WWE commentator Corey Graves recently discussed Michael Cole and the botched call from the WrestleMania 37 Night 1 main event. The match between Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair ended when Belair hit a KOD on the reigning Champion; however Cole incorrectly called that Banks had kicked out.
This came after a number of WWE Superstars praised Cole for saying that this was the first ever WrestleMania main event featuring two black women.
“If there’s anybody that’s truly unshakable, it’s [Michael] Cole,” Graves stated on the WWE After the Bell podcast. “Cole felt bad, he felt terrible but I can relate. I almost thought the same thing, from our vantage point, it was not crystal clear.”
Corey Graves on Michael Cole
“I’m not making excuses cause it was what it is, it didn’t take anything away from the amazing moment, it was reality” Corey Graves continued. “It was a very genuine real reaction. Take into consideration, yes we have the monitor, yes we have audio in our headphones, but we’re also in a stadium full of 20,000 people.”
“Any wrestler’s book that you have ever read says being in a stadium is very different than an arena” Corey added. “Because it takes a second, the sound has to leave and come back before anybody can truly register. I myself, wasn’t sure.”
Graves finished by defending the call from Michael Cole, saying that there are always a number of instances of finishers being kicked out of during a WrestleMania match.
“Hey, it’s the main event of WrestleMania, people have kicked out of each others finishers 35 times already tonight” Graves concluded. “Why wouldn’t this be any different? It was a genuine shock after that so everyone, leave Michael Cole alone.”
credit WWE After the Bell and a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
