I like Michael Cole: Who's with me?

[DMac84]

Now, hear me out.

I have been watching wrestling since early 1996, and just like the rest of you... I hated Michael Cole just like everyone else. But this whole angle/storyline lately where Cole is actually becoming a Character is great. I think he plays the Role well, and he can genuinely be a heel. It almost comes natural to him, unlike some other Heels who have to "try" and be a bad guy and fail at is miserably.

One of my favorite segments lately was during NXT. I went Sep 14th Live in Detroit for Smackdown, and before SD, NXT was taped. Cole went wild, saying that NXT is ridiculous, and stupid, and sorta went crazy hitting the gong over and over, then finally walked out.

I can now take Cole as not just an announcer, but a bad guy character... and Since I love heels... Michael Cole fits in real well.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Ace333]

Michael Cole is needed for entertainment as an announcer. I believe all the other announcers lack character except for king but i do miss his puppies rants.

 

[AmericanDragonSW]

Exactly WHAT is so entertaining about this guy? I don't mind heels as long as they are delivered and executed properly. Jesse Ventura was a heel announcer. Bobby Heenan was a heel announcer. Even Jerry Lawler was a heel announcer at one point, and they were entertaining. All Michael Cole is, is a mixture of Eric Bischoff as an announcer, Don West and Mike Adamle rolled into one giant crap-storm of an announcer. One point he's ass-kissing the Miz, next he's rooting for John Cena. And do I REALLY need to go into his whole bad joke tirade when the Hart Dynasty were at the broadcast table with Cole and Lawler? That was just painful to listen and his stupid Daniel Bryan remarks are getting old. Where does he get his jokes from? Abraham Washington and Tony Atlas? Then there's NXT and the way he constantly rips that show apart. How is WWE expecting NXT to be taken seriously when this ass clown is bad mouthing one of their own products? This guy is not a solution. He's part of the problem because the only reason the WWE has him and is putting so much effort into the guy is because neither Joey Styles or Jim Ross want to do it anymore. They don't have anybody else, so we're stuck with his talentless loser who is bad as a regular announcer and even worse as a heel.

 

[Why Always Me]

I have never had a problem with Michael Cole, I think all the hate stems from late 1998/early 1999 when Cole was filling in for JR on Raw. I seem to remember JR (with Dr Death Steve Williams) coming out and p*ssing and moaning that he wasn't on commentary or being respected (I even remember one Raw when at the start of the show JR had his own announce table built in front of The King and Michael Cole). But I think thats where a lot of the Micheal Cole hate stems from, JR himself has even said this.

But back to Cole himself, he is a good announcer, not as good as JR, but who is?? I think now he has become a 'heel' of sorts he is quite funny and entertaining, and when I go to Raw myself tonight I will be taking my 'AND I QUOTE' sign.

 

[Negrodamus]

Cole is awesome, and they had to make Cole this way because the King has been absolutely horendous the last 5 years. even with JR. Cole carries the whole show to the point that there is no need for Lawler. I dont know why Lawler keeps getting a pass for his garbage work while people hate on Cole.

COLE IS NOT A HEEL ANNOUNCER, he plays to his favourites and the rest of the time he just does his job. Those who dont like Cole go turn on smackdown and listen to those jokers or better yet how about watching TNA and let the robot Mike Tenay excite you.

You talk about those others as heel announcers but they had great play by play guys to work with. Heenan - Monsoon, Ventura - McMahon, King - JR. Cole is on his own because Lawler is so stale Cole has to play both roles. Give Cole his credit and put the bad announcing on who it should be on and thats Lawler and the smackdown crew.

 

[rge2010]

Cole is one of the reasons I watch ALL of Raw now. I used to flick through alot of it, especially the filler matches (Im in UK so never watch live) but now I find myself watching the majority of the show just incase he says something His criticism of Daniel Bryan is funny, his sucking up to Miz is funny. He plays the arrogrant nerd perfectly!!! When the GM chime sounds, I love the smug look on his face. And his catchphrase is ace!

I used to really enjoy Coles work with Tazz on Smackdown, he was enthusiastic and really made a big deal out of everything. Then he went off the boil, and just seemed bored! But now he is back on song in a different way. Now they just need to get rid of King. He is shocking. I'd even move Striker across. He is pretty good.

He kinda reminds me of the Coach. He's not quite as heelish but they do have similar traits.

 

[AmericanDragonSW]

I'd rather take stale than horrendous like he is. he's nothing but a Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross wannabe. Only way he was ever tolerable was when he had Taz hide how much Cole sucked. Only way I can watch any WWE programming is with the mute on. He's the voice of the WWE? Let me know when that voice is silenced. They have him on all 3 shows, it's overkill. Even when WWE only had the weekend shows in the old WWF days, they changed the announce teams. He's a loud obnoxious tool that thinks he's funny when truth is that he makes Abraham Washington sound like Rodney Dangerfield. Here's my own "AND I QUOTE" Michael Cole is a obnoxious loudmouth and douche bag that makes guys that were notorious for being loudmouths in their wrestling personas like Jim Cornette and Paul Heyman/Paul E. Dangerously, even they say to Cole "put a lid on it."

 

[LamaNamaneumi]

If you would have asked me this six months ago I would have shit all over Michael Cole.
I thought he was alright when he was with JBL on SMACKDOWN!, but when he made the move over to the RAW brand I did not like him. I don't know if I was just pissed that they moved JR or if Cole was really that bad.
Then we had the "vintage/shades of..." Cole, where you could clearly tell he had Vince screaming in his ear. Go back and listen to Vince call matches in the early to mid 90s, reminds me a little of this version of Cole. This got me to hate him more than ever, I was so sick of hearing the same lines every week. It got stale real quick.
Now I am loving Michale Cole. His facial expressions when he goes to read the announcements are great, you can tell he is loving the role his has been given. Him liking guys like Cena and Orton, and hating the likes of Bryan and Kaval insure that the IWC will shit on him, I think that's what he is going for. The causal fan is starting to shit on Cole as well, you can see it in all the GM messages he reads.
I think Michael Cole is great right now, he has got a lot of heat from both the causal fan and the IWC and that seems hard to do now days.

 

[Malenko316]

And thank you ADSW for proving why Cole is doing a good job as a heel. Now, don't get confused, thats not the same as being a good play by play commentator (a la JR), a good heel loving commentator (a la JBL) or a good technical annalyst (a la Taz). Looking at MC against those three, or even CM Punk, his voice is annoying and his vocab limited (maybe the latter not by choice). But instead, I would put him alongside Vicki 'is there no low' Guerrero. Stay with me for a minute here - who else, bar maybe Cena or VKM, gets such a crowd reaction just by saying a single sentence? I could be wrong, but I doubt the intention from creative was to create a heel reaction on this level.

That said, too much of a good thing is counterproductive. I personally would keep MC on Raw - come up with some story about him claiming expenses for all 3 shows illegally etc, and focus the hated to make it last - it works with Vicki. Plus I think that SD needs to find its own voice. Whether Matthews is up to the job, hmm, not convinced. Taz left a void which shows you need both a skilled play by play and legit ex inring combo. Until Punk was traded to Raw I would have put money on him being lined up. I think Stryker is sound, but alongside JM, its kinda like commentary you might make yourself while playing SD v RAW.

On NXT, I just think Cole is out of place - if we wants to appear legit, way risk being devalued by association? Plus ripping your own show only goes so far. NXT to me would be the ideal middle step up for either Sexton or Washington, plus putting a black guy on there will help with image - talent as ever being secondary in such matters. Bottom line, if someone makes you mad at home and pisses off the live crowd with a sentence, then he's an asset - doesn't mean you have to like him - which is kinda the idea. Pax

 

[Dzone]

I don't mind him, he's a damn sight better than Stryker and the other one (Grisham?) but I would like it if WWE sign up JBL as a commentator again or something xD.

 

[Dwayne_Jason]

Cole's good when someone makes fun of him while he's commentating. He makes mistakes and he's so bland that people are entertained by someone just poking fun of him. If you seen the 50th episode of CSR. Jerry Lawler has said he can't poke jokes at him like he did with JR yet so he doesn't. He can have segments when JBL was commentating, the way JBL made fun of Cole was hilarious. Or when Jericho had an argument with the computer was pretty funny too. He's like that little loser at school who went big time and got a big head. He needs bullies.

 

[RPer_RaVeN]

Michael Cole was fine when he was doing normal play-by-play. Yes, he was never as good as JR, however, he was, IMHO, a lot better than Coach, still is a lot better than Grisham by a long shot and better than Josh Matthews. When he was purely play-by-play I hardly noticed whether he stuffed up or even his idiosyncrasies that apparently contribute to why so many people hate him. In any case, I think we can all agree that when there's something happening in the ring, at least Cole is on the ball enough to actually make comment. Unlike say, Todd Grisham who can sometimes go missing in action, or even Josh Matthews who still seems a bit awkward to listen to for mine.

Michael Cole as the arrogant announcer is interesting, considering a few years ago there was apparently a push to de-emphasise the announcers as on-air personalities which probably partially contributed to Jerry Lawler's falling as a decent colour commentator.

One thing I did notice is when Scott Stanford first announced on Superstars, you could tell Lawler seemed to enjoy commentating a bit more. He seemed a bit more enthusiastic in trying to paint a picture for the audience at home. Whether that's continued or not, I don't know. I haven't been watching Superstars. In any case, I digress.

 

[cnmasaki]

One of my favorite commentating teams was Cole and Tazz, I thought they had great chemistry and really worked well together. I originally thought it was all on Tazz, but when he switched to TNA and was working with Tenay, I realized the truth - Cole made Tazz better, and vice versa.

I don't think Cole is awesome, but I think Cole is a strong commentator, better than most, and as long as he doesn't say "vintage" every other word, he holds up the product well.

 

[Shakin' Abe]

I like him but I have to admit, it's taken some time. He's not a very good heel. I wish he'd tone it down just a bit because to me, that would add some reality to it. The Miz and Bryan thing needs to move on. I get it, you're a mark for the Miz and you hate Bryan for whipping your butt. If it's not going anywhere, move on! Most feud's are just a build up for a PPV but not in this case...oh well, other than that, Cole's doing a pretty damn good job with the shoes he had to fill.

 

[theBIGdealAndyP]

Michael Cole has been a revelation on Raw and Smackdown and NXT the last few months... the guy who was always known for NOT having a personality has been injecting some much needed color into the color commentator position... and im glad at least 1 guy mentioned that lawler has been off his game the last few years, maybe he needs to go back to being a heel anouncer...
I will say this, before the recent change in behavior by Cole, i could not stand the guy... ive always hated blind love for either good guys or bad guys, but what really irked me was his inability to remember who was wrestling and what the names of the moves were, so when he called a match between good guy jobber versus monster heel and was fully behind the good guy, calling the wrong moves and getting so "emotional" about what the bad guy was doing, it always left a bad taste in my mouth... but now that hes not concentrating on calling the action, i can finally stand the guy...

 

[LegendKiller716]

I think Cole has too much of a character to be an announcer. I think soon enough the Raw GM will be revealed as HHH, but Vince wont keep HHH there because I think they will feud (I wont get into my thoughts on Nexus, but I think HHH is there leader). So Vince will name Cole GM.

As for heel announcers I love them. I think King should go back to it because he was great, maybe if he teams with Grisham he can get Grisham over.

As for Smackdown I think Josh Matthews and Striker would make a great combo.

 

[MWRedskins]

i dont like him that much. it's not that he's a bad heel announcer, it's just feels like WWE is trying to shove him down our throats, i like him on RAW, BUT let's not have him on Smackdown too!!! i like Striker as a heel and think he should remian that way, let Cole be a heel on RAW and PLEASE WWE let King BASH Cole in any way, like whenever Cole calls Bryan a nerd or a loser, have King tell him that isnt he the guy that The Rock used to pick on, you know stuff like that, have King bash Cole for all the times he was called a nerd or a loser.

 

[jaywake111]

wow first of all can i get earmuffs for when micheal cole is anointing the miz vickie and himself please for the love of god can he please stfu im sorry but i cant stand him

 

[Pepperami]

I think Cole is great, but I do wish that he would turn completely heel instead of teasing us with mid-card overload. I want to see him rip Cena to shreds, and I want to see some more friction between Cole and King. King has been disappointing in his reactions to Cole. There has been a bit of foreplay between King and Cole in terms of conflicting announcing, but it's not enough. It would be interesting to see how King handles the role that JR used to play.
I don't want to see Cole on Smackdown. WWE is overcooking his character by having him on 4 shows, and I don't even watch NXT or Superstars.

Let's see some kind of fued involving a heel Cole. It's been a while since the announcers were involved.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I don't "LIKE" Cole, but I think he is excellent in the role he is in now. We are not meant to like him, but I appreciate that he is doing a good job as the heel commentator.

He is intensely dislikable, and I think he would be brilliant as a heel authoirity figure- maybe the anonymous GM is actually him?

I hope they continue with his character as it is now, it is about time we had a good heel commentator again on WWE TV.

Cole in my humble opinion....is vintage

 

[WWEIsLife2]

Ive never had a problem with Micheal Cole and thought he did a Decent job when he filled in for JR on RAW in Late 1998/Early 1999. He got even better when he took over Smackdown with King,Tazz,and eventually JBL (he and JBL were Gold together). He made Tazz a Good Announcer but Tazz's Announcing has gone way downhill since going to TNA.

When he went over to RAW I wasn't too crazy about it at first but I didn't hate it. Lately with him reading all the GM's Emails and saying I Quote has gotten him some great Crowd Heat in recent months. Only thing is I wish he would cut down on kissing The Miz's ass but thats the point I guess. So ive never had a problem with Cole and he can only get better IMO. By the way I still like The King.

 

[LitasRevenge79]

Granted, I'm not Cole's biggest fan, but I get what he's doing. He creates buzz. Any kind of buzz is what is needed for people to be tuning in to product. Just like that saying goes, "There's no such thing as bad press." Everyone will want to tune in just to see what Cole will say next. Even if you despise him, you want to see what low he will sink to next. Does that mean I like him? No. Does that mean I hate him? No. I just am intrigued and think this is a great way to garner more people to want to tune in to see what kinds of shenanigans he will cause, because he's doing what an antagonist is supposed to do, and that is make people have a reaction. I may not like everything about him, but he does do his job well.

 

[AmericanDragonSW]

My bashing of Cole aside, the only time I liked him was when he just called the stupid match and wasn't brown nosing guys like the Miz all to hell. The way he does it, it's like I want to hand him a skirt and pom poms if he's gonna be cheering for him so much, but then what would Alex Riley be doing. He's trying too hard is my point. And the Daniel Bryan bashing, we get it okay? You don't like him because he's a small guy and he whipped your ass and he made Miz tap out like a little bitch twice. We get it, now drop it. It's pathetic that he hangs onto it and calling him a dweeb all the time, yeah that's real original. When he had Tazz and JBL as a partner, it was different. He had chemistry with those guys. They pretty much threw him with Lawler out of desperation and stuck him there because what could they do, JR hung it up. And you know all the mentions of Coachman, Crazy as this may sound, not even Coach annoyed me this much as an announcer.

 

[RKOCONDOR]

I completely agree with you. Ever since Cole has went heel, it has been awesome to listen to. Especially whenever the Miz is around and he just goes crazy about him. He is hilarious.

 

[The Wrestler`s Wrestler]

I NEVER, EVER thought I'd say this but, ..........Michael Cole as a heel is getting over with me. All though I like Cole on nxt better then when he is on raw or smackdown.