Don’t expect to see Michael Cole leave WWE anytime soon as he has signed a new deal with the company.
Bryan Curtis of The Ringer reported that Cole penned a fresh contract in the spring which will keep him with the company for the foreseeable future. However, the tenure of the contract was not mentioned.
Michael Cole is arguably one of the greatest commentators of all time. Cole, a former news reporter, has lent his legendary voice to iconic moments in the company. In the company, he even had a short heel run and even scored a win at WrestleMania 27.
It was back in 1997 that Cole joined WWE and he is still going strong. He started doing backstage interviews at the time during the Attitude Era. In the next couple of years, he became a play-by-play commentator and served Smackdown in the 2000s. Over the years he has cemented his legendary status as the ‘Voice of WWE.’
In the past, Vince McMahon gave various talking points to Michael Cole in his headset during the shows which was uncomfortable for the veteran. This is something several other announcers have also criticized. Now that Vince is not in charge anymore, Michael Cole has freedom as he uses more stats and shares real-life backstories on the wrestlers. Cole shared his experience and also recalled how he confronted Vince McMahon. During the interview with The Ringer, he said:
“I’m not going to lie. There have been times where he has said things to me that were inappropriate. I would go back to Gorilla after the show and get in his face and tell him, ‘That was bullshit.’ He respected that I did that. Over the next few years, people still didn’t accept me because they looked at me as being a puppet for Vince. And I think some of that probably was true. Listen, I’m not a rebel. I’m here to make money and take care of my family and provide myself a good living. And when your boss asks you to do something, you do it. I still think, at that time, I was a hell of a good announcer.”
Currently, Michael Cole serves as the commentator for Raw alongside his broadcast partner Pat McAfee.
