Michael Cole

For other people named Michael Cole, see Michael Cole (disambiguation).

Michael Cole
Ring name(s)	Michael Cole
Billed height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Billed weight	200 lb (91 kg)
Born	December 8, 1968 (1968-12-08) (age 42)[1] Syracuse, New York[1]
Resides	McAllen, Texas[2]
Billed from	Amenia, New York[3]
Trained by	Jack Swagger
Debut	1996[3]
Retired	April 11, 2011

Michael Sean Coulthard (born December 8, 1968),^[1] better known by his ring name Michael Cole, is an American professional wrestling commentator, currently signed to WWE on both its Raw and SmackDown brands. Coulthard is a former news journalist.

Life and career

Journalism

Coulthard began his career in the media as a journalist, working for CBS Radio.^[4] His first high-profile assignment was to cover the failed 1988 US presidential campaign of Democratic Party nominee Michael Dukakis.^[5] In 1992, he reported on the presidential campaign of Bill Clinton.^[5] Coulthard covered the 51-day siege at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, in 1993.^[4] The following year, he spent nine months covering the Yugoslavian civil war.^[5] In 1995 he was also selected to cover the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing.^[5] He returned to the presidential campaign trail in 1996 to cover the failed campaigns of Steve Forbes and Sen. Bob Dole.^[5]

World Wrestling Entertainment (1997-Present)

Backstage interviewer and Raw (1997–1999)

Cole came to the World Wrestling Federation in mid-1997 and started using the stage name "Michael Cole." He provided voice-overs for promotional videos and later became the host of LiveWire show alongside Jim Cornette.^[3] Coulthard first appeared on screen at SummerSlam, and replaced Todd Pettengill as a backstage interviewer, who left the WWF after the event. In late 1997, Cole became one of the three announcers for the first hour of Monday Night Raw, alongside Jim Ross and Kevin Kelly.^[3] Eventually Cole was permanently replaced by Jerry Lawler later in the year. In 1999, Cole became the regular play-by-play announcer for Monday Night Raw subbing for Jim Ross when Ross was devastated by Bell's palsy.^[6]

SmackDown! (1999–2008)

When the promotion's new SmackDown! television program debuted later that year, Cole was chosen to be the show's play-by-play announcer.^[4] Originally his broadcast partner was Jerry "The King" Lawler, but when Lawler briefly left the WWF, he was replaced by Cole's Heat broadcast partner Tazz shortly before the WWF vs. WCW/ECW invasion storyline.^[3][7] Cole also had a stint doing commentary on SmackDown!'s former sister show WWE Velocity.

As an announcer, Cole was rarely involved in storylines; however, he has had minor roles in storylines involving Stone Cold Steve Austin, John Cena, Heidenreich, Stephanie McMahon, Vito, and D-Generation X (Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Chyna, and Rick Rude).^[8] His 2004 angle with Heidenreich became infamous due to an implied scene where Heidenreich "Heidenraped" him in the arena restroom. In a 2008 interview, Heidenreich explained that the Cole rape angle was McMahon's idea, and that Pulp Fiction came to mind when Stephanie McMahon approached him with the idea.^[9] He also appeared in the Taxi Driver parody trailer in promotion of WrestleMania 21.

Cole called play-by-play at the 2006 Royal Rumble match because Ross, who had commentated the last three Royal Rumble matches with Tazz, had been "fired" in the storylines and replaced by former ECW play-by-play man Joey Styles, reuniting the original SmackDown! team of Cole and Lawler.^[10]

On February 3, 2006, it was announced that he and Tazz were starting a radio show on Howard Stern's "Howard 101" radio station on Sirius, airing Thursday through Sunday at 8 pm, but the show was a trial run that only lasted a couple of weeks.^[11]

On April 26, 2006, WWE announced that Cole would become the Managing Editor of WWE.com.^[4] Shortly after, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon told shareholders in a meeting held on September 14 that he believes that the website "sucks".^[12] In response, Cole replied on WWE.com about updated content for the website: a broadband network with original web-only shows have been scheduled for October, with a new mobile offering, a re-vamped subscription site and more exclusive videos and photos.^[13] Cole went on to say, "So in summary, the web site does suck, compared to where we are going to take it, but it won’t suck for long. Wish I could say the same for the boss."^[13]

On the June 9 edition of SmackDown!, Cole's broadcast partner Tazz left from SmackDown to ECW, leaving Cole at that moment without a broadcast partner.^[3][14] At ECW One Night Stand 2006, John "Bradshaw" Layfield announced he would replace Tazz as color commentator.^[15] This proved true five days later when he appeared on that week's edition of SmackDown! as Cole's new broadcast partner.^[3][16]

After JBL left the broadcast booth and returned to wrestling action on Raw, Jonathan Coachman became Cole's new partner on January 4, 2008.^[3][17] Coachman was then replaced by Mick Foley beginning at Backlash on April 27, 2008.^[3][18]

Raw commentator (2008–2010)

As a part of the 2008 WWE Draft, Cole was drafted to the Raw brand as Jim Ross was drafted to the SmackDown brand.^[19] This effectively ended Cole's near 10 year run as play-by-play commentator on Smackdown in which he called every episode except for two. (The two episodes were the pilot and the 9/11 Tribute show, both of which were called by Ross.)^[19] On the July 7, 2008 edition of Raw, Cole was attacked by Kane.^[20] He repeatedly asked Cole "Is he alive or dead?" before Cole was saved by Jerry Lawler.^[20] Cole made his in-ring debut as Lawler's partner against the tag team of Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase; a match for the World Tag Team Championship.^[21] Cole and Lawler lost after Cole inadvertently tagged himself in, and was quickly pinned by Rhodes after a lariat.^[21] On the December 14, 2009 episode of Raw, which was the 2009 Slammy Awards, Cole won The "Oh My" Moment of the Year award for vomiting on Chris Jericho at SmackDown's 10th Anniversary show on October 2.^{[citation needed]}

NXT, heel turn and feuding Jerry Lawler (2010–2011)

Cole (right) with fellow commentator Josh Mathews

Cole became the color commentator for WWE NXT when the show debuted on February 23, 2010. Cole started to show early signs of a heel turn when he began to belittle certain rookies on the show, mainly Daniel Bryan. Cole began showing a liking to The Miz, who was Bryan's pro on that season, and who was becoming a significant heel on Raw. On the May 18 episode of WWE NXT, Bryan attacked Cole as a result of Cole's comments to him over the preceding weeks. The following week, Cole called Bryan out and demanded an apology from him, or else he would sue him for the assault. Bryan insulted Cole instead. Cole retaliated by calling Bryan a "loser" and slapping him, which caused Bryan to be restrained by security as Cole left the ring.

After his rivalry ended with Bryan, Cole would begin to belittle on other rookies from other seasons of the show. In the second season of WWE NXT, Cole would do this to Kaval and in the third season with A.J., calling them all "internet darlings". During third season of WWE NXT, Cole would criticize the who competition after a challenge, which required him to ring a gong, where he then walked out, "quitting" the show. The following week, Cole would return half way through the show, returning to the show. In the fourth season of WWE NXT, Cole would be replace by Todd Grisham, but would make an appearance on the December 28 episode of WWE NXT, helping Brodus Clay in a talent competition.

On the June 21, 2010 episode of Raw, Cole was made the official spokesman for the Anonymous Raw General Manager, where he had to address the crowd what he had sent to him by e-mail. Cole would then debut his new catchphrase, "and I quote....", before reading each e-mail. On the October 1 edition of SmackDown, Cole returned to the show to join Matt Striker and Todd Grisham on commentary. On that same episode, Cole told Striker and Grisham that the reason he was on the show was that he was the new "Voice of the WWE"^[22] and that he should be on all WWE shows.

On the November 29 episode of Raw, Cole interfered in a Tables, Ladders & Chairs match for the WWE Championship between Lawler and The Miz, costing Lawler the match by helping Miz retain his title.^[23] A week later, Cole apologized, only to take it back and demand one from Lawler. After Lawler threatened to attack Cole, the anonymous Raw General Manager issued a "cease and desist" order, which barred any physicality between them and that if either of them violated the order, that individual would have their contract terminated immediately.^[24] Cole continued to argue with Lawler on commentary, telling him he was "stealing the spotlight" and to "stop putting his nose in other people's business". After Lawler unsuccessfully challenged for the WWE Championship again at WWE Elimination Chamber, Cole interviewed him about his match on the following Raw. When Cole mentioned Lawler's recently deceased mother, Lawler stole the microphone from Cole and challenged him to a match at WrestleMania XXVII. Cole responded by throwing water into Lawler's face and then running backstage.^[25]

Cole at WrestleMania XXVII.

A week later, Cole accepted Lawler's challenge to a match at WrestleMania, only if he could have his own personal trainer at ringside with him and if he could choose the special guest referee for the match. Cole then revealed his trainer to be Jack Swagger. On the March 7, 2011 episode of Raw, Cole announced that he had chosen John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) as the referee for the match, but before he could sign the contract, Stone Cold Steve Austin interrupted and delivered a Stone Cold Stunner to JBL, and then signed the contract himself, making him the referee for the match.^[26] From the March 14 episode of Raw, Cole began announcing both Raw and SmackDown inside a glass booth which he called the Cole Mine. Later that night, Cole invited Brian Christopher, Lawler's son, to the ring to reveal the truth about Lawler. Christopher confronted his father and told him he was ashamed to use the name "Lawler" and accused him of being absent from most of his life. Jim Ross then interrupted and confronted Cole and called him a "rat bastard". Jack Swagger attacked Ross and put him an Ankle Lock. Cole also followed suit.^[27][28]During following weeks he criticized the WWE Divas saying they should not be in the WWE.

At WrestleMania, Lawler won the match by submission, using the ankle lock submission hold that Cole and Swagger had used on him during the last few weeks leading into the event. While celebrating his victory with Stone Cold, the anonymous Raw General Manager reversed the decision, due to Stone Cold physically getting involved in the match by pushing Cole, thus, making Cole the winner by disqualification. A month later at Extreme Rules, Cole teamed with Swagger to defeat Jim Ross and Lawler in a Country Whipping match. Lawler challenged Cole to one last match at Over The Limit. Cole initially declined, but Swagger was provoked into agreeing to the match on Cole's behalf. A week later, Cole announced that the match would be a "Kiss My Foot" match. During the signing, Cole and Swagger's alliance ended when Cole insulted Swagger, causing him to walk out on Cole, who then tried to beg Lawler for forgiveness. At the pay-per-view, Lawler defeated Cole. After the match, Eve Torres and Jim Ross would come out and get their retribution on Cole. Eve Torres delivered her signature moonsault to Michael and Jim Ross covered Michael's face in barbecue to humiliate Michael Cole. Bret "The Hitman" Hart would then return and put Cole in his signature submission move, the Sharpshooter, to help Lawler make Cole kiss his foot.

Return to commentating and feud with Jim Ross (2011–present)

The following night on Raw, Cole would apologize to the fans and Lawler, which Lawler accepted, leading Cole to call the action with Lawler again. Cole would continue to favor most villains and question the actions of the fan favorites to regain control in matches.

On the May 30 episode of Raw, during his in-ring interview with Alex Riley, Cole would insult him, which resulted in Riley to push Cole, leading to The Miz to attack Riley from behind, with the two then beginning to brawl. On the June 20 episode of Raw, Cole was voted as the opponent for Vickie Guerrero in a dance-off, hosted by Matt Striker, with Cole winning the contest from receiving the most boo's from the crowd. On the July 25 episode of Raw, after Triple H announced the return of Jim Ross to commentary, Cole would protest to Triple H about it, where Triple H gave Cole the choice to stay or quit. After Cole deiced to stay, Triple H would place Cole in a match against Zack Ryder, in which Cole lost quickly.

On the October 17 episode of Raw, Cole was placed in a tag match, teaming with Alberto Del Rio in a losing effort against John Cena and Jim Ross. The following week on Raw, Cole would challenge JR to "The Michael Cole Challenge", where if JR would win, Cole would quit his job. JR would accepted the challenge on the November 14 episode of Raw, where he had to win all three contests to win "The Michael Cole Challenge", but after winning the first two, Cole would win the final contest, which was to see who weighted the less. After the contest, CM Punk would attack Cole by using the anaconda vise. In Result, his arm is in the cast and said he will sue Punk for the injury.

In wrestling

• Nicknames
  • "The Texas Seal"
  • "Sir" Michael Cole (used during his "Knight" gimmick)
  • "The Voice of the WWE"
• Managers
  • Jack Swagger

Awards and Accomplishments

Cole with one of his Slammy Awards in 2011.

• World Wrestling Entertainment/ WWE
  • Slammy Award for the "Oh My" Moment of the Year (2009) Vomiting on Chris Jericho at SmackDown's 10th Anniversary
  • Slammy Award for the "And I Quote..." Line of the Year (2010)
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Worst Television Announcer (2001, 2009, 2010)^[29]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Michael Cole's IMDB Profile". IMDB.com. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0170700/bio. Retrieved 2008-07-25. 
2. ^ "Weekend ramblings from the "Baron of Bar-B-Q"". J.R.'s Bar-B-Q. 2008-06-27. http://www.jrsbarbq.com/blog/weekend-ramblings-baron-bar-b-q-ed-mcmahon-and-many-wrestlers-have-same-woes-hot-dvds. Retrieved 2008-07-27. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} "WWE Bio". World Wrestling Entertainment. http://www.wwe.com/superstars/raw/michaelcole/bio/. Retrieved 2008-08-31. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d} Dee, Louie (2006-04-26). "Cole's got a new role". World Wrestling Entertainment. http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/archive/coleatdotcom. Retrieved 2008-06-27. 
5. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Michael Cole bio on USA Network". USA Network. http://www.usanetwork.com/sports/wwe/theshow/characterprofiles/cole/index.html. Retrieved 2008-07-08. 
6. ^ Milner, John M.. "Jim Ross". SLAM! Sports. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/Bios/jimross.html. Retrieved 2008-08-31. 
7. ^ Milner, John M.. "Tazz". SLAM! Sports. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/Bios/tazz.html. Retrieved 2008-08-31. 
8. ^ "WWE SmackDown! Results - September 16, 2004". Online World Of Wrestling. 2004-09-16. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/smackdown/040916.html. Retrieved 2008-08-31. 
9. ^ "Jon Heidenreich discusses his "Heidenrape" angle with Michael Cole and says it was inspired by Vince McMahon's dream". ProWrestling.net. 2008-08-02. http://www.prowrestling.net/artman/publish/InterviewHighlights/article1002316.shtml. Retrieved 2011-02-22. 
10. ^ "Royal Rumble - January 29, 2006". Hoffco-Inc. 2006-01-29. http://www.hoffco-inc.com/wwe/ppv/ppv/rr06.html. Retrieved 2008-08-31. 
11. ^ Schomburg, Eric (2006-02-13). "WWE needs to grow up: Michael Cole, Eddie Guerrero, Triple H, and Todd Grisham.". American Chronicle. http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/5829. Retrieved 2008-08-31. 
12. ^ Martin, Adam (2006-09-14). "Vince McMahon says WWE.com "sucks"; Michael Cole issues a response". WrestleView. http://www.wrestleview.com/news2006/1158286474.shtml. Retrieved 2008-08-31. 
13. ^ ^{a b} Pena, Daniel. "Vince McMahon says WWE.com "Sucks"". ProWrestling.com. http://www.prowrestling.com/article/news/1712. Retrieved 2008-08-31. 
14. ^ Dee, Louie (2007-06-09). "Hell week continues". World Wrestling Entertainment. http://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/archive/06092006/. Retrieved 2008-06-09. 
15. ^ "ECW One Night Stand 2006 Results". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/wweppv/ecwonenightstand06.html. Retrieved 2006-06-11. 
16. ^ Williams III, Ed (June 16, 2006). "Royal Beating". World Wrestling Entertainment. http://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/archive/06162006/. Retrieved 2006-06-16. "There was also a brand new color commentator on SmackDown this week – none other than JBL." 
17. ^ DiFino, Lennie (2008-01-04). "Friends and foes". World Wrestling Entertainment. http://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/archive/01042008/. Retrieved 2008-01-04. 
18. ^ "Foley joins Smackdown! broadcast team". 2008-04-27. Archived from the original on 2008-04-30. http://web.archive.org/web/20080430135314/http://www.wwe.com/shows/backlash/exclusives/foleybacklash. Retrieved 2008-04-27. 
19. ^ ^{a b} Sitterson, Aubrey (2008-06-23). "A Draft Disaster". World Wrestling Entertainment. http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/archive/06232008/. Retrieved 2008-06-25. 
20. ^ ^{a b} Adkins, Greg (2008-07-07). "Four on the Floor". World Wrestling Entertainment. http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/archive/07072008/articles/7600820. Retrieved 2008-07-08. 
21. ^ ^{a b} Sitterson, Aubrey (2008-07-28). "That's "Mr. Adamle" to you". World Wrestling Entertainment. http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/archive/07282008/. Retrieved 2008-07-29. 
22. ^ "SmackDown result 10/08/2010". WWE.com. http://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/archive/10082010/. 
23. ^ Plummer, Dale (2010-11-29). "RAW: King of the Ring crowned". SLAM! Sports. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2010/11/29/16367731.html. Retrieved 2010-11-29. 
24. ^ Plummer, Dale (2010-12-06). "RAW: Cena pushes Nexus, Barrett to the breaking point". SLAM! Sports. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2010/12/07/16454056.html. Retrieved 2010-12-06. 
25. ^ Plummer, Dale (2011-02-21). "RAW: Triple H crashes Undertaker's return". SLAM! Sports. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2011/02/22/17360261.html. Retrieved 2011-02-21. 
26. ^ http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/archive/03072011/mainarticle
27. ^ Adkins, Greg (2011-03-14). "Feign "The Rock" Johnson". World Wrestling Entertainment. http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/results/. Retrieved 2011-03-19. 
28. ^ Ross, Jim (2011). "Ankle & knee have stretched ligaments in ankle & knee. Still sore & swollen but will be ok. X-rays aft swelling goes down. Thnx Swagger/cole". Twitter. http://twitter.com/JRsBBQ/status/48361474330083330. Retrieved 2011-03-20 
29. ^ Meltzer, Dave (January 26, 2011). "Biggest issue of the year: The 2011 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards Issue". Wrestling Observer Newsletter (Campbell, CA): 1–40. ISSN 10839593. 

External links

Professional wrestling portal

• WWE profile
• Michael Cole at the Internet Movie Database

Preceded by Jim Ross	Monday Night Raw Lead Announcer 1998 - 1999	Succeeded by Jim Ross
Preceded by first ring announcer	Friday Night Smackdown Lead Announcer 1999 - 2008	Succeeded by Jim Ross
Preceded by Jim Ross	Monday Night Raw Lead Announcer 2008 -	Succeeded by Current

Persondata
Name	Cole, Michael
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	December 8, 1968
Place of birth	Syracuse, New York
Date of death
Place of death