Michael Cole

[CJ The Pirate]

People need to stop this. What is it with WWE fans who are constantly looking at the bad in the show.

I'm gonna make something really clear. Not that I need to as it's there for everyone to see.

YOU ARE NOT GOING TO LIKE EVERYTHING ABOUT ANYTHING.

You meet a new girl, shes got great hair, a nice body, beautiful eyes and knows what she's doing in the bedroom. But she just hasn't got a sexy voice. You get over it.

You go on a holiday. You have the sun, the sand, the surf. The bikini babes constantly by the pool. Some of them even neglect the bikini. You get sunburnt. You get over it.

You watch a great film. It has Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Matt Damon, Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, Amy Adams and Whoopie Goldberg. It's your kind of film, just the right genre. But the ending is just god awful and Johnny Depp kinda ruins himself. You get over it.

Jim Ross is no longer on Raw. Michael Cole is on Smackdown! Things have changed and you're not happy about it. SO YOU BITCH!

This isn't how it should be. Just get over it. Jim Ross has actually said in a BBQ Blog or whatever he calls them that he prefers the schedule on Smackdown! right now. Sure, he might just be posing as a happy camper but truthfully he wants back on Raw alongside his friend. But then again maybe he isn't.

By the way, That is my speculation. I, however, do not present that as fact.

Michael Cole is a nerd. A stereotypical geek. He is an easy target. It's not a role. His face actually looks like that. It is not because he is working somewhere he doesn't want to. Personally, I dislike my job. I'm sure a fair few of you do. But none of us walk into that place and immediately put on a 'Please Kill Me Now' face. WE JUST GET ON WITH IT!

Michael Cole is just something different and we are able, as Humans who are capable of rational thought, to just get over it and carry on as normal. I'm sure some of you are Video Games fans. Name any game. Fifa 09. Madden 09. NHL 09. Metal Gear Solid. Final Fantasy. Zelda. Pokemon. Fable. Gears of War... These games all are series' or have sequals. With those sequals, there are changes. And most of the time, these changes piss you off because you are not used to it. Other times you smile and say "Good Idea!"

Examples? With FIFA games or Smackdown games... Movement is normally changed. The way a certain action works changes. And for a game or two, you don't win because you're resisting the change and still trying to make the old way work. The AI has also be enhanced so they realise you're not playing correctly and fuck you over. About 20 minutes later, you kinda get it. You get over it and within a week, you wouldn't be able to play the old game.

This is what Michael Cole should be. A change that doesn't sit well for around 20 minutes. Maybe it took you a show or two. But it's been nearly 2 years! I'm gonna say it one last time

GET OVER IT!

 

[Southwind]

Look I like Michael Cole's catchphrases yes they get tiring but it's what every play by play or color guy has in sports or wrestling. That part I get but what I don't like is all the mistakes Cole makes and don't say name them just record raw and see for yourself.

When people say "one second left can he get him" it's stupid and unprofessional the voice of raw can't make those kind of errors but I digress.

There's some negative folks on these boards why complain about Michael freakin Cole aren't there bigger problems in wrestling or wait maybe even some positive things to talk about ?

 

[The REAL Iron Chef]

First post, though long time lurker.

Michael Cole, or any announcer for that matter, can only be as good as Vincent Kennedy McMahon will allow them to be. Cole just happens to be in the spotlight the most due to being a commentator on RAW. It's easy to see how Vinny Mac has held down his announcing teams, and it's blatantly obvious in several people.

Jerry "The King" Lawler: VKM's iron fist of announcer-ruling is extremely apparent in this man. He's even turned King from heel, which he portrayed like that's what he was born to do, to a face-ish character. People no longer see him as the witty kiss-up color commentator that could zap anyone at any given time with a one-liner; they see him as a legend who always roots for the good guys.

Tazz: This man was a hilarious commentator who, much like Lawler, had jokes for any situation that could possibly come up. Emphasis on the word "had", however. Tazz was forced to become watered down, calling things straight down the middle with not a hint of attitude whatsoever.

Cole, while he was with Tazz, added to the production of SD! quite nicely, as you had him, the goody two-shoes, alongside the rough brawler comic genius of Tazz. So in conclusion, it's not always the announcers that suck (Mike Adamle excluded, he was just terrible), but sometimes it's the man upstairs telling them to suck.

And to all who complain about Michael Cole's use of the word "vintage", please catch on that it's something of a running joke by now... As soon as you start calling right-hand's by Ric Flair "vintage Flair", the farce should be rather obvious.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

Apparently, Ross must be getting even more people asking about this topic on his blog, as he posted yet another response to the topic.

Why aren't there more protagonist/antagonist announce teams like there was with Monsoon/Ventura, JR/Heyman, etc?


I don't have a profound answer on this subject but I have my assumptions.

I think that organizations may feel like it is too "old school 'rasslin" and don't want to go there. It also could be the announce talent base that man many announce positions. It is an art form to be able to balance the good guy/bad guy chemistry in a broadcast booth and not make the show about the announcers but instead focus on the talent.

I love the angst that can be created in the right broadcast setting but as long as the broadcasters remember that they are there to enhance the wrestlers' perception/stature/personas. I will admit that some of the most fun I ever had broadcasting was with partners who were perceived as villains such as the aforementioned and talented Heyman, whose persona was extremely easy to dislike, Jerry Lawler in the early to mid 90's whose sarcastic wit was usually spot on and whose timing with yours truly was damn near seamless, and Jim Cornette who had an amazing understanding of the business and knew his antagonist role amazingly well and was one of the very best broadcasters for the genre of pro wrestling that I ever worked with in my 30+ years.

I wish Ross could simply come out and instead of saying "organizations don't want to go there", simply say "Vince McMahon doesn't want to go there". How can Ross honestly say the word "organizations" with a straight face? There are only two "organizations" that really have any significance nationally and that is WWE and TNA ... and TNA does have a face/heel broadcast team. Just say the words publicly that we already know ... that Vince McMahon is the man behind the curtain on this one, Jim.

I really wish I could understand Vince's obsession with "focusing on the match and the talent". I can say with absolute 100% confidence that I had absolutely no difficulty "focusing on the talent and the matches" when Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan were together, or even when Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura were together. This is not a Fucking sport, Vince. Quit acting like it is, and taking the Entertainment out of your product!

I am glad to see Ross at least admit that he enjoyed most working with a Face/Heel broadcast team, and specifically enjoyed working with Heel Jerry Lawler, Paul Heyman, and Jim Cornette in the booth.

 

[Lancer]

Cole is much better as a backstage guy only

I agree, he was much more entertaining as the backstage interviewer...think of the numerous hilarious segments with The Rock and others back during the Attitude era.

I think a lot of his attitude stems from the fact that he had an interesting chemistry with Tazz on SmackDown, and was subsequently moved to Raw where he was forced to carry The King...someone said he hasn't been good in years, which couldn't be more true. JR is good enough to where he can carry anyone, so he need not worry.

This thread ain't about JR, though...I think Cole just lost his passion because he left SmackDown. You know, on Raw, apparently we have two announcers who have their heads in other ventures. Cole is distracted, and Jerry Lawler is running for mayor of Memphis....what the F?

 

[tcizthechamp]

if it wusnt for cole making huge amounts of money for commentating on raw i really would feel bad for this guy. he was doing great on smackdown a while ago and he just seems to be forcing himself to commentate on raw. i personally loved the tazz-cole combo and beleive tht they should have never broken up. samething with the jr-king team. now when i watch raw i hear him basically saying wut vince is forcing down his throat. "control frenzy" and "The Viper Randy Orton" are so lame im 99% sure vince came up with them. he and king dont sound good at all and sumtimes i just feel like pressing the mute button (but i dont, wrestling seems stupid without sound). matt striker has a future in commentating i will say tht.

 

[RageBattle]

It's hard to really tell about any of the commentators any more, other than the obvious fact that Todd Grisham and Josh Matthews are still pretty green at it. Vince has conformed it exactly to his liking, much like how he used to commentate.

As far as Raw itself, I don't think Cole mixes with Lawler that well, or maybe I was just spoiled on JR for so long. Anyway, that's how it's presented. They both sounded bored themselves many times last night, which in turn made me even less likely to want to watch.

 

[Baller]

Cole needs to go to Smackdown where he belongs. But here is the problem, Grisham is play by play which means Cole needs to do color which i dont think he can. Here should be the new announce teams

Raw: King/JR - They are great together and that way u can listen to RAW
Smackdown: Cole/Stryker - Cole will be back where he belongs and Stryker can do color
ECW: Grisham/Matthew: Yes I know they are both young and new to being behindthe booth so why not have them together as a team

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

Cole needs to go to Smackdown where he belongs. But here is the problem, Grisham is play by play which means Cole needs to do color which i dont think he can. Here should be the new announce teams

Raw: King/JR - They are great together and that way u can listen to RAW
Smackdown: Cole/Stryker - Cole will be back where he belongs and Stryker can do color
ECW: Grisham/Matthew: Yes I know they are both young and new to being behindthe booth so why not have them together as a team

Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler of today are no better than Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler of today. People who think otherwise are simply re-living their memories of them from the Attitude Era days and thinking that they produce the same quality of commentary today. They don't. That's not their fault, though. Obviously, it isn't because of them, but rather because of Vince's direction of how he wants today's style of commentary done.

Ross and Lawler were awful together before Ross was sent to Smackdown. Why would it be any better this go round?

As I said earlier, Grisham is most likely on Smackdown so he can be groomed by Jim Ross on Play by Play. I think they want him as a Play by Play announcer for the long haul. So they are investing in Grisham right now, and that is my fairly certain opinion of why those two are together instead of Ross and Stryker.

 

[666_The_Game_666]

Cole has been in WWE for a long time now. Ive noticed since his move to Raw he is not excited and seems bored alot of the time yet when he was on SD he got pumped about matches and stuff. Ive never been a fan of Cole always a JR and King Fan

 

[Doomsday Device]

I dont know the exact reason why JR and Cole were switched this way. And I dont think either one of them are happy with this. Cole, younger than JR, appeals more to younger viewers and he was good in SD and like someone here said he seemed more pumped up in SD, he probably felt more at home. JR, being older felt right at home with a slightly older audience and his longtime buddy Jerry Lawler.

I can understand that if one of the announcers choose to change profession or retire, they have to make changes. But they just changed something that didnt need change at the moment, why alter something that is fine as it is?

This is just another fuck up by Vince.

Thats stupid that he fears the announce table might get more attention the actual match/wrestlers? Thats never happened. Announcers are just there to add to the match. Not steal the spotlight.

Also, up until a few months ago, SD has always been seen a 2nd place to Raw, so perhaps they've been sending higher guys/announcers to SD, and slighty weaker ones to Raw to even things up. Thats the only reason I can think of for this change.

 

[Suneeboy]

As I said in a previous post, people need to stop trying to justify Michael Cole as some sort of victim of the Vince McMahon machine. He is not a victim. He is offered a position for compensation and he accepts it and appears every week on his own accord. He listens to McMahon because its his job, but he chooses to keep the job so therefore he must be content to a certain degree with his performance.

Michael Cole, just like most of the current WWE on air characters is very stale. His problem is that he oversells matches, characters, promos, and segments to a point of disgust for many old school viewers. The commentators are supposed to add depth to a match, and a certain level of suspense. Cole and now King also take depth away from the match.

Cole says the same thing, every week over many of the same matches and storylines that have been ran into the ground. The problem with that is that he and the King both continue to try to sell it as if it is a fresh encounter between two rivals, to the point of overselling it. At times I felt like the WWE insulted my intelligence with the way some of the storylines were sold by Cole and King.

Point is, the WWE is no longer a wrestling show. It is a weekly episodic program series. It is competing for a different demographic. They don't want wrestling fans. They want the fans who watch Reality Shows, American Idol, 24, etc. Don't you realize that? They try to boast about their ratings each week in comparison to other networks with those programs. Just about everyone on this board I believe is a wrestling fan, probably most fond of the Attitude Era or the 80s. We will never get back to that, or at least any time soon. We will never see a wrestling show in the WWE and we will not have Wrestling Announcers calling the matches. They have been molded to be narrators of a live reality show, not sportscasters. They aren't trying to put wrestling over as a sport in the WWE anymore. Its all entertainment. Different demographic that apparently excludes all of us - this is why we have so many issues with the WWE now. We are wrestling fans, and the WWE doesn't provide a wrestling show on Monday Nights. (Maybe you can argue Smackdown and ECW are wrestling shows?).

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

As I said in a previous post, people need to stop trying to justify Michael Cole as some sort of victim of the Vince McMahon machine. He is not a victim. He is offered a position for compensation and he accepts it and appears every week on his own accord. He listens to McMahon because its his job, but he chooses to keep the job so therefore he must be content to a certain degree with his performance.

Absolutely bullshit logic.

Cole is content getting paid the salary he is from McMahon and is obviously content working in the wrestling business. You aren't going to agree with everything your boss in life may tell you to do. But that doesn't mean you quit over it. It's not like Cole can go up to McMahon and demand that McMahon change the commentary style back to what it was.

You come across more so like a Vince mark in failing to criticize Vince when you rightfully should be.

Cole on Raw today is nothing like when he was on Smackdown. And that certainly isn't Michael Cole's fault. Ross is less enthusiastic, as well, but people are afraid to criticize him, because they are marks for the guy. That directive is coming from somewhere. The announcers just aren't doing it on their own.

Michael Cole, just like most of the current WWE on air characters is very stale.

The whole WWE product is stale. Who do you blame for that? Let me guess ... everyone but Vince.

His problem is that he oversells matches, characters, promos, and segments to a point of disgust for many old school viewers. The commentators are supposed to add depth to a match, and a certain level of suspense. Cole and now King also take depth away from the match.

If you think Michael Cole of today oversells matches and characters, I would hate to see what you think JR did back in the Attitude Era days, when every match was a "slobberknocker" or when the "Rattlesnake was in a foul mood tonight" literally every single week on Raw.

Here you have the majority of people in the thread saying that Michael Cole is toned down from what he used to be, yet you see something completely different apparently, and think he is too over-the-top.

If you want to see over-the-top, watch Vince McMahon commentate back in the late 80's and early 90's. Michael Cole of today is certainly no where near Vince's level for being over-the-top.

The problem is that Cole and Lawler are actually too focused (again, not their fault) on calling the match like a real sport, and trying too hard to analyze the moves. However, they only have so much to work with. It's hard for them to analyze and give depth to the feuds and storylines, since Vince really doesn't do storylines anymore, and the quality of today's feuds absolutely suck.

So, if Vince doesn't want the commentators arguing, and they can't talk about storylines due to there basically not being any, and if they can only talk about a feud for so long since the feuds aren't all that involved anymore .... what else can they talk about, other than the actual match itself?

Cole says the same thing, every week over many of the same matches and storylines that have been ran into the ground.

So did Jim Ross. Where is your criticism of .....

"This one's gonna be a slobberknocker!"
"Business is about to pick up!!"
"STONE COLD!! STONE COLD!! STONE COLD!!"
"The Rattlesnack is in a foul mood tonight!"
"They are attacking him like a pack of wolves!"
"Through Hell, Fire, and Brimstone ..."

And all those sayings were uttered by Jim Ross every single week on Raw. Let's hear you criticize Ross for the same thing, then .... to show that you aren't a Jim Ross mark.

Since Vince McMahon is on headset the entire time, obviously he approves of every thing Michael Cole is saying. Not surprising, since Cole is only following orders.

The problem with that is that he and the King both continue to try to sell it as if it is a fresh encounter between two rivals, to the point of overselling it. At times I felt like the WWE insulted my intelligence with the way some of the storylines were sold by Cole and King.

Oh, here we go with the "WWE is insulting my intelligence" line. Although, in this case and in the context you are using it, it may actually have more merit as opposed to the context it traditionally is used.

However, isn't it the commentators job to promote the matches? What do you want them to do? Admit on the mic that we have seen these repetitive matches several times already on PPV? You want them to admit to the crowd that "these feuds are completely stale"?

Who, in the first place, is responsible for giving you the repetitive, stale feuds? Who is in charge of the Creative Department? That would be Vince McMahon.

Everyone else is only doing their job they are told to do by Vince. Quit laying blame on the wrong people.

Point is, the WWE is no longer a wrestling show. It is a weekly episodic program series.

I wish that were true, actually. However, this has been the most wrestling-focused Era of any other Era in WWE history. Superstars is a wrestling show. Smackdown is a wrestling show.

Raw, however is more so the Entertainment show .... or at least tries to be. It hasn't done a very good job at that, at all, though.

And after watching ECW this week for the first time in months, that show seems to be becoming more entertainment-oriented, as well. That show, however, was very heavily wrestling oriented for a good, long while.

It is competing for a different demographic. They don't want wrestling fans. They want the fans who watch Reality Shows, American Idol, 24, etc. Don't you realize that?

What I have witnessed since the past year is the WWE trying to "Japanese" their audience and try to brain them to look at wrestling as more of a sport. They have failed at that on every level. And hence, that is why we see some different strategies in place today, like the Guest GM concept on Raw and the Abraham Washington Show on ECW.

I am all for WWE expanding their audience, as the larger the audience, then the more profitable the company will be. I simply disagree with the way the company has executed that strategy thus far, in its use of its three primary television outlets.

However, there is nothing wrong at all with trying to bring in new fans from shows like Reality TV. However, WWE certainly isn't going to attract these fans by focusing on just the wrestling on their TV programs. That is why compelling storylines and intriguing characters .... none of which I have seen on WWE TV in ages, is absolutely imperative in doing so.

They try to boast about their ratings each week in comparison to other networks with those programs. Just about everyone on this board I believe is a wrestling fan, probably most fond of the Attitude Era or the 80s. We will never get back to that, or at least any time soon.

It depends if people will quit going to WWE events, or go to TNA instead. The problem is that a lot of people have this blind loyalty towards the WWE and simply can't stop watching or supporting Vince, no matter what he does. And I think this is in large part of Vince's company affecting so many people in their childhood that they simply can not give it up, no matter what Vince may do.

We will never see a wrestling show in the WWE and we will not have Wrestling Announcers calling the matches.

You actually have at least 2 wrestling shows from the WWE today (Smackdown and Superstars) and you also have wrestling announcers who call the action, as well.

They have been molded to be narrators of a live reality show, not sportscasters.

It's amazing how two people like you and I can view things so completely different. The style of commentary I see from the Play by Play commentators of today is much more reflective of sportscasters calling the action .... with the WWE's color commentators acting in the role of the "analyst". The announcers of years past, with the teams that would argue, is a much more entertainment-based ideology than what we see today ... which is a lot more serious.

They aren't trying to put wrestling over as a sport in the WWE anymore.

I would disagree with that, given the way the product is presented today. However, I agree, they shouldn't be.

Its all entertainment.

Truly the most stale, boring "entertainment" I have seen in a long time. And it's because wrestling these past few years has been too "wrestling focused" instead of storyline and character-focused. And that is a large reason why we have these utterly stale feuds we've seen today.

Different demographic that apparently excludes all of us - this is why we have so many issues with the WWE now. We are wrestling fans, and the WWE doesn't provide a wrestling show on Monday Nights. (Maybe you can argue Smackdown and ECW are wrestling shows?).

Smackdown and Superstars are the most wrestling-oriented shows at the moment. I think it is most unwise for all 4 of the shows to have the same format across the board, which seems to be what you are advocating.

 

[Suneeboy]

Lord Sidius -you are passionate about your Michael Cole analysis aren't you? I don't feel like disecting your post like you did mine, and deal with formatting all of those open qutoes and closed quotes because I'm at work (he he he) but its obvious we are looking at the same picture and just garnering different opinions from it, which is how it goes sometimes.

***Vince is to blame, and he is actually a huge part of the problem but at the same time don't put Cole or any employee out there as a victim or a puppet of McMahon. We all have choices.

***JR over sold, but he didn't oversell to the point of annoyance. That's why he's in the Hall of Fame and Michael Cole isn't. Are you saying you didn't enjoy JR doing that?

***I honestly forgot Superstars was a show.

***It is hard to turn off WWE programming, since many of us grew up on it, but who's fault is that? Not Vince's. It's not his fault we are not entertained yet still watch every week. I want to see it, but I don't watch it live because I refuse to give them ratings for a boring product. I will youtube it, download it, or read results.

***They haven't used to the word Sport or Wrestler in the WWE in quite some time.

***Point is if you have a problem with it, don't give them ratings.

 

[Paradox]

Michael Cole, just like most of the current WWE on air characters is very stale. His problem is that he oversells matches, characters, promos, and segments to a point of disgust for many old school viewers. The commentators are supposed to add depth to a match, and a certain level of suspense. Cole and now King also take depth away from the match.

So let me get this right, Cole oversells a match? Here's one for you JR. How many time has JR oversold things. The guy is ridiculous... Cole does not had I don't think ever has reached the level of overselling a match as Jim Ross has. In my opinion Cole has a balance where JR would flip his rocker every time Stone Cold did anything.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

So let me get this right, Cole oversells a match? Here's one for you JR. How many time has JR oversold things. The guy is ridiculous... Cole does not had I don't think ever has reached the level of overselling a match as Jim Ross has. In my opinion Cole has a balance where JR would flip his rocker every time Stone Cold did anything.

The problem with these guys and their criticism of Michael Cole, is that they always make their negative bias towards Cole and favoritism of Jim Ross very apparent in their arguments. Therefore, the arguments that they are making ARE NOT about legitimate points, but rather they are arguing simply for "who they like (personality-wise) better".

The exact same things they attack Michael Cole for, Jim Ross has done for many more years on the "A Show". The repetitive soundbites, The over-selling, etc. Yet they give Cole shit, but give Ross a pass for the exact same stuff. Can it get any more blatantly obvious?

Definitely raises eyebrows with this double-standard. In essence, whenever they do this, they simply give themselves away as JR marks.

 

[Paradox]

Exactly Sidious. Ross has done the same things for years. Look back at the Attitude era. Ross lost his mind at times. I mean really how many times can the guy say stone cold? It's a ridiculous double standard that put on it. I've found that Cole was better than Ross even in the attitude era. Why? Because Cole wasn't over the top he was excited yes, but he made it seem real. Not like JR who blew a flippin' gasket every time something major happened. Though that's my thoughts.

 

[Crush1]

Horrible absolutely horrible.... nah just kidding . I dont think Cole is that bad, its just that he's so damn annoying to listen to. He always says the stupidest things and wont call the action as much as he praises a wrestler or lists his accomplishments, but Its not his fault. Because Vince tells him to say what Vince wants. Its just that I dont like Cole's repetitive voice. He should give Vince the finger and call the action as he sees it. Not a bad guy for ECW or Smackdown. But he's just not fit for Raw.

 

[ipswichicon80]

It's hard to judge commentaters nowadays as they're under so many restrictons(don't mention wrestling,don't say the refs name etc).But he has always annoyed me. I know I'll get stick for this but.....He's always struck me as a "try hard" JR. Like he wants his commentrey to be asscoiated with a moment in WWE history(like JR's"They Killed him" at KOTR 98). He repeats three times like JR. He would be better off trying his own style. But then he'd do things like say "TONIGHT" 6 times in 15 seconds(Undertaker/Mcmahon SS 2003,ok 16.7 seconds,I timed it,in case your wondering I don't have a girlfriend).Just to go off topic a bit:What do people think of Tazz? I always remember him saing during aworld title match"Being world champion is like being the goat at the top of the mountain,and all the other goats want to get up,but you can't let them,because you want to stay at the top". For me Tazz was awful!