WWE Concerned About Michael Cole's Commentary

[Dagger Dias]

Cole is definitely a problem. There's heel announcers who support the actions of guys you are meant to hate, and then you have Michael Cole. Annoying beyond belief. His insane fanboyism of The Miz and burying talent who the IWC support such as Ryder or Bryan has done WWE no favors. According to the article it seems that the WWE is finally taking notice. I don't see Cole leaving the announcing team anytime soon. Who would they promote to replace him? Matthews is good but I don't know if he's ready to be the main voice of WWE yet. Striker is better off as an analyst rather than be a play-by-play guy.

Cole will likely be keeping his job but with a storyline reason for removing his annoying heel tendencies. Daniel Bryan and Cole had a confrontation on NXT that should have been a Raw/Smackdown storyline. Bryan is the perfect candidate to beat some sense into Cole because of the constant burying for the past year. I would have Cole come out into the ring to call out Bryan who's frustration finally gets the better of him and unleashes on Cole. First in an angry promo, then in a powerful submission move. Perhaps throw in a steel chair shot or two. After that, Cole will remain an announcer but more along the lines of JBL by just supporting the heels instead of burying the faces or acting like an excited schoolgirl every time Miz enters.

 

[JP Wrinkle]

I don't know that Cole is a problem. I myself would much rather see him with a stable instead of Vickie though...not to suggest Vickie goes to commentary! I agree with a lot of you that say that King and Booker are just not a good mix with him. I noticed some were asking for Regal to be a color guy, but I have a feeling vince wouldn't allow it due to him not sounding American as sad as that sounds. Why not take a guy with strong mic skills like I dunno, Kevin Nash and pair him with Cole. Storyline wise they could say its part of a settlement to a lawsuit or something. Nash is quick witted enough for it and would make things interesting, plus I don't think he would mind putting over people as thats pretty much all he did in TNA. Thoughts?

 

[Low_Ki]

Simply put, Cole is a fucking idiot.

I'm all for a bit of heel vs face commentary, but as so many people have said, the likes of Bobby Heenan and Jerry Lawler during the Attitude Era knew how to be heel commentators without hurting the talent with what they were saying about them.

Look at Jerry Lawler. He would always bash 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin for his dasterdly tactics but never once did he question 'The Rattlesnakes' character. I appreciate that there is a massive difference between the likes of Steve Austin and Daniel Bryan but the principle remains the same.

Cole annoys the shit out of me now purely because he cannot call a match without putting in his two cents every two minutes. It drives me fucking crazy, which is why I have stopped watching Smackdown full stop.

The only other thing that I think made a huge difference is the fact that Jerry Lawler had JR as his opposite, as Bobby Heenan had Gorilla Monsoon as his opposite, and the new toned down Jerry Lawler cannot seem to keep up with Cole.

 

[James]

Wait what is the problem? Cole is doing a hell of a job, he's almost the only reason I watch Raw because I enjoy hearing his comedy. He's doing his job and his job is to be a heel. He's McMahon's chosen man. It's not like Cole comes to work and says he is going to bury everyone, no Vince told him to do that. Vince is doing this because this is how he really feels aboot the likes of Zack Ryder who is a POS and Daniel Bryan who is right up there with Ryder. Neither one of them can draw to be honest with you and if you've watched wrestling since the 90's you would know that. The only reason Vince decided to put the title on those two goof balls is because Ryder sells merchandise and for Bryan he wants to show you that no matter how big you are in the Indy's scene you won't cater to the whole WWE nation. Stars like Orton and Cena while are boring at times but at least they bring in ratings and the crowd. All of you nerds who constantly bash Michael Cole and what WWE is doing need to sit your ass down and just watch it. You're the god damned minority meaning that out of 2 million fans you're only 10 thousand. Just because you want to see your Indy sensations doesn't mean that everyone else wants to see them. Just close your mouth you f*cking haters and let Michael Cole do his job. Once again I say it, Michael Cole is doing a magnificent job because every week some jackass is on his case. King did the same thing except he was less annoying. The brain did it as well.

I remember when they tried to calm down the bashing with the Daniel Bryan getting in the face of Cole and making him look like a bitch. Yay let's punk down a commentator; this makes my character even more believable. And when King got the last laugh out of the Cole feud. Yeah Cole started back the bashing. Pretty much it isn't going to stop and if you don't like it then who gives a damn? Vince knows that you're going to continue watching.

Like I said, Vince is showing you that you all aren't professionals and not everyone draws.

 

[Pedigree1]

no it not his fault its vinnie mac fault!! Vinnie mac tells cole what to say and cole has to say it!! Jerry Lawler did the same thing to bury talent yrs ago when he constantly berated and berated one bret hart!!! Remember that? I like the heel persona but it does feel if cole is shoved down our throats a bit more than necessary!! This should have ended last year at WM then maybe cole could have been a manager or the Mysterious raw GM!!!

 

[James]

WWE needs to do something quick they can not blame Zack Ryder or CM Punk for the drop in ratings I blame Cole honestly like someone said before people really can not stand him what so ever the whole making fun of Jerry Lawler's late Mother was just poor taste I don't know if it Jerry Ok'd it but it it was just wrong and stupid I think more people hate him then Vickie and I think John Cena combined.

This post is so terrible I am almost in tears. Zack Ryder couldn't draw even if he had Bob Ross to do it for him. He's not believable.

WWE dropped the ball with CM Punk plain and simple. I like Punk, but I feel like he's being pushed down our throat more than anything. Isn't this what you all wanted? You wanted Punk so you get Punk and Punk isn't drawing. SO much for your Saviour.

Do you seriously think that Cole would go out and disrespect someone's mother like that? How old are you, 8? It's fucking obvious that they got the Okay from King because if they didn't he wouldn't even be announcing right now. I won't even comment on your last line because you're not even worth it. Stop posting.

 

[Midnite Express 2009]

Jesse Ventura and Bobby Heenan used to bash the faces but there's 1 difference in those two icons and someone the likes of Michael Cole, they were good at what they did. Also, they were entertaining and comical in it. Go back & watch some of the Prime Time Wrestling shows. Bobby was a genuis, so was Jesse. But they didn't over bash the faces. They never just totally went all in on people like JYD, Hogan, Santana, etc etc. They still gave their respect while at the same time, making comments that were extremely entertaining. They MADE people wanna listen to the commentary, they MADE people wanna watch the shows, however, Michael Cole makes people sick and never wanna watch again---I'm one of them. I find myself say aloud, God I hate Michael Cole, but it's a real hatred. Like, Cole really just annoys people and not in the good way. People don't love to hate him, they just hate him...

Now, does this mean he's the reason of the poor ratings? I don't think so. I think Michael Cole doesn't do enough of a good job at helping to promote the show and the superstars, he just goes for his own business every week without regard or respect for the business and THAT'S why people are turned off and could be why people don't really like the commentary. But really, to say he's the reason is a bit much. Vince is in his ear, as he's in Jerry's ear. He tells them what to say basically, but with Michael Cole, you can tell he has this hollier than thou mindset. Idk, I think they may need to pull him and see what happens.

 

[Dalinkwent]

It's clear that WWE needs a complete overhaul in the creative department and Vince needs to step down or start listening to the fans more. What did WWE think was going to happen if the "voice of WWE" is constantly burying people" and ignoring some of the mid-card matches? I've seen many mid card matches were Cole barely said two words about the action going on in the ring, if Cole doesn't care about the match in the ring why should the fans at home care? Even worse is WWE has wasted so much T.V time on angle's involving Cole, Vince and the stooges think it's funny so we the fans have to suffer through 15 minute segments centered around annoucer's. WWE really proved their nonsense when they had Miz (THE WWE CHAMP) struggle with Jerry Lawler, it's almost as if WWE doesn't want Miz to look like a threat to anyone. If WWE wants a heel annoucer, why not go back to the Striker formula? He was able to be biased without ever burying the talent, he did more to help the talent in the few months he called matches then Jerry and Cole have done in years.

 

[Arsenal]

Jesse Ventura and Bobby Heenan used to bash the faces but there's 1 difference in those two icons and someone the likes of Michael Cole, they were good at what they did. Also, they were entertaining and comical in it. Go back & watch some of the Prime Time Wrestling shows. Bobby was a genuis, so was Jesse. But they didn't over bash the faces. They never just totally went all in on people like JYD, Hogan, Santana, etc etc. They still gave their respect while at the same time, making comments that were extremely entertaining. They MADE people wanna listen to the commentary, they MADE people wanna watch the shows, however, Michael Cole makes people sick and never wanna watch again---I'm one of them. I find myself say aloud, God I hate Michael Cole, but it's a real hatred. Like, Cole really just annoys people and not in the good way. People don't love to hate him, they just hate him...

Now, does this mean he's the reason of the poor ratings? I don't think so. I think Michael Cole doesn't do enough of a good job at helping to promote the show and the superstars, he just goes for his own business every week without regard or respect for the business and THAT'S why people are turned off and could be why people don't really like the commentary. But really, to say he's the reason is a bit much. Vince is in his ear, as he's in Jerry's ear. He tells them what to say basically, but with Michael Cole, you can tell he has this hollier than thou mindset. Idk, I think they may need to pull him and see what happens.

This is 100% correct. Jesse Ventura and Bobby Heenan were the 2 greatest heel commentators ever, however they never "buried" the faces. They generally gave them props for being great athletes even though they were against them and pointed out their hypocracy when they cheated. They did it in an entertaining way, and they always focused on the match at hand instead of ignoring it like Cole often does now. Every match was put over as being important, even mid-card matches, often with comments about things like getting the winner's purse or moving up the ranks as a top contender. Also they were the color guys, not the play-by-play guy as Cole is, so it didn't seem as overbearing.

I'm not sure why the WWE can't figure this out. It's not rocket science.

 

[Miz Mills]

It's sad that one can't enjoy a good match when Cole is doing his bashing instead of calling the match. This bickering between him and Jerry or on Smackdown with Booker has gotten way out of hand. His getting hard over The Miz is getting old and the anti Daniel / Zack rants makes me put the tv on mute. Don't see why he can't stay on one show and less bragging on himself.

 

[Nada]

This post is so terrible I am almost in tears. Zack Ryder couldn't draw even if he had Bob Ross to do it for him. He's not believable.

How can a wrestler draw when he has been the jobber for years now, losing matches in 30 seconds and made to look like a clown, then you put a belt on him (a useless one at that, US title) and expect him to draw you ratings, that equal Cena, the man who has 10 WWE World championships, several WM main events, rubs from different legends and a multimillion dollar company behind him and his brand?

WWE dropped the ball with CM Punk plain and simple. I like Punk, but I feel like he's being pushed down our throat more than anything. Isn't this what you all wanted? You wanted Punk so you get Punk and Punk isn't drawing. SO much for your Saviour.

That is not what people wanted, everyone said he shouldnt have come back, everyone wanted that storyline to be better done, and it is 100% WWE's fault for booking it so badly, our "saviour" lost 4 PPV matches in a row, including to Triple H, for no reason what so ever. WWE put cold water on Punk. Believe him had they had Billy Gunn beat up Austin in 1997 like a jobber, then 3:16 wouldnt be over either.

The announcing team in WWE is very unproductive and has been for a while, couple that with doing the job for Bryan who actually had a losing streak going on and is being called a "nerd" by Cole, Ryder who as mentioned was a joke jobber and now he is being treated like a dork again and Punk who after a hot sommer was fed to HHH...for no reason really, just for the hell of it and dragged in a boring storyline with Hunter and Nash.

Take that + unproductive announcing and yea, you get what you got.

Ric Flair said it best "to be the man, you gotta beat the man", but veterans like Taker and Hunter have had little to interest in that the last 10 years, rarely putting people over clean, and now you wonder where the stars are? Taker once put this guy over clean, HIAC, Brock Lesnar and he is today one of the biggest draws in MMA, his PPVs do 800.000-1.000.000 buys, those are WM numbers.

It is not solely the announcing team that is the issue, but creating new stars has been a problem, when Vince McMahon tells Cole to make fun of these guys he i basically telling us we should not care about them.

If they are nerds, idiots, dorks, then why should we watch them? Even the poster i quoted belittles CM Punk, that is what WWE does week in and week out, make fun of their own talent, then wonder why people dont watch or buy PPVs? Why spend 50 dollars on watching a useless nerd with a crappy haircut and bad music? Or some tatted up "saviour? Or some broski?

If someone did that in UFC and told viewers that Brock Lesnar or GSP were "nerds" and "useless", Dana White would fire that commentator on the spot.


Make no mistake, they havent forgotten it, because Michael Cole said that Triple H was in the best shape of his life, during his match against Nash, despite that it is perhaps the worst shape i have ever seen him in since 1996, he had a big gut and he was blown up after 8 minutes

Funny how Taker and Hunter are always made to look perfect, despite being banged up, slow, yet the young stars are made to look like absolute idiots week in and week out, it reminds me of this wrestling promotion i once used to watch....

 

[theBec2101]

it is a mix of his personality and vince. but at the end of the day its all on Cole. He doesnt come off funny or as a heel even. He just comes off as a prix. Look at Jesse Ventura and Bobby Heenan, they were heels but yet funny, even The King was ok. They had people in their ear and had to read of notes. Infact they had to sit next to the guy that could fire them.

 

[byrnside]

Just goes to show you probably shouldn't make your top commentator a heel. Personally, I am a huge fan of good heels in wrestling. Bobby Heenan and Jesse Ventura were two of my favorite commentators. Michael Cole is not a good heel. He's annoying and as the guy above me said, he comes off as a prick. You have to know when to "turn it down" and completely burying every face that comes out that isn't Cena or Orton, has gotten ridiculous and obviously it's starting to show in the ratings. The difference between Cole and Heenan/Ventura/King, was that they saw the faces as legitimate threats. Cole doesn't. He just says everyone's boring or terrible and that's it. There's no justification to why a face should or could win so the casuals have started changing the channel. It's a dangerous road.

 

[LoudClearVoice]

I don't have a problem with Cole being a heel, in fact he works better as a heel with The King as a face.

My problem is that he goes overboard with his heel character and that's why he's burying these talents.

An announcer can be heel without burying talents. He needs to do less of the actual "putting down" of faces and more hyping of heels.

I have no problem with the way he acts about the Miz. That's fine. But he doesn't need to totally bash whoever his opponent is to keep in his heel character.

He should only bash the King and praise the heels, that's good enough and people will still hate him (which is the whole point of his character).

 

[The Big Red Machine]

Cole was good on smackdown back in the WWF days when he was a face, i say put JR with king an put the king heel on raw, take booker T off the table he is the worst commentator i have ever seen! he cant string words together.... an just have cole and matthews on smackdown

 

[ABMorales787]

The real reason that episode of Raw "flopped" was because Ryder, Punk and Bryan had to carry the entire show. There was nothing else of note on that show as Cena and Kane's altercation did not last more than 5 minutes. Cena and Kane's 5 minutes added to the 20 Bryan, Punk and Ryder carried don't add to 2+ hours. People grew disinterested and left. It's not rocket science. And of course it being the holiday season adds to it.

WWE's insistence on making Raw "popular" has made them delusional. Are they willing to toss out anything they build just because it doesn't draw ratings? Them shoving Twitter into anything isn't enough? 3 people who the people clamored for all year are champions. And they think them not drawing is all related to Michael Cole? Is he the cause? No. Part of the problem? Yeah. He's just one of the few factors that turn off people from Monday Night Raw.

 

[Suibon]

Am I the only one who thinks Cole is doing a great job as heel commentator, and thus should not be removed from his current position? It seems I am, since people think being a loudmouth who challenges Ryder's and Bryan's credibility as champions - calling one a fluke and the other a hypocrite - is symptomatic of shitty booking when the only shitty thing in this entire debacle is that no one is even trying to act as Cole's foil. Not Jerry Lawler, not Booker T, and certainly not Josh Matthews.
​

 

[d3thRoW]

It's quite simple. He is no star, has very limited talent, and nobody will ever tune in to Raw or Smackdown to see what Michael Cole will do or say next. Therefore, allowing him to dominate the broadcast and bury talent they way he does is wasteful of time and resources that should be focused on building new stars to carry the company forward, in a time when the star power is in severely short supply. I'm still in disbelief that they thought it was a good idea to let that abysmal match happen at Wrestlemania. I hope they realize soon that it's beyond out of hand and put an end to the nonsense.

 

[JakeTaylorr]

In my opinion, Michael Cole is good at what he does and how responsive he is with being the head commentator of WWE. But at the end of the day, he is no Jim Ross. I have a lot of respect for what Cole does, however he is way out of line by dissing superstars the way he does. With him burying them the way he does, they are less likely to ever become a top competitor in the WWE, or we as fans are less likely to take them seriously. I understand that it may be VKM on the other side of the mic telling him what to say and how to say it, but I feel that even with that going on, they are spending to much time focusing on making Cole their top commentator by using air time to hype him up.

 

[Best in the World 79]

Cole is a problem. He is annoying. He gets on everyones nerves. Booing(heat) is not always a good thing. Especially cole. He fucking beat Jerry the king at wrestlemania. why? why was that even a match? Jerry THE FUCKING KING loses to rat faced michael cole?wtf??? he was getting beat up by dx in like 97. he is a baffoon.

wwe you want ratings? book the miz in every match and have just cole do commentary. then you will be bankrupt. shut him the fuck up.

he buries everyone. booker t. daniel bryan. punk. ryder. all of them. if you're not cody rhodes or the miz, michael cole buries you and even me being an adult, i still hear what he says and it somewhat alters my thoughts because i constantly hear db sucks. he is the fucking champion. shut up cole. you suck and have shitty tattoos and should not wrestle. MICHAEL FUCKING COLE HAD A MATCH AT MANIA. FUCK HIM

 

[THTRobtaylor]

The key to this is that Vince is on the mic... If Vince wants to go back to Commentary he should, his attitude led to Foley and Taz leaving the company for gods sake... If you don't trust the guys on the mic to carry the play by play then do it yourself Vince and see if the ratings improve... when they don't... you have your answer!

 

[Suibon]

It's quite simple. He is no star, has very limited talent, and nobody will ever tune in to Raw or Smackdown to see what Michael Cole will do or say next. Therefore, allowing him to dominate the broadcast and bury talent they way he does is wasteful of time and resources that should be focused on building new stars to carry the company forward, in a time when the star power is in severely short supply. I'm still in disbelief that they thought it was a good idea to let that abysmal match happen at Wrestlemania. I hope they realize soon that it's beyond out of hand and put an end to the nonsense.

No one will see him say his shit? Nonsense - people listen to him call Daniel Bryan a nerd and then a hypocrite, people listen to him call The Miz the most must-see superstar of all time. His heat affects other people's perceptions of the superstars he likes and dislikes while at the same time giving them their desired reactions (see the cold war that has been Daniel Bryan v. Michael Cole: could you imagine Bryan's star rising so high at such short notice with non-indy-smark crowds without Michael Cole violently rejecting everything he stands for? if you aren't already watching him since ROH, of course not).
​

 

[d3thRoW]

No one will see him say his shit? Nonsense - people listen to him call Daniel Bryan a nerd and then a hypocrite, people listen to him call The Miz the most must-see superstar of all time. His heat affects other people's perceptions of the superstars he likes and dislikes while at the same time giving them their desired reactions (see the cold war that has been Daniel Bryan v. Michael Cole: could you imagine Bryan's star rising so high at such short notice with non-indy-smark crowds without Michael Cole violently rejecting everything he stands for? if you aren't already watching him since ROH, of course not).
​

lol what? nonsense? Think we lost something in the translation...The point of my post is not that nobody pays attention to him, my god how could you not without muting the broadcast...it's that he is not a star or main attraction and never the reason WHY people will tune in, so all the focus on him is useless. The wrestlemania match should have gone to someone with talent, like a wrestler perhaps. YES announcers are supposed to be used to help get talent over and influence reactions but he doesn't do that anymore...people are getting over in spite of Cole, not because of him.

 

[Suibon]

lol what? nonsense? Think we lost something in the translation...The point of my post is not that nobody pays attention to him, my god how could you not without muting the broadcast...it's that he is not a star or main attraction and never the reason WHY people will tune in, so all the focus on him is useless. The wrestlemania match should have gone to someone with talent, like a wrestler perhaps. YES announcers are supposed to be used to help get talent over and influence reactions but he doesn't do that anymore...people are getting over in spite of Cole, not because of him.

I actually listen to Cole talk, so I know what I'm talking about when I say Daniel Bryan got over despite the long see-saw booking which greeted Bryan after winning the Money in the Bank briefcase due largely to Cole berating him and calling him a nerd and a hypocrite. He isn't burying any face who isn't already over (see: Punk, Ryder, Booker).

He's doing a great job, at least in Daniel Bryan's case: Bryan was booked as an opportunist, a puny guy so easy to crush if it were not for his in-ring ability, and Cole emphasized everything befitting his status as heel commentator.
​

 

[zephyrs]

WWE's commentating is bad all around. They don't even allow Cole to really call matches, because he's getting fed lines during matches instructing him to push Twitter and rant on random wrestlers.

How does WWE expect people to care about the matches in the ring, when the guy who's supposed to be calling the action doesn't seem to care because he'd rather talk about what's trending on Twitter?