Michael Cole Reveals When He'll Step Away from WWE Commentary
Michael Cole is synonymous with WWE, and his voice has been part of so many unforgettable moments over the years. Over the past year though he's experienced a surge of appreciation, as the new management team in place over WWE Creative has unleashed Cole to showcase just how knowledgeable he is regarding wrestling history. His work on SmackDown has been lauded since the change, so while no one wants him to walk away, Cole does have an idea of when it will happen. In a new interview with Richard Deitsch of the Sports Media podcast, Cole revealed a possible timeframe but also revealed a hard line he's drawn in the sand for when he will walk away.
"People ask me all the time, 'How long you gonna do this for?' I'll tell you one thing, 30 years would be a really cool goal. That's four years from now but I can promise you this, I will get out before I slip. I'm not gonna be – and no disrespect to anyone else, I'm not gonna be a 75, 80-year-old man doing this week in and week out," Cole said.
"I've busted my a**, I've made a really good living and I wanna be able to get out while the going's good and still be able to enjoy the rest of my life and I don't wanna be a shell of myself. I don't wanna be that, 'My God, he used to be good. He's not good anymore.' I don't wanna be that person," Cole said.
While it was expected, Cole also revealed who his commentary partner will be for WrestleMania 39. Cole said "I'm calling the entire show (WrestleMania 39). Corey Graves and I, we'll call the entire show both nights." It was previously revealed that Cole's SmackDown partner Pat McAfee wouldn't be in the mix for WrestleMania 39, so many assumed it would be Graves and Cole, since they are the staples of their respective brands.
Many have expressed excitement that Cole is finally getting the appreciation he deserves, including former WWE correspondent, host, and commentator and now AEW correspondent Renee Paquette. In a previous episode of Renee Paquette's The Sessions Podcast, she talked about how good Cole is and how wonderful it is that he's getting to showcase that each and every week.
"My takeaway from all of that is how happy I am for how many awesomely talented people that maybe didn't get to be quite as talented as they could be due to restrictions and limitations and whatnot. Now we're gonna get really great glimpses into how awesome some people can really be," Paquette said.
Regarding Cole specifically, Paquette said "I've said this a million times and I'm just gonna reiterate how good [Cole] is. People have literally crapped on him for years and years and years. 'We hate Michael Cole. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.' You guys don't even know how good he is and what a regular Raw looks like for him and what SmackDown looks like for him. Whether he's taking notes from the truck, whether Vince is talking to him in his ear, like that dude is in a pressure cooker every single show and he takes the brunt of it."
"But now to see him actually just show his talent and get to show his love of professional wrestling, and the fact that he has been in this business for 25 plus years, and the depth of knowledge that he has in professional wrestling, it's awesome," Paquette said. "It makes me really happy to see him get to breathe and do his thing, but also to see people being like 'Oh shit, Cole is awesome.' It's like, 'Yeah, he is.'"
Are you excited for WrestleMania 39? Let us know in the comments or as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!
H/T Post Wrestling