Been saying this shyt for years. They need to get Cole outta there
He's more of a backstage interview guy
His lines are cheesy and I can't stand to hear his voice for too long. It's plain and boring. A lot of his shyt sounds forced.
There’s basically 2 versions of him. There’s 2002-2007 era smackdown Michael Cole who didn’t usually dwell on catchphrases and nicknames while sticking to the in ring action. He leaned face but it didn’t feel too much like he’s a puppet for Vince since he doesn’t want to sit at the table himself anymore. He’s had some really good calls of matches in that span. I think he fit ok with JBL and he fit well with Tazz. I enjoyed their pairing on smackdown.
Then there’s post 2008 draft Cole. He’s arguably the WOAT play by play wrestling announcer ever for all the reasons mentioned in this thread. He takes you out of the show. He focuses on non match related shyt. He tries way too hard to force sound bites or catch phrases while obnoxiously stanning people or totally underselling big events.
If you want to see a difference between the two and the difference between what Cole is and what he should be while also comparing him to what Jim Ross was, look at JR’s call of the end of the main events of Wrestlemania 17, the unsanctioned street fight at summerslam 2002 and it’s aftermath, the elimination chamber at the 2002 survivor series, the end of Wrestlemania 20, and the hell in a cell match between triple h and Batista. For Cole, look at his calls of the 2002 hell in a cell match between Brock Lesnar and the undertaker, Lesnar vs Kurt Angle at Wrestlemania 19, Brock vs Eddie Guerrero at no way out 2004, and Angle vs Eddie at Wrestlemania 20 for his better calls. I haven’t watched them in years, but I think he had strong calls for the tag team title matches at no mercy and the survivor series in 2002. Then for a contrast in what post 2008 draft Cole sounds like, listen to him during rock vs Cena 2012, any Roman match he calls, 90% of Cena matches he’s called after 2008, his night of champions 2014 performance, “for the love of mankind”, the entire team’s performance at fast lane 2015, or his call of the main event of Wrestlemania 30. This is the one I found most jarring and irritating, especially compared to JR’s call of the end for Wrestlemania 20 which had a few parallels to it. Post 2008 Cole has two moments or matches I liked his calls of: CM Punk vs Cena at money in the bank 2011 and his stunned silence to the streak ending.
I’m not even going to go into 2010-12 heel Michael Cole or his miz stanning back then
. He’s capable of being good, but :flabbyvince: makes sure he calls like he would, and it comes out even worse than if Vince were at the table saying the same things.
absolutely 0 classic moments. Nikka I can divide that's... 0 fukking classic moments in 10 years
