Michael Cole General

>>881548
>Do you think fans will eventually like him, simply out of sheer longevity?

When has this ever occurred?

Cole is a mediocre-at-worst announcer who's been mischaracterized as being terrible simply because he came in after JR, who set an incredibly high bar. People either downplay or ignore his best work with Tazz on Smackdown, when he didn't have Vince telling him what to say via headset

People criticize every single thing he says, and act like he botches more than other announcers did. I remember someone on here actually said they hated how Cole pronounces 'WWE'. Imagine someone hating you for pronouncing something correctly. That's when you KNOW you can do nothing right in their eyes

When he goes into the HOF he'll get some respect simply due to longevity. If he had left ten years ago I guarantee you nobody would've cared

As for the divas comment....I'm still thinking he might be a closeted gay man. No disrespect/insult intended really; but I heard he's married with adopted kids and no biological kids. Seems like a red flag to me...

>>881602
* mediocre-at-BEST

>People either downplay or ignore his best work with Tazz on Smackdown, when he didn't have Vince telling him what to say via headset

Of course, back then he had the advantage of working post-production with Heyman and dubbing over flubs.

His voice is, quite simply, unpleasant. Not exactly a quality you want in your lead commentator.

>>881548
That period where he was a heel announcer was honestly the single worst announcing team I have ever heard on anything ever, including backyard wrestling, etc.

He just shouted over every match, ignoring all the talent busting their asses and just tried to get HIS character over at the expense of every face, the people who HIS ONLY JOB is to make look good. And what made it even worse was King just phoning it in not even bothering to put over the faces.

At Cole's very best, he has been as good as anyone as repeating what Vince puts in his ear and expressing himself clearly - and that is a talent.

As an actual play by play, he's among the worst ever.

>>881548
>Cole is a mediocre-at-worst announcer

At his worst there has never been anyone worse. He just doesn't give a fuck, he has no idea what he is talking about, the only thing he ever supplies that isnt what Vince puts in his ear is weak banter with his fellow commentators, he's never put the work in to help the talent he should be promoting. He prefers to just say "Oh my!" mildly surprised and then leave huge amounts of dead air because he didn't bother to prepare.

>>881615
Cole is like an even more intolerable + incompetent Schiavone

>>881548
People love to hate Michael Cole.
Whether he is being heel or face on commentary, the fact that he's a major tool and a yesman just permeates through everything. Vince hired Michael Cole because he is a living gimmick.

Some of you are really blaming Cole for things that Vince (and maybe Kevin Dunn) should be blamed for. Vince's current control over the commentary is beyond ridiculous. When Cole was being coached by JR on Raw in 1999/2000 and later by Heyman during his SD! days, he was much better. Now Vince is forcing Cole to repeat shit, to the point of frustration:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmJgCO2JjBI

Yet Cole gets all the blame because people see the puppet and not the puppeteer

Vince is the one who thought it was a good idea to have his PBP guy be a heel and put himself over. He okayed that shit. Hell, he most likely came up with it

And Schiavone wasn't that bad either. Hell, at least he usually had more passion in his voice than Cole normally does.

>>881673
So literally the only way for Cole to be a good commentator is to have actually talented commentators feeding him lines.

He's a shit. And he still wasn't any good on Beast in The East.

>>881683

Except JR only fed him lines when he first started as a commentator, which is completely understandable

And Heyman didn't directly feed Cole lines for a taped show because that makes no sense. Heyman did coach him though

>>881731
They did a lot of post-production overdubs

Cole still a shit tho

>>881635
I don't even love to hate him, I hate hating him. He makes everything worse. He's not an entertaining asshole like prime heel King he is just irritating and adds nothing to the show over that regurgitating what he is told to say.

'Michael Cole' is an anagram for 'Comical Heel'

>>881673
No, the point is, like I said here >>881615, Cole adds ABSOLUTELY NOTHING other than what Vince tells him, which is why he is terrible. When he isn't repeating what is in his ear he just leaves gaping dear air, he doesn't bother to add anything of his own (that would require doing research and engaging with the roster with how to help them get their characters over, or learning the game so he can help them tell stories in the ring and notice what they are doing). Literally every other commentator other than fucking Saxton Hale that one time he filled in adds more.

The only time Cole has ever seem at all engaged and like he gave a fuck was when he was tasked with putting HIMSELF over, he loved that and got so overexcited he actively ruined the product and shat on the guys risking their lives in the ring every night

>>881752

> I hate hating him

You realize that means you want to like the guy but it's difficult to like him?

>>881765
Remember when, not even ONE YEAR AGO, there was a Tweet from Dusty on the feud between his sons referencing Hard Times?

And Cole didn't get it at all?

Because he's an incompetent sack of shit?

>>881766
No it doesn't, it means I don't even enjoy anything about him. I hate the fact I even have to deal with someone that shit at commentary, like I said he brings the quality of the product down.

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>>881765

> he loved that and got so overexcited he actively ruined the product and shat on the guys risking their lives in the ring every night

So....you think Cole legitimately did that on his own? You think Cole has that much pull?

You don't think Vince would have told Cole via headset to knock it off, after he realized what Cole was trying to do?

You don't think Vince came up with the idea to have Cole waste valuable airtime and heavily put himself over as a heel?

The same Vince who allowed that fake Rosie vs Trump abomination of a match to happen?

It's not real, anon

>>881778

Yes it does.

You just hate him. You don't hate hating him. Learn the language.

>>881788
Is it not possible that both Vince & MAGGLE are dickheads?

>>881788
>reading comprehension

Like I said that was the only time he ever got into it. The rest of the time he just phones it in because he gives no fuck, he actually seems to have a giant ego for such a useless cunt

Vince let him run with it because it made him laugh. That is how WWE is booked. No ex wrestler would ever bury every face the way Cole did in that period. The job of the commentator is to ad lib and react to the situation as well as get through the lines he is fed, and that was the ONLY time Cole ever managed that.

>>881789
Fuck you are actually retarded, amazing.

Do you know what the phrase "someone you love to hate" means? It means you get enjoyment from hating someone, you want to see them get their comeuppance and even though they get you mad, it's an overall positive experience

Cole is the commentating equivalent of nails on a chalkboard. There is nothing entertaining, he just makes the product worse, even the comeuppance he gets is irrelevant because its so rare, and the heat he gets is at the expense of a competent announcing team. You need to be able to do your job FIRST, and then work in character stuff second.

>>881548
in his words
>Im a journalist I COVERED FOREIGN WARS FOR GODS SAKE!

>>881798

> Do you know what the phrase "someone you love to hate" means?

Yes I do. It means you feel good about the fact that you hate someone.

Evidently you don't understand what "someone you hate to hate" means. It means you feel bad about the fact that you hate someone. Example: hating Honey Boo Boo because she's fat and annoying, but you don't like the fact that you hate her because she's just a child who doesn't know better.

Go back to English class, foreignfag

>>881548

> Which divas do you think he has slept with during his tenure?

Definitely AJ Lee

Remember that one time he flirted with her during an interview and she gave him that stare of lust?

>>881830
It literally doesn't mean that. I have no idea where you got that idea from, but congrats for being wrong and butthurt about being wrong I guess. Keep doing you.

>>881839
That was during her "le crazy psycho slut" time, she was fucking acting you mongoloid.

>>881548

>Do you think fans will eventually like him, simply out of sheer longevity?

Maybe. I respect the man's professionalism and his ability to put up with Vince in his earpiece. I also respect how he handled business when Lawler suffered a heart attack on-air. However, he can be very bland, and off-putting with constant references to Twitter trends and bullshit that has nothing to do with the match/feud itself. He's not a commentator, he's just a promoter. I was thoroughly entertained when he was a heel, calling the action from the "Cole Mine." I think fans will eventually grow to respect him, and I believe he'll be inducted into the WWE HOF someday based on his merits.

>Which divas do you think he has slept with during his tenure?

Mae Young.

>What do you think his role is in NXT?

Cole is on NXT? Shit, I haven't been keeping up with it, apparently.

>>881609
>that episode of NXT where he and punk just shat on every match

that was fucking GOAT

JR is for southern rednecks idiots i.e. the stereotypical wrestling fans

Cole - Is for classier and more sophisticated fans, mainly those from the northern states.

>>881974

Speaking of JR.....why does Vince seem to legitimately hate him...or at least not respect him? I've never understood that. He has viciously made fun of him on air so many times despite being loved by fans...

>>881974
>JR is for southern rednecks idiots

Found the idiot. As an Irishman I can safely say that JR is my favorite announcer.

Finally another thread where I can hang out with my fellow /Cole miners/ here

JR on Cole: "Cole's working his tail off being all things to many masters. Hardest working broadcaster in WWE by far."

I have my own opinions on Cole's commentary but if JR said this then Cole can't be that bad. Some of you act like Cole is the real life spawn of Satan rather than just a mediocre announcer.

JR is gone. Get over it.

You guys can keep bitching about how Cole calls a powerslam a scoop slam. I'll clap for him at his WWE Hall of Fame induction because he did his best as the main voice for many years, and it was good. Maybe not great - but good.

>>882206
Nig Nog here and JR is based as fuck

>>882206
>implying the Irish aren't the redneck idiots of Europe

I miss JR :(

I really dislike Cole as the Heel Announcer. While I got the whole self promotion, Cole sucks as the "voice of the heels". I never got that, since all you have to do is watch a few years of the WWE (before or after the name change) to learn the entire heel announcer set of lines, and what the queues are for when to say them. Look at JBL. As a heel announcer, he does a good job. And he's repeating the same lines that "Bobby the Brain" said back when it was Bobby and the Gorilla on Saturday Morning Wrestling. (Of course, Jerry repeats all of Bobby's jokes as the "comedic" line dropper.)

Cole does better as the neutral or voice of the faces. He isn't a great announcer, but he's ok then.

He's honestly inarguably the worst commentator ever.
You can say "Vince feeds him his lines word-for-word", so? He's still the one saying them and therefore they are the criteria by which we are to judge him; It's his body of work as a commentator and so it's how he should be judged as a commentator.
His delivery is really bad, he doesn't come off as a Face and even when he was allowed a little more freedom at Beast in the East he called moves wrong and came off generally uneducated as to what he was witnessing, far-too-often resorting to buzz-phrases and needlessly-congratulatory answer-phone-message-tier commentary.

>>882445

>He's honestly inarguably the worst commentator ever.

18+

He's not even the worst play-by-play commentator in WWE. If anyone even tries to suggest that Mike Adamle, Byron Saxton or Todd Grisham were better than Cole as a main play-by-play commentator then I immediately know not to take their opinion seriously. Just say you hate the faggot. I don't care for him either. But stop with this "he's the worst in the history of planet Earth" bullshit. You all sound silly. He does a barely-acceptable job, he's clearly dedicated to the job, and he says whatever Vince wants him to without hassle. That's why he's still there, and that's why he's not going anywhere for a while.

>limb-like arms

wew Cole

>>881548
>Which divas do you think he has slept with during his tenure?
Definitely Ivory

>>882572

lel she used to call Cole her boytoy
maybe Cole did tap that

>>881602
Listen kunt there's also people out there who are very easy to dislike and there's just something about cole which makes people want to slap his ugly little jewish face.

>>882513
18+

Let's be honest here.

Let's just say the real reason why Cole was always hated.

He was hated before he replaced JR on Raw.

He was hated before he was even a Smackdown announcer.

Austin, Rock and DX used to bully him, make fun of him and make him look like a sissy wimp. Think about it. This was a guy who was mocked by the top faces of the company, the ones that everyone wanted to emulate. Even JR kicked him in the nuts once. They never showed Cole attempting to stand up for himself. He was presented as the most beta male in the company. For fuck's sake, look at how he looked in OP's pic. This was all before Cole did anything heelish, and literally only did his job as a backstage interviewer.

Then they took that same wimp who nobody liked or respected storyline-wise....and they not only eventually made him the main voice of the product - which was bad in itself - but also in the process used him to replace the widely loved and respected JR as the lead announcer. Think about how stupid that move seems on paper. That's the main underlying reason why nobody likes him. Ever since Smackdown he was given a prestigious position as an announcer that nobody thought he deserved (who wants to hear that loser calling the action?), which is why his commentary is more harshly criticized and nitpicked than anyone else's. Other announcers botch and have catch phrases...but his are somehow the worst.

WWE has never given us a reason to respect him as a man, much less an announcer. Lawler's heart attack was the closest he ever came....and we all quickly forgot about that.

Yet this guy is the main voice.

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>Michael Cole General

>>881848

> she was fucking acting you mongoloid

Damn, relax nigga I was joking

Is AJ your bitch or something

>>881969
Cole shat on everything during his time on NXT, it was gold. I think he's genuinely good at being a heel but shouldn't do it as a play-by-play commentator. He should be a GM or a manager or some shit.

>>882001
I think because he's the most spineless yes-man cuck of all time.

>>883144
they should have let him be the GM longer on NXT

>michael cole has been in wwe for almost twenty years

Damn I feel old.

>>882821
Good analysis. Cole's just as subject to booking decisions as a ring-worker.

>>881848
Calm down, Phil.

>>881848
>>883274
CM Cuck living up to his name.

>>883144

If Cole had told Vince he was done as an announcer but still wanted to be a chickenshit heel manager, that would've solved EVERYTHING. The reason why people hated his heel run was not because he sucked at getting heat; CLEARLY he excelled at that. It wasn't because he sucked on the mic; he was actually very capable at both portraying an insincere coward and a smarmy jackass. The reason was because he tried to do all of that, then IMMEDIATELY jump to the announce table and do play-by-play while putting himself over during matches. He damn near took over the show. He was doing too much at once.

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HEY LISTEN, FUCKHEADS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx1PhviIAt4

>>883193

WTF he was a GM too?
Damn I need to watch NXT more....

>>882838
You never know, some people are genuinely so stupid as not to be able to separate kayfabe and reality.

>>882821
He himself never gave us any reason to respect him by never learning his craft and never doing anything good ever. He is a hack in the most strongest fucking sense.

>>882257
We're not comparing him to Cole, but to literally any other play be play commentator ever. He's the worst.

>>882513
This.

He has a toxic mixture of not knowing anything and not caring, he just sticks to his stock phrases (all of which have been fed him) and adds nothing himself. He's actually WORSE when he doesn't have Vince in his ear.

You guys always exaggerate how bland Cole usually is on commentary by claiming he's the worst ever. It's hilarious. It's not like dude is Mike Adamle bad.

>>881548
I wish they kept Todd Petingale. He was much better

>>883542

You guys keep saying this too

Do you realize Todd Pettengill was the one who recommended Cole to WWF officials back in the day?

Thaaaat's right...........Todd Pettengill is the reason why you have to deal with the dark evil known as Michael Cole today............TODD PETTENGILL CAUSED ALL OF THIS

>>883477
Only for one segment.

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>>881766
>>881778
>>881789
>>881798
>>881830
>>881844

>GOOD GOD IN HEAVEN, THE PAIN THESE MEN PUT THEMSELVES THROUGH FOR OUR ENTERTAINMENT, BAH GAWD THESE MEN HAVE FAMILIES! STOP THE DAMN MATCH!

>>881757

that's.....actually interesting.....

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> is the main voice of the WWE
> is still relatively young for an announcer
> will most likely be around for at least another decade
> JR is gone
> Lawler will soon be gone
> Cole and JBL will be the new legendary team
> not a damn thing anyone can do about it

>>884200
Cole will probably be promoted to a backstage job once Vince "retires"

>>882821
Do you think Michael Cole is a cuckold?

My main problem with Cole is how everything he says sounds the same. You can tell what hes gonna say before he even days it and he has the most annoying catchphrases

>>884412
And it seems like anytime he does actually try to deliver something his voice gets shot within minutes.

Based Tom Phillips should take his job

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>>881548
Cole is the biggest fucking jabroni WWE has. He is the Barry Horowitz of announcers.

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RKO FROM OUTTA NOWHERE!

Good thing Orton's still gone, we don't have to listen to that shit line being overused time and time again for a while longer.

Michael Cole's own words:

"I got off on the wrong foot here in WWE for a bunch of different circumstances. Number one, I came from CBS News, so I came from outside the business. And this is back in 1997 where it’s still the 'good ol boy' network, where if you weren’t brought up and didn’t pay your dues in the wrestling industry you had no business being here. Jim Ross is a guy who dedicated 30 years of his life to this business. He started as a referee, building rings and morphed his way into becoming an announcer and he had paid his dues, as most of the guys had. So I came in in 1997 and I was first employee that was ever hired by the company that was an announcer. I came from CBS Radio. I had been a wrestling fan but I had never been involved in it in any aspect. So I come right out of the blue and start doing shows on WWE. So there was immediately a backlash from the true hardcore fan. 'Who is this guy? How can he be talking about a product that I've watched for 25 years; I've never heard of him. He’s not from the business. He’s not from the industry.'

"Then I wasn’t even able to get my feet wet and pay my dues here before Jim got sick with his bout of Bells Palsy. So when Jim got sick, all of a sudden, now I had been in the company for a year and they throw me now onto Monday Night Raw and PPVs and I was clueless. I had done sports before, so I knew how to go out and call action, but this business isn’t just about calling action. It’s about telling stories. It’s about understanding the psychology and that was all foreign to me. So for four or five months I’m trying to fill the shoes of this legend who had been sick and I was thrown into that spot so there was a horrible backlash at that point."

>>885024

"Rightfully so because I wasn’t ready for that spot. I shouldn’t have been in it. And then third, Vince Russo at the time who was our writer decides that this is great, let’s make JR the bad guy; let’s make him the heel and have him attack Michael Cole's character.

"It obviously turned out bad because I ended up being the bad guy because the perception was both within the storyline and in real life is that 'here's this young, punk kid coming out of the news world to replace the guy that I grew up with.' It would be like some guy from a local news station stepping in to replace Walter Cronkite on the news. I had all these things against me and when JR came back fans were like, 'thank god, this Cole guy sucks, he shouldn’t be here,' and I stuck it out. I had seen so many things in my life covering news from wars and so many horrible things that I couldn’t let this stuff affect me. I had a wife and family and that’s who I loved and who I cared about and this other stuff was like, 'whatever, I’m not going to let these people affect me,' and I continued to move on and I went to do Smackdown and I did that show for 10 years, which was, to me, an incredible run, and finally in 2008 got drafted to Raw and the rest is history. I don’t have any regrets at all. I thought and I still think that I earned that role. People still to this day can’t stand me for replacing Jim Ross, and they think that JR and I have a terrible relationship because of the storylines that we've done, but we don’t. Jim and I are actually real close and we do have a great relationship and Jim's been a great mentor to me and here we are today."

One thing that just struck me is what Cole's working with. I'm watching a 2013 Raw and it's Kane v Sheamus, and Cole just shouted "I CANNOT WAIT FOR THIS MATCH UP! THIS IS GOING TO BE A COLLISION!" and he almost sounded somewhat genuinely excited.

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Oh, great....

Another "Michael Cole is pure evil because he calls a powerslam a scoop slam" circlejerk

>>881795
Gorilla used to bury heels all the time and people loved him

>>885629
I loved Gorilla but the newsletter/magazine nerds didnt, i heard he used to get heat from smarks in the 70s and 80s

>>883193
He should have been revealed as the Anonymous Raw GM IMO. But I guess the aforementioned portrayal of him as ultra-beta previously probably would have made that unbelievable. More believable than Hornswoggle, but still.

>>885621
He doesn't even call 90% of moves at all, nor does he bother to help tell the story, or put anyone over, or even act excited or interested.

Once or twice in a match he will say "what a throw", and then go back to whatever Vince is telling him to say about Total Divas or whatever.

>>885629
Burying heels is less bad because you are MEANT to hate them and want to see them get beaten up. Burying the faces is never ever acceptable, even if you have a face co commentator defending them, you still can find other ways to fill the air and and get your character over than making the guys the show is booked around seem like non-threats.

>>885664

> and then go back to whatever Vince is telling him to say about Total Divas or whatever

Dude....you clearly KNOW that Vince is the one telling him to stop calling moves and focus on Total Divas and putting certain people over instead

What is Cole supposed to do? Ignore his boss, rebel and call the action differently so he can promptly get replaced by another yes man who'll do it Vince's way anyway?

Cole not calling moves is not his fault. He called more moves with Taz during the early and mid 2000s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSgDc7bG4oA

Listen to the Michael Cole in this video and tell me if you honestly think that's the same one we've been suffering through in recent years

>>881602
I miss Tazz

>>881548
>Which divas do you think he has slept with during his tenure?
He probably smashed Jacqueline.
If she's willing to fuck Jeff Jarrett then she's willing to fuck anybody.

>>888612
he stole karen from kurt and he had debra, he has something going for him.

>>888612
Double J was pretty good lookin' man in his day honestly.

>>881548
I like cole when he was doing commentary with tazz

>>885829

>Dude....you clearly KNOW that Vince is the one telling him to stop calling moves and focus on Total Divas and putting certain people over instead. What is Cole supposed to do? Ignore his boss, rebel and call the action differently so he can promptly get replaced by another yes man who'll do it Vince's way anyway?

A lot of people quite frankly underestimate Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn's influence over how the commentary is done, and how frustrating it can be. I honestly believe this is the reason why Lawler has been phoning it in for the past couple of years

Mick Foley - a man who made a living falling off of 20-foot structures and getting cut up by barbed wire and thumbtacks - said that he quit WWE and his commentary job at the time because he couldn't take Vince constantly yelling in his ear. That tells me everything I need to know about why the commentary is the way it is

WWE Commentary does not have the freedom it had in the days of Monsoon and JR. Cole might not have the natural talent that those men had but if he can put up with Vince's bs and still deliver decent commentary then he deserves his job, as much as we might not like it

>>885829
Fuck you are dumb as hell. It's like when you read that one bit you quoted that was all you could contain in your head and you immediately forgot all the words that came before it.

The problem isn't that he shills (all commentators do that, it's the basic thing they are required to do), its that he adds NOTHING other than the shilling, because he is a useless worthless cunt.

>>885865
Smackdown Taz was GOAT

Cole isn't as terrible as you guys are making him seem.

He's average, and nothing more or less.