Michael Cole - Heel or Face?

[MizMark]

After watching the NXT videos on WWE.com(NXT doesn't air live over here) and reading that Cole doesn't want to be associated with WWE internet fans i've come to find Michael Cole hilarious as a heel.

I HATE his RAW persona, and the fact that he is, IMO, horrible on the mic. His fake laugh is ridiculous and I hate the way he hates heels cheating but finds it hilarious when a face cheats to win.
But as a heel he plays it really well. I'm not sure if Vince has told him to show passion on the subject, or that he actually feels this way, but something has got into him and it came off so well IMO.

So, what do you prefer? The Heel or Face Michael Cole?

 

[beefthelegend]

I was actually going to come and make a post about him turning heel.

I like it. Tonight he just sounded bitter and upset, and Josh Matthews was a perfect foil. He continually goaded him on. That was just one of the reasons i really enjoyed NXT.

So to answer your question, I, like you, prefer the heel Cole. I think there is more depth to him, and he's not as flat and one-dimensional as he is behind the mic on Raw. I think that maybe he got to do a bit of his own commentating tonight, because he sounded way different than he does on Raw.

 

[MizMark]

Agreed. Cole and Matthews going back and forth was hilarious, I really hope that Cole continues this on NXT, and hopefully brings a bit of it out on RAW aswell, although it's strange in that recently Lawler has been defending the heels a little more than in the past couple of years, whereas Cole has been an out and out face, so it looks like Cole might just heel it when running down the internet fans.

 

[Serious Mozzarella]

Neither. He should stick to doing play-by-play announcing, and leave the color commentating to his partners. That's like asking whether or not the guy who works the pyro is turning face or heel.

I'm sure he has enough witnessed experience to be able to teach guys how the face/heel thing works, but they should leave him be if they're considering making that personality transition on-air.

 

[bko]

The way he trashed he rookies on NXT tonight(specially Brian Daniels) one would of thought he was heel, even going to say that Brian Daniels had the personality of watching paint dry, and sticking up for the Miz when he was beating up Brian at the end. It actually got me thinking he would make an excellent heel. I wouldn't mind just testing the water a bit more before they did make a full blown turn, because he definitely came off as a dick head on NXT, then again he always does, but he just a different kind of dick head tonight.

 

[beefthelegend]

It'll be interesting to see whether they continue this path on Raw, or if he will be a NXT exclusive heel. Maybe Cole was shooting the whole time because he knows how much we (the collective "we"-the Internet Wrestling community)all hate him, so he was trying to bury the guy that we hold on high. I don't think it's so unreasonable that Vince was like "Okay...let's try it...it couldn't get any worse..." haha...there's no heat like Cole Heat.

 

[LokiCobain]

I'm glad they were able to make something out of him. WWE hasn't had a good heel commentator (other than Striker) in a while, and on the two main shows it's still lacking. I'm not exactly sure why, considering Cole really helped create and move the storylines in just one episode.

 

[Serious Mozzarella]

It'll be interesting to see whether they continue this path on Raw, or if he will be a NXT exclusive heel. Maybe Cole was shooting the whole time because he knows how much we (the collective "we"-the Internet Wrestling community)all hate him, so he was trying to bury the guy that we hold on high. I don't think it's so unreasonable that Vince was like "Okay...let's try it...it couldn't get any worse..." haha...there's no heat like Cole Heat.

I don't think he was shooting per-se, but I think a lot of what he allegedly said (I didn't watch it *tear*) was based off of a lot of his own ideas and quirks. I do think he was exaggerating, however, and was told to be a heel. Really, he can't hate us THAT much. No one can hate us that much. We're not THAT bad. Most of us are just die-hard fans. If I were Vince, I would be absolutely flattered that people enjoy my product enough to take time out of their day to discuss and analyze it on the internet. I would be flattered enough to throw you guys (us; the IWC) a bone every once in a while.

 

[The Jew]

I really liked the Cole that came out on NXT. It was freakin hilarious to see a Cole that trashed the rookies and the internet fans. He even acted cocky when saying "I'm your mentor and you're my rookie" to Matthews. I hope he stays this way because it brings a lot to the show. I'm pretty sure he trashed the "internet fans" because everyone always says he sucks, IMO.

 

[Theo Mays]

For once in my life I didn't want to smack Cole on commentary. Cole was actually entertaining and him and Matthews made an excellent team. I think Cole should go and stay on NXT with Matthews and then have JR come back and work with King and Striker stay put with Grisham (sorry off topic).

Cole though was awesome last night as the heel and really was the best I've heard him on commentary. Matthews and him meshed well and Cole bashing the internet and Daniel Bryan was really top notch. Kudos to Michael Cole and/or whoever came up with the idea to trash the internet and the IWC.

 

[MWRedskins]

I agree, i actually think WWE should've turned him heel a long time ago, like at the Slammys when he said J.R.'s lines are done and lines like Vintage and Oh My are new, but i think that is what WWE should do, when J.R. returns have him and Striker team up with Striker as the heel and have King and Cole team up with Cole as a heel then move Grisham to NXT as the backstage guy or the announcer next to Cole on NXT and have Cole heel and have him being mean to King when he talks about women and have Cole suck up to Mr. McMahon.

 

[Tougie]

If Michael Cole taking cheap shots and making irrelevant comparasions to Daniel Bryan and Miz makes him a heel then thats the worst turn I've ever seen. Honestly I don't perfer either Cole. The only thing vintage about him is that is calling style is older of that then Mike Tenay. Hell resurrect Gordon Solie and replace Cole.

 

[GenMe]

He wa actually playing a good heel on NXT yesterday, I was like WOW heel turn,IMO he did a great job yesterday playing as a heel, I want to see more of the Heel comments on RAW, Cause im getting tired of both King and Cole always being on the same page. NAd its been along time sice both shows RAW and SD havent had a heel commentary in both RAw and SD's tables.I liked the way that he was trashing on Daniels saying that he is nothing, That bieng a youtube wrestlre doesnt mean nothing.I hope to see more of that from Cole, ANd hopefully they keep him as a heel.

 

[Post]

Michael Cole as a heel is a great idea. A few year back Cole and Taz did a Sirius Satellite radio show on the Howard 101 station and we got a much better feeling of Michael Cole as a person. On the short lived radio show, Cole often had real blow ups and meltdowns! It was very entertaining to hear the straight-laced Michael Cole bitch and complain about stupid things.

On one of the shows he dropped several F bombs because somebody forgot to get him a bottle of whiskey for the show. It was hilarious.

So yes, make him a heel. Have him turn on the fans, the faces, and anyone else that pisses him off!

Let Michael Cole go ape shit!

 

[SHAYAN_CENA_Y2J]

The odds are completely and truly against Cole.No one seems to like him.Even John Cena commented " Michael Cole is such a loser " during his live chat with WWE Universe.

Let's face his heel turn.Why not?The guy is the most terrible part of RAW.I'm sure when we talk about people hating him it's not only about damn IWC.Even kids or people how aren't internet smarks hate his style of commentating.You saw attendance prefferd Jerry Lawler 2 weeks ago rather than him.

But there's a problem.If he turns heel,then we may see him as a color commentator and what a disaster it would be!I think Batista can do color commentating better than him by the way.He's made to do play-by-play.He can't tell jokes or do something to add excitement to match by his own so he shouldn't be a color commentator even for a single show.

The best solution will be kick him out of WWE but it seems impossible cuz Vince looks him as the next JR (poor JR).However,I still will enjoy him as a hell therefore i have a logical reason to hate him!

 

[XgringolocoX]

I've only got to hear bits and pieces of Cole on NXT, but what I heard was better than his norm. While not being exactly a heel, him being ultra pro wwe could be a good angle on NXT. Mathews was great as a counter weight to Cole. Hmmmmm..could this be a better pairing than KingCole.
I'm just happy with what I saw thus far and i'm looking foward to catching the entire program once it's posted. Maybe WWE done good this time.....maybe....

 

[blair4107]

When Cole made the comment about never having heard of "Daniel Bryan" before I was praying Josh would say "that's because we made him change his name!"

What was the point of the whole idea though? The entire show they were putting down "the minor leagues." What message does this send to potential future wrestlers? Don't do the indies because you're better off going for Mtv or modeling? The entire segment just felt like Vince McMahon's way of saying "WWE is bigger than wrestling."

Between Cole and the Miz the indies just came out looking like nothing and even though Josh did slightly defend them you'd think he would have more since HE was an indy wrestler between Tough Enough and signing with WWE as an announcer.

 

[LSN80]

You know, I was thinking the same thing watching NXT last night. He came across as arrogant, deprecating of the rookies, and frankly, like a jerk. What's more, it clicked with Matthews, whose actually good as a face commentator in my mind.

This is the first time Ive ever found Cole interesting in my entire life. His "vintages" "New Champion! and "Oh my's" have always thoroughly annoyed me. Maybe WWE has realized this, and has decided to make him a heel commentator.

But if they do go that direction, they need to do it both on Raw, and on NXT. He can't be a heel on NXT, and a face on Raw. It would just be a conflict of interest. I think it's been done marvelously with Striker and Grisham, who I think enhance the in-ring action with their bickering. Lawler has pretty much gone away from the heel aspect of his character, so it only makes sense to have Cole be the heel.

Furthermore, it's something they SHOULD do. When's the last time we've had a heel play by play man? They've always defended the faces, and waved their fingers at the heels like they were schoolchildren. To me, this would be a refreshing change. And Cole's the only option they have right now. Grisham is a face through and through, and so is Matthews. JR is so beloved that when he returns, theres no possible way to get him over as a heel at this stage of his career. They tried it in the best, and it wasn't that effective.

So props to WWE for planting the seeds last night on NXT. Now they need to follow through and have him become a full fledged heel. People really don't like Cole as a consensus, so a heel turn may be the thing that make people consider him to be somewhat credible at all.

 

[MWRedskins]

I think Michael Cole should be a heel and King should stay face. Allow Cole to do play-by-play on Raw, but have him rooting for the heels while King makes jokes about his rooting for the bad guys. I like King as a heel, but let's face it, the fans love him too much, if he turned heel, that would makes cheer him more, Cole however has very little fanbase and turning him heel would be good.

 

[Kashagi]

Neither. He should stick to doing play-by-play announcing, and leave the color commentating to his partners. That's like asking whether or not the guy who works the pyro is turning face or heel.

I'm sure he has enough witnessed experience to be able to teach guys how the face/heel thing works, but they should leave him be if they're considering making that personality transition on-air.

I respectfully disagree, comparing a commentator to a technician is silly, as a technician is behind the scenes, while a commentator is out there for the fans to see and hear every week, essentially a character (even if that means simply being themselves, or a play by play) on the show.

I dont see a problem with Michael Cole having character, there are so many complaints about him, to see the praise he is getting by a fair few people for actually being interesting. Whats the harm in giving it a shot? Even if he only displays those heel characteristics on NXT. I watch all the other shows and the commentating is generic, jokes feel forced, and the commentating is as you say, play by play, and to me... Boring.

Look at matches like Owen V Bret, the commentating is hilarious, Jerry and Vinces constant bickering, and Jerry's die hard support for Owen. At points it felt forced, but at least it was interesting to listen to.

During the main event of NXT, we stopped hearing the usual, and we got what sounded like a very legitimate arguing between commentators, and it was as interesting as the match was! There is no harm in exploring this, even if it is just on the one show for now.