Pt 1: The Controversial - Michael Cole

[DJ-LyRiX]

Hey guys. I'm gonna try and start a number of threads in the next few weeks that people may find to be have controversial opinions or ideas. The aim is not to offend, but to try and stimulate debates about personalities in this great business.

I thought there's no better place to start with the most controversial employee of WWE - and it's not John Cena.

Michael Cole has been with the WWE since 1997. 1999 saw his most infamous gaffe: telling the world at Wrestlemania XV the winner of the Rock/Austin Main Event before it happened. Whoops.

The IWC all seem to look down upon Cole because we have one of the best commentators of all time, in J.R. of course.

But IS he that bad? Does his voice turn you insane? Are you sick of hearing "Oh MY!"

I'm gonna say that I am not. Simply because Cole is a consumate professional (as JR himself attests). His voice work has consistently improved over the last few years and I feel his energy suits the WWE style.

After having Adamle in 2008, surely some will agree that, after seeing "adamles" being pulled every week on ECW and as GM of RAW, you at least feel much warmer for Cole?!

Thoughts people!!!

 

[itzLEEyuhBITCH]

Matt Striker > JR > Tazz > Grisham > King (very good as a heel though) > Cole.

theres only so much "ohhh myyy" or "SHADES OF ____" or "VINTAGE _____" i could take.

 

[avi01]

Cole was terrible in 1999...couldn`t stand his voice. In recent years, he has improved a lot..... specially on Smack Down. Had a good run with Tazz, seems out of place on Raw tho. He is good tho...improved a lot.
JR is still the best, even if he gets frustrating when overselling wrestlers. I hate the King as face....annoying while he is awesome as heel. Right now, I say right now with a face King, Cole-King combination is failing. It would work with a heel King tho.

 

[popupstoppa]

I agree that Cole seems a bit out of place at Raw. JR was way better, but that's a different story.

I just hate how Cole always says the same things. As mentioned above, he always uses "vintage" and "oh my". He also uses "conflicted" a lot when Kane is being mentioned, which gets kinda old.

I like Striker better

 

[JJYanks121]

Cole isn't terrible. If you want terrible commentating, turn on TNA. The best announcing they had was the night Booker T and Kevin Nash did it. I actually think Nash has a bright future as wrestling commentator but that's another story.

Cole has improved a lot and I think a good commentator kind of makes you forget they are even there, meaning they just blend with the show. He tends to do that for me. Yes, I like J.R. better, but Raw could do a lot worse than Cole.

Last point, if another poster compares J.R. or Cole to Matt Striker I'm going to lose it. Striker is a COLOR COMMENTATOR (a former wrestler adding commentary to a show) whereas Cole, J.R. and Todd Grisham are the play by play guys. It is a totally different job and comparing a commentator to a play by play guy is comparing apples to oranges. If you are going to compare Cole to anyone, stick to play by play guys.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

My biggest problem with cole is that ever since he started all of his comments sound forced and fake. He often makes dumb mistakes (He still calls it the WWF even though it hasn't been the WWF in 7 years), tells incorrect information, and all in all I just plain don't like his commentating. Remember when commentating actually felt spontaneous (Monsoon, Heenan, and Ventura in the 80's) but today you can just tell that it's being force fed (This is especially obvious with Lawler and Cole Today). Just look at the difference in quality between Lawlers commentary over the last decade, he just doesn't sound like the King anymore. I know alot of it isn't Cole's fault but at the same time he has always seemed out of place, especially sitting next to guys like Lawler and JR who are veterans and have a vast knowledge of wrestling.

 

[LokiCobain]

Kevin Nash was unbelievable during that TNA episode. Booker T on the other hand drove me insane, I have no idea why he feels the need to use the accent of every type, while speaking faster than light.

But I digress. I honestly don't care too much about the announcers, which may be the problem. I liked how they had heel/face announcers, now they're just color/play by play. TNA is trying to do that with Don West and Mike Tenay, making Don West the heel. It seems to me though from reading these posts that most people don't like an announcer because they either say the same things, or their voices annoy the viewer. But the announcers are still an aspect of a product, and just like how every wrestler has a specific set of moves, a couple of signature moves, then a finisher or two, it's the same with announcers. They're forced to say the same things, because it allows familiarity with the character. I don't know when Vince started yelling at the announcers (as Mick Foley said was the reason he quit), but if JR's character is any implication, it was when people started saying that JR didn't care anymore. I watch old clips of Raw and JR seems happy to be there. Now, he's just going through the motions. I actually feel bad for the guy at times.

I also liked the Adamle character, whether or not he was actually a moron is irrelevant. To have him make a mistake, and then have Tazz insult him adds to the show. It's what made Joey Styles and Tazz a great combination, and Tazz is great with coming up with quick one liners, but unfortunately WWE doesnt like him doing that anymore.

 

[LokiCobain]

I also liked the Adamle character, whether or not he was actually a moron is irrelevant. To have him make a mistake, and then have Tazz insult him adds to the show. It's what made Joey Styles and Tazz a great combination, and Tazz is great with coming up with quick one liners, but unfortunately WWE doesnt like him doing that anymore.

 

[rowdy ruben]

i think cole is one of the best. jr only has a few more years b4 he is gone nd jr will probly be know as the #1 commentator but cole can take his spot once he is gone. i would like to see cole back on smackdwn with matt stricker nd jr back with the king on raw

 

[butsecks]

i'd rather hear coach come back and commentate than to hear michael cole commentate. the fact that cole doesn't bring enough realizm to the booth is what makes my head spin. or maybe its his voice? or maybe its because hes always been garbage. yea...thats the ticket...hes garbage....he makes mistakes, sounds fake. jbl actually made him look good. but thats it.

 

[danieltx13]

Michael Cole isn't as bad as Mike Adamle, but he isn't that good either. I hate hearing "vintage (insert name here)", one night he managed to that line three times in a single broadcast of Raw. I'm just waiting for the day Matt Striker is moved up to take over as one of the commentators for Raw for the rest of his life.

 

[ThePeoplesChampion]

i also think that u gotta have sorta that chemistry wit the other guy....it just dont seem cole and king have that.....i mean maybe i just got used to it bein king and jr for so long but it worked.....i say put cole on smackdown he's worked wit tazz before and they was desenct together....and put jr back on raw....since raw is the a show but the best commenter on it?.......and another thing jbl was actually i thought a good commenter

 

[Phoenix]

I think also on top of things, where someone said he would get the correct info in and everything, the one thing that Cole did on Smackdown, which JR doesn't, is he re-records and corrects himself on there, the taping side of it benefits him more, he can't work live too great aside from a few PPV moments.

I think his best two partners for chemistry were Tazz and Mick Foley, but it doesn't work with him and King, I think King ends up carrying Raw on commentary and you can tell at certain moments he's not comfortable with it. I do think Michael Cole/Tazz and JR/King will reunite at the draft if I have to be honest because Cole doesn't last on live, purely because Vince is shouting at him all the time and every is, as most people have stated, pressured and feels fake.

 

[One Punch Doug Crashin]

Cole has his spot in the commentating world. he does have a good voice but he just doesn't seem comfortable with what he's doing. I personally would have had him stay as an interviewer or a Mike Tenay role as a "professor type. he has the personality of a gnat in my opinion

 

[Miko]

Michael Cole isnt a bad commentator, his chemistry with King is quite lacking I think though. He was best when he was with JBL, JBL was the epitome of a heel colour guy and he and Cole used to bounce off each other well. It's also evident that Cole made Tazz look better than he was because since Tazz has teamed with different announcer's he sucked worse than usual.

Personally if JBL re-retires anytime soon they need to boot Tazz off the announce table, send King to SmackDown with JR and put Cole and JBL on RAW commentary and let JR and King live out their final day's on SmackDown.

 

[The Rob]

This is interesting for a number of reasons. I personally don't like him as the main commentator on Raw, thats partly down to the fact I think we all got so used to watching Raw listening to JR and King carry out their usual banter. The two always clicked and had an awesome chemistry, which made the commentary better for the viewer. They really seemed like they were two best friends having a great time, having a bit of banter, doing something they both loved.

Cole and King though, really don't have any chemistry together. They have two different styles and they don't gell. King still likes to have a little mess around whilst Cole is just too serious for his own good. There seems to be no fun whilst they do their job. JR is the main announcer in the WWE (and the whole of professional wrestling to be fair) and he became that by being on the WWE's main show for years and years, every week. He and Tazz are doing a pretty good job on Smackdown at the moment and I like their partnership.

Cole and Tazz were a great duo in my opinion. They really were the voices of Smackdown. They seemed to gell somehow and they did call some great matches. Cole and Tazz again seemed like two good friends having fun and having a bit of banter (mostly over the Divas).

Cole isn't as bad as people make him out to be if we're honest. He's just not done the best job at replacing perhaps the best wrestling announcer that has ever lived on the show where he became famous. And really, who could of been able to of done that?

 

[simplyphenominal]

i actually do like Cole. He is actually the only play-by play guy in wwe that i can tolerate. Personally i can't stand jr. I did like the Cole-Tazz combination. I would like to see them put back together again

 

[DJ-LyRiX]

Hey guys, I absolutely LOVE the debate this thread is getting, and thanks for the rep.

I just want to make sure we are fully steered onto Cole. Comparisons are fine, but one post I've read doesn't mention his name or anything about him at all. Let's keep on topic.

With regards to people saying he's uncomfortable etc., I personally don't agree. He's clear, concise and most of the time he gets it right. He makes mistakes, as does every other commentator.

I think Cole adds something to every broadcast, and I like what someone put about wrestlers having signature moves and commentators having signature phrases. This is true, and we should remember that - it forms a connection with the audience.

Other thoughts, maybe on Cole's best partner? Doesn't have to be one we've seen (in other words, Striker IS allowed as a choice lol).

Personally, I loved him with Tazz. They flowed, has great chemistry together and just fit well. I think him and King are OK, but I would love to see him with Striker. But I want JR to stay on SD!.. but I digress!

Thoughts ppl!!!

 

[CantTakeTheTaker213]

What if Scott Steiner became a commentator?? what kind of catch phrases do you think he would come up with?? That would be grand, and probably would never get old

 

[LiberalKiller]

Matt Striker is fucking gold! Move Matt to RAW with Jerry, and Cole to ECW. I watch ECW to hear the shit Matt would say. That Matt/Morrison/Carlito segment on ECW was priceless. Morrison talking about Carlito getting his Green Card to come to the States. Other people have said it, Morrison is the next big thing..Owns in the ring, and is great on the mic..He reminds me of The Rock....comes up with his own words, and nothing was scripted when he was commentaring on ECW this week. He was just flowing man, countering everything Carlito was saying with something witty. Tweak his gimmick and have him go solo toward singles gold. WWE needs more Strikers/Morrisons.....

 

[DeadmanInc.]

Cole isn't as bad as everyone says he is. Sure, the excessive "OH MY", "shades of ____", and "vintage ____" get really annoying at times (especially when he said vintage after the HBK/Taker promo on Monday. God that was so out of place...).

The problem is that JR is just such an amazing commentator. He left some huge shoes to fill when he moved to Smackdown, and quite frankly Cole simply doesn't fill them. Him and King don't have the chemistry that King and JR had. They've been commentating together for years so Cole seems really out of place on RAW. Cole and Tazz/JBL were a good pair. I especially liked Cole and JBL together and I hope JBL does return to commentating if he is indeed retiring soon.

 

[Rusty]

I've said it once and I'll say it again, Jim Ross is past his prime.

I've never understood why people hate Michael Cole so much. In my opinion, he is the most entertaining play by play commentator in the company today. Todd Grisham just sucks, and his voice is very annoying to listen to. J.R is old, slower, and says the same lines over and over again. Example: *Triple H entrance plays* "My God Tazz, business just picked up". He says that exact line almost every single week on Smackdown.

Michael Cole actually puts great enthusiasm in his voice and dammit, he makes it seem like he's greatly interested in the show and that he wantsto be there. With Jim Ross's tone of voice, he makes it seem like commentating is just another miserable day at the office for him. At least that's what I interpret. Plus, Raw seemed repetitive with Ross calling the action for a great number of years, it was time for a change and I'm glad it happened.

I like Ross on Smackdown, but I love Michael Cole on Raw. Cole is underrated. I don't know about any of you boring fans out there, but when I watch Raw, I want the commentators to make it seem like it's always an important show, almost like anything is a big deal. Because after all, we don't like throwaway shows and sometimes with JR's commentating, he made it seem like the show wasn't even interesting to him so how the hell are we supposed to be interested in it?

Ross was awesome in his prime. Hell, compare his commentating in 2004 to now. You will notice a huge difference. But times have changed, and Cole has improved. So much so, that I can firmly believe in this statement:

Michael Cole > Jim Ross

 

[suleman09]

Michael Cole.....wow now he makes a lot of mistakes, even recently i heard him call the WWE, WWF...has'n it been YEARS since we had WWF?
and he still made that mistake...and he once called Edge...John Cena, he once called Jeff Hardy...Jeffery...he has made plenty of mistakes, the WWE is'nt catching his mistakes and editing them out anymore it seems like...

 

[Tastycles]

Michael Cole is probably the best play by play announcer that the WWE have right now, but in no way is that because he is actually good.

Cole is standard. He overuses phrases, but I challenge you to find a sports commentator that doesn't. He tries to get pashion into his preformnces, and by and large he succeeds, but he quite often misses the point, especially when live. To prove this, watch No Way Out 2008. He goes apeshit during the matches, like he should, but when the Big Show makes his comeback after over a year out, he introduces him like he's come back having performed on Raw that week or something. "Oh look, here's the Big Show". Admittedly it wasn't as shit as the commentary during Christian's return, but far worse than Cena's come back.

That being said Cole does manage to call a match as it happens fairly well, and is quite good at bringing back elements of the story into it. He is better with a heel commentator, or a wisecracker like Tazz putting him down. If the JBL retirement rumours are true, Cole, JBL and Striker should be the three man commentary team, with JBL essentially just bullying the other two.

King has lost it. He used to be a fantasti heel commentator that people legitimately hated. His playboy antics and annoying voice mean that he is a natural heel, but now he's neutered. All he does is cite generic colour commentry 101 like "Kennedy is working on the knee to ground the aerial attack" or be actually borderline perverted whenever a diva comes along. It's no longer the mildly amusing "puppies" shouts, but just quite seedy remarks. He has absolutely no chemistry with anyone except JR, and they should probably put them together on Smackdown for that reason.

Tazz is alright, but he doesn't really offer anything to the match. He is completely wasted with JR, because put downs are what he does best, and JR never gets put down. By anyone. Ever. Tazz does make the worlds worst links between the advertisers and the action too. I'd put Tazz back on ECW with Grisham. He'd be great there because Grisham is essentially Cole ten years ago, and Tazz was at his best with Cole, when Cole was twice the pussy he is now.

Grisham is a good interviewer, but on commentary he struggles. He was quite good on heat with Josh Matthews, because they had an actual chemistry, but with Striker, it is essentially the Striker wows you irrelevant wrestling facts show. That being said, if Striker was with someone who could interact with him he'd be great, which is hy I think he'd be better with JBL and Cole on Raw.

Which brings me on to JR. JR used to be good, probably one of the best ever, which is probably why he pisses me off as much as he does now. He is basically a talking barbeque sauce advert, it comes up three or four times a night, at least, and often at completely inappropriate times. How anybody can criticise Adamle and Cole for making mistakes in the same sentence as pledging undying allegiance to JR is beyond me.

Calling Jeff Hardy Jeff Harvey doesn't really matter, everyone knows what is meant. Mixing up the names of the participants in a match you are watching several times actually negates the point of commentary. JR does this on a regular basis.

Again, they might say "vintage" and "have mercy" a ridiculous amount of times, but to say that JR doesn't repeat himself is astonoshing. Every single time HHH comes in he says "business has picked up, here comes the Game." Every single time Hardy comes out, he says the same thing. JR has become increasingly formulaic over the past few years, and it is annoying. The worst part is that, like King, he occaisionally has flashes of his former greatness, and for that reason he probably should still be working.

Even though King and JR was getting stale, they did bring the best out in each other, and they should probably be put back together, but on the B-show, so that younger talent gets a chance to have a go on Raw.

 

[European_Wrestler_24]

The commentary in WWE these days is very stale and something needs to be done about it. Sadly I've heard Vince McMahon hates commentators and he would rather not have them at all if possible.

I'm not a Michael Cole fan at all. I really cant stand him at times although I must say hes improved greatly the last couple of years. As people have already said it really annoys me hearing him repeat certain words over and over.

"Vintage", "classic offense" and "Welcome back to raw, the longest running weekly episodic programme in television history" are examples that annoy me. On top of this a lot of the things he talks about during matches seem forced and he overexagerates constantly. For example Undertaker will give the boot to someone followed by Cole screeming "DID YOU SEE THAT BOOT, DID U HEAR THE IMPACT !".

Theres also the annoying point where he constantly says "Undertaker is the best pure striker in WWE history". Cole overexagerates all of the time but then when he should try to really build a moment he forgets. Hes simply not natural.

Sadly I feel Jim Ross is way past his best nowadays and when u hear him from matches 5 or 6 years ago u see the difference to him now. He seems bored these days and basically a bit boring to listen too. It was bad breaking him from Jerry Lawler.

The King Jerry Lawler is also a shadow of his formerself but I dont believe its his fault. I blame the people that have toned him down. Jerry used to be a great heel commentator whereas now he seems to be purely face. What happened to his puppies chants ???....again all toned down for the kids. An example is the current Jericho angle. 5 years ago Lawler would be saying "Jericho is quite right beating on those so called legends, they are washed up hasbeens unlike me !.

Summing up, WWE commentary is bad these days and Michael Cole is far from Raws answer. My opinion is bring back Joey Styles, he is by far the best in the business today but sadly WWE dont feel the same way.