Michael Cole recently spoke with ESPN and major praise for Corey Graves, calling him WWE’s next JBL or Jerry Lawler on commentary. “We knew he was gonna be good, I just didn’t know he was gonna be this good, this fast,” Cole said of Graves. “We gave him a chance and he really worked hard at it. This didn’t come to him easy. He put a lot of time in at the Performance Center, and hours and hours of work.”
“We put him on Raw, and he took off. He’s the new guy, he’s the new heel. He’s the next JBL, the next Jerry Lawler,” Cole continued. “He’s got a unique presence, he’s got sarcasm and he’s got wit, and he also has the experience of being in the ring, being a former NXT tag team champion. He has everything. A good looking young kid – he’s the future of what we do here.”
Cole also revealed that he’s been trying to get Nigel McGuinness in WWE for some time. Cole will be calling the upcoming WWE UK Championship two-night tournament with Nigel and William Regal. “I cannot wait. I’ve been trying to get Nigel here for a long time,” Cole told ESPN. “And this just worked out to be the perfect venue to bring him aboard. He’s gonna start his career off as part of this tournament, but he’s gonna be with WWE full time going forward. “We have a lot of plans for Nigel, and I think fans are going to be excited seeing what he has coming in his career. There’s not a better person to be able to do this.”
Cole also defended the three-man booth, saying it brings out his best.
“I know a lot of critics don’t like a three-man booth, but I enjoy it,” Cole added. “The main reason is because it allows me to be right down the middle. I can just be an unbiased play-by-play guy, and let Corey have his views, and Byron have his views, and they can go back and forth and debate and argue with each other while I can just do what I do, which is call a match and tell stories.
“That’s why I like the three-man booth. I think sometimes when you’re in a two-man booth, I get bogged down having to be the good guy a little bit too much, or the bad guy as it used to be. It’s tough that way, but just having that straight play-by-play guy to tell your stories, be unbiased, and have your two guys playing off each other, it’s perfect.”
You can read the full interview with Cole by clicking here.
