn't happy about it, all Hell will still break loose and you will be the one blamed for it, not him.

With that said, can you blame Michael Cole for not taking his job seriously anymore, given McMahon's ever-changing mind and unwillingness to blame himself for Creative failures? Why or why not?

All I want to do is curse right now. FUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok I got it out of my system. When I think of WWE commentating, especially as of late I get more annoyed than anything else they put on television. I would prefer to not have announcers at all with the job ALL of them have been doing lately. NONE of them (other than JR) add ANYTHING to the broadcasts as far as I’m concerned. The announcers do not know how to put ANYTHING over as exciting, credible, or interesting and fresh anymore. They are robots. ESPECIALLY Grisham, and those tools over on ECW. It’s partially due to someone screaming in the headphones, but it also has to do with their delivery and their approach. They sound brainwashed to me.

Ok, Cole is not excited or dedicated, but why wouldn’t he be? Do you think Cole wouldn’t love to scream at the top of his lungs every night like he used to or like he did with the Kofi spot on Orton at the Garden. He is stale just like mostly every other character.

Sidious – this report brings us to a larger underlying problem that the WWE is facing right now that has affected people like Cole.

Their top face gets BOOED in the world’s most famous arena! That is the arena you NEVER want to get booed in. When Cole came out before the cameras started rolling he got booed like a fucking heel. He came out with his head hung low and walked as fast as he could to the announcer’s table so that they could cut his music off and get the King out there. That tells you how much real fans appreciate what Cole has been doing and why he has no reason to be happy. Funny how this news comes out after the MSG RAW where we really let him know how we feel. Everyone knows when you come to MSG whatever reaction you get no matter how loud, or soft it is genuine. Cole was genuinely booed and now this news comes out. Wake the fuck up WWE your product is stale.

 

[AJAnder]

All I want to do is curse right now. FUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok I got it out of my system. When I think of WWE commentating, especially as of late I get more annoyed than anything else they put on television. I would prefer to not have announcers at all with the job ALL of them have been doing lately. NONE of them (other than JR) add ANYTHING to the broadcasts as far as I’m concerned. The announcers do not know how to put ANYTHING over as exciting, credible, or interesting and fresh anymore. They are robots. ESPECIALLY Grisham, and those tools over on ECW. It’s partially due to someone screaming in the headphones, but it also has to do with their delivery and their approach. They sound brainwashed to me.

Ok, Cole is not excited or dedicated, but why wouldn’t he be? Do you think Cole wouldn’t love to scream at the top of his lungs every night like he used to or like he did with the Kofi spot on Orton at the Garden. He is stale just like mostly every other character.

Sidious – this report brings us to a larger underlying problem that the WWE is facing right now that has affected people like Cole.

Their top face gets BOOED in the world’s most famous arena! That is the arena you NEVER want to get booed in. When Cole came out before the cameras started rolling he got booed like a fucking heel. He came out with his head hung low and walked as fast as he could to the announcer’s table so that they could cut his music off and get the King out there. That tells you how much real fans appreciate what Cole has been doing and why he has no reason to be happy. Funny how this news comes out after the MSG RAW where we really let him know how we feel. Everyone knows when you come to MSG whatever reaction you get no matter how loud, or soft it is genuine. Cole was genuinely booed and now this news comes out. Wake the fuck up WWE your product is stale.

They should see if when Jesse "The Mind" Ventura is hosting RAW if Vince could talk to Jesse become a color comentator for WWE. I think he'd be a perfect fill for JR and a breath of fresh air since he hasn't done that gig in a long time. It was nice seeing him a couple years back as guest ref at a PPV I think if he signed on to do color it would be a sweet shot in the arm having him back for awhile. But somehow I don't see that happening but it would be cool to see him return.

 

[NYSandman]

I think Cole has greatly improved over the last few years. He's really stepped up his game a bit.

I think the biggest problem is the lack of genuine emotion from announcers, which I think can be attributed to Vince McMahon screaming in their ears to say stupid, unrealistic shit.

If you really want a real sports feel to the product, which I think is nonsense, then you have to stop coaching the announcers. If Vince isn't happy with what the guys say on their own, then fire them and start announcing again yourself.

The day I knew Cole was over was when I started accepting him as King's partner. When JR left Raw, I was pissed and it just didn't sound right during matches.

Now, I've gotten used to Cole, and accept him as the "Voice of Raw." He's done pretty well and it's a shame to hear he's souring on the job. Poor JR is sick, Cole is fed up, and I heard King might leave to get into politics. If I have to hear Matt Striker on Raw I'll watch it without sound.

I think it's good that the announcers are sort of challenging this headset shit. I remember an interview with Kevin Kelly on VOW where he said he basically had a nervous breakdown from working with Vince on announcing. I can believe it.

Imagine trying to read a report to people while having someone screaming in your ear how to read it. If you don't have confidence in your guys, then there is a problem.

 

[XgringolocoX]

The announcing doesn't bother me as much. "Vintage" doesn't bother me, maybe they think that the lead announcer on RAW should have his own catch phrases. Call it shades of JR.
Now don't jump down my throat for this but I liked the Matt Striker/Josh Matthews pair. I think Matthews will be the furture of WWE annnouncing. Sure he ain't perfect, but he's good. Striker is naturally cocky and while there is respect between the two there was a nice balance of barbs thrown out. Made it less bland. Also, Striker is highly knowledgeable about the product past and present. In Striker's words he's a "wrestling nerd" and that "bodes well" for the product.
OH! on topic lol, If Michael Cole is being browbeaten and severly micromanaged then I can't blame him for his actions. You have to break the stress or it'll break you. Wrestling isn't all that serious nowadays to begin with. How can it be with Hornswoggle grunting and doing Tadpole Splashes?

 

[Turd Ferguson]

I mean, you have the now CEO and Chairman of the Board telling Michael Cole to utter the word "vintage" several times a broadcast, because it tickles Vince McMahon to the funny bone hearing Cole do this ....

To be honest, I don't think that Vince is telling him to say "Vintage" several times a broadcast. I think that's completely on his own doing. It's been a progression with him when he said "VINTAGE Undertaker" whenever he did the Old School (which is correctly used), to VINTAGE Kofi Kingston (he's been on the main roster for 2 years.)

and if that isn't bad enough ... can you remember back to the Hornswoggle vs Chavo Guerrero Bullrope Match? Cole was about to utter a line, and then paused to wait for the guys to setup the spot where Hornswoggle put on the giant Cow head to jump off the rope. What followed next from Michael Cole?

"What a Mooooooooooove!!"

I don't think that was all on Vince's doing either. Don't forget when Cole was trying to get his soundbytes out at the end of Raw when Ben Roethlisberger hosted... "IT SHOULD BE BEN RAW-THLISBERGER".

Ewwwwww.

Michael Cole has been insufferable for awhile now. He has his mancrush on Batista, which is horribly distracting. He makes up lines like "Controlled Frenzy!" He also talked during The Undertaker's entrance all the time, called Mysterio a "sorcerer" and calling his style "swashbuckling", and saying that Orton hangs out with a pack of wolves, even though wolves and vipers do not hang out with each other, I'm sure.

In fact, we should start playing this during every Raw...

I'm not going to get into the rest of what you said, because we're not sure how much of Cole's commentary is him and how much of it is affected by Vince. To be honest, I don't think too much of it is affected by Vince at all. I think the problem lies a lot with Cole. Every other announcer, barring Lawler, does their job very well. Striker is the best in the company. Todd Grisham has really been good since he first appeared on ECW. Josh Matthews has always been good, and Byron Saxton has been impressive. How much of the problem with Cole is Vince, and how much of it is Cole himself?

Cole and JBL were a fun team together. They should keep Cole and bring JBL back to rip on him every chance he gets. Not to mention, JBL was a really good color guy, and I was disappointed when he decided not to come back for commentary when he retired.

 

[The Palace of Wisdom]

Cole doesn't work on Raw because Lawler doesn't work on Raw anymore. Lawler is out of touch, outdated, and frankly, he annoys me more than Michael Cole. If you replace Lawler with JBL, you've got a good announce team. You need someone tough to counteract Cole's nerdery. And The King doesn't do it. They need someone the fans can connect with (a former wrestler) but someone who is way more current than Lawler. Foley was the perfect choice. Foley/JR on Raw would have been amazing.

Hell, the WWE missed the boat by never having Mr. Kennedy in the announce booth when he was injured, ala Mr. Perfect. A heel Kennedy could have balanced out Cole.

The problem is Cole to a degree, but Lawler's staleness is a bigger issue to me.

 

[Cyaneyed]

Commentary is bordering on redundant on WWE these days. The whole idea of commentary is to enhance the matches and the show overall, but more often than not the match going on is ignored while they talk about xyz other things. With all the nonsense with guest hosts and shit segments with Hornswoggle I don't blame them if they aren't taking it so seriously, because frankly the audience isn't either.

But the real problem lies in how they are commentating overall on every show, and to that end the state of the shows, not how seriously they may or may not be taking it.

Let's face it, if Cole is fired, which I highly doubt, what are they going to do, bring in another guy to do the same job and complain he can't do it right either?

 

[RVDgurl]

Go back to the concept of Play by Play wrestling commentators, and Heel color commentators ... and ditch this "Analyst" crap.

Fucking right! Commentating is more important in wrestling then in any "real" sport. The commentators play a significant role in helping to get the talent over and the role of Analyst doesn't get it done like they used to. I loved the days of McMahon/Ventura, Heenan/Monsoon, and Lawler(as a heel)/Ross. Those were great combinations of the baby face Play by Play guy and the heel Color guy. Not only was it another layer of entertainment, but the combination put over the in ring talent more efficiently.

 

[DX Mols]

Michael Cole is the worst part of Raw and that says a lot giving the recent slew of total garbage guest hosts. If they fired Michael Cole, that would be the 1st step in getting WWE back on track. Dig up Joey Styles or bring in Sucka T as Black Snow on the mic. Even the Wrestling God would be better.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

From what i've read on the internet, Vince is very hard on Michael Cole. Maybe he's just starting to crack under the pressure? Or maybe he's pissed off, and just doesn't give a damn anymore?

Michael Cole should've stayed on Smackdown. He was the voice of Smackdown ond Jim Ross was the voice of Raw. That's the way it should've stayed. Call me stubborn, but that's just how I feel. But I remember reading somewhere that Vince took Ross of Raw because he felt he was to big of a star.

The WWE annouce teams are getting better if you ask me. Michael Cole can be bad and very corny at times, but I don't think he's as horrible as most people make him out to be. There's a chance he might get bumped down to ECW, but highly unlikely.

 

[Suneeboy]

My new favorite Michael Cole line is “The United States Championship has been held by no fewer than a dozen WWE Hall of Famers. The likes of Harley Race and Ric Flair (pause and then add with corny glee) Stone Cold Steve Austin!” As if we’re supposed to say “Wow this must be important then.”

The schmuck says it the same way every time. Then stale Lawler chimes in every time he makes that statement, “That’s some good company. Could you imagine Wrestler X in that group?”

It’s the robotic tone, the repetitive lines, and the lack of charisma. Its partly Vince’s fault, but Cole is also to blame for being so complacent and not striving for excellence. He has just been “there” for so long now.

 

[Kanye South]

Psh, Michael Cole is the shit. He and King are a perfect combination on Raw. Cole says some funny shit, and cracks me up when he talks in his "serious voice". His vintage thing can get annoying sometimes, but I can live with it. He is a part of the comic relief on Raw and after the past year and a half, I can't imagine the show without him.

As for Vince and his PMS-like mood swings, I think that people should stop taking Vince so serious. He will shit his pants over little stuff like Michael Cole joking around, but won't do anything about the staleness of Raw. I think people and Vince himself take Vince too seriously. He needs to calm down and wipe his ass with a 100 dollar bill or something. The formula that they are doing now is obviously working and making them money, so he should just sit back and let things flow. He should let guys like Michael Cole develop into their own, and that will make the show better for us.

 

[gd]

Ya, the announcing absolutely sucks on Raw. I mean just horrible. It's like they're talking to a bunch of 5 year olds with down syndrome or something, it's just riduclous, I can hardly stand to even listen to it anymore.

However, I do agree that it may not be all Cole's fault. I've recently watched some matches from a few years ago where Cole was with Tazz, and the announcing was much better. Cole didn't say silly, pointless stuff every second and there was some entertaining banter going on. Now, it is just so generic and boring. WWE should give Don West a call, they need a solid, crazy, heel commentator.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

Michael Cole hasn't taken anything seriously in a long, LONG time. I don't get why anyone would think he's a good commentator at all. I thought he was bad from day one. Now, he's tired of Vince's lines or not as enthusiastic as he once was. Big deal. Do the wrestling world a favor, Vince and bring back Good v/s Evil commentary. Lawler was much more entertaining when he was taking up for a heel HHH, heel Rock, and for the Corporation during the Stone Cold/Corporation angle. What ever happened to that concept. NO one cares about the commentary sounding 'realistic'. It's wrestling. Many know it's scripted. At least let them be themselves or be good v/s evil.

You hear hints of that with Matt Striker and I bet he gets yelled at by Vince for doing it, too. It's unfair and to me, I hope Cole is taken off of Raw and put back on Smackdown where he belongs.

 

[Tenta]

Yeah, Sid, normally I'm on the same boat with you... But not this time. Look, I don't know how you go about a job, but I'm always taught that you bust your ass, no matter what, only out of sheer pride for yourself. Is Vince overbearing? Absolutely. But that doesn't give Michael Cole the excuse to not take his job seriously. It's his fucking livelihood... Not taking your job seriously is perhaps the most immature thing you can possibly do, regardless of how old you are. It's almost like a child not doing his chores, because daddy fucking scolded him. You don't just withdraw... You come back, take pride in yourself, and show a sense of respect and dignity, by doing your job the way it's supposed to be done. None of this, "oh, Vince is hard on me crap."

You just did a thread on how awfully Mickie James was treated, Sid. Give me one time, just one time, in the last five years, Michael Cole was ever treated that disrespectfully. I really doubt you can. Look, I get why you wouldn't like to work for Vince, but it's not like he's an actual wrestler. He, and I'm going to bold this just so people understand:

He is a fucking announcer. He doesn't have to go through any physical pain, and rarely takes bumps. All he has to do is go behind the booth, and fucking call matches. Most people would kill to have that kind of living.

And when you can't take that, your job, with any respect, that's when I lose any compassion for you. The fact is, Michael Cole has it pretty damn easy. So if he had any self respect, he'd take his job more seriously, and realize that he really doesn't have it that bad at all.

 

[RavensFlock1990]

How do you expect him to take it serious when he's pretty much announcing a pbs kids version of mad tv? I would have a hard time being a serious announcer when a midget squashes a very good wrestler (Chavo) every week then having to see to 40+ year olds carry around glowsticks and act like they are degenerates even tho one of them is the bosses son in-law and the other is a "born again christian".

And that's not even the worst part. If I had to stay awake to announce anything involving Randy Boreton I'd have to do something to keep myself entertained so I wouldn't fall asleep during announcing.

I have never liked Cole and probably never will but I can see why he doesn't take it serious anymore. WWE (especially RAW) is a complete joke now and if anyone who has hit puberty still likes it then that's pretty damn sad.

 

[fredstephenson]

i think this is one of the many things reducing the pure entertainment factor of raw.Do you remember when it was jr and king.Back when king was a heel the commentry was actually fun and entertaining in itself. Compare that to now and you can tell that the commentaters have been told to go at it with a different approach altoghether and thats why cole sounds like he is a tape recording every week.Not coz of the man himself.