Michael Cole and The Miz will be handling hosting duties for the 2026 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony.
Taking place on the eve of WrestleMania 42, the Hall of Fame ceremony will be held at Dolby Live at Park MGM in Las Vegas this Friday night. It was announced today that Cole and Miz will be the hosts of the ceremony, which streams live on the ESPN app in the United States and on YouTube internationally with a start time of midnight Eastern/9 p.m. Pacific.
Stephanie McMahon, AJ Styles, Demolition, Sid Vicious, Bad News Brown, and Dennis Rodman are this year’s inductees. WWE will also honor Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant from WrestleMania III with the Immortal Moment Award, which was introduced in 2025 as a way to celebrate iconic matches from company history.
Michael Cole has addressed his incorrect call at the finish of the night one WWE WrestleMania 37 main event.
The show was headlined by Bianca Belair defeating Sasha Banks with her KOD finisher, but Cole said that Banks had kicked out. Corey Graves corrected him immediately after the call.
During a recent appearance on the Sal Licata show, Cole said he apologized to both wrestlers afterward, but noted that fans have never let him live it down.
Cole said:
“I had a massive screw up in the WrestleMania where Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair headlined WrestleMania. The first time two African-American women had headlined the main event at WrestleMania. I screwed up at the finish. I was embarrassed by it. I apologized to both of the women afterward. They understand that things happen.
The fans have never to this day let me forget about it. But it is something I regretted. I’d love to have it back if I could, but it’s just one of those moments you’re in the heat of the moment.
It’s just like calling any sporting event. Sometimes there’s going to be a mistake. That’s why when the fans go off on a Joe Buck or all the issues with Tony Romo this year, I feel for those guys because Romo and Buck are the best in the business. There’s nobody in the world better than them. Yet they’re constantly being berated by people who believe they can be better, that believe they know better.”
“I’ve said before, put on these headsets, sit at ringside for two hours one night, and let’s see what you can do.”
The finish of Banks vs. Belair at WrestleMania 37 is cued in the below video:
Cole’s full appearance on The Sal Licata Show is available below. The video is cued to his comments about WrestleMania 37.
WWE is shaking up its announce teams beginning in 2026.
According to a report from PWInsider on Tuesday, Michael Cole and Corey Graves will be the Raw commentary team beginning with the January 5 show. On SmackDown, it will be Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett for what will again be a three-hour show beginning January 2.
Graves being announced as on the Raw commentary team for the Netflix one-year anniversary show comes nearly a year after he was moved to the NXT brand and Pat McAfee joined Cole on Raw. Later that month, Graves posted his frustration at the situation to social media and briefly was absent from his NXT commentary role as well.
This is the second change to the commentary assignments the company has made in recent months. Cole and Graves were announced as the new SmackDown team in September as Joe Tessitore moved to Raw to allow him to also cover College football.
🚨| Per PWInsider, Michael Cole and Corey Graves are set to return as RAW’s commentary team beginning January 5, 2026.
SmackDown will be called by Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett starting January 2, 2026. pic.twitter.com/Do38ktIgl4
Brock Lesnar made a statement on the final SmackDown before Wrestlepalooza.
The open to Friday’s show saw Michael Cole meet Lesnar as he was making his way to the ring. Lesnar grabbed Cole and carried him into the ring, dropping him on the ground. He was about to go in for the attack when Corey Graves entered the ring and attempted to calm Lesnar down, causing Cole to flee the ring. Attempts to calm Lesnar down failed as he quickly laid out Graves with an F5, then followed with another after medical staff went to check on Graves. Lesnar yelled at Cena through the camera and told him he was coming for blood at Saturday’s Wrestlepalooza.
After the commercial break, Lesnar was seen walking to the back when he came across Paul Heyman, making his television return after selling a Roman Reigns attack at Clash in Paris. Lesnar told Heyman they’d have to talk before making his exit.
The Miz would eventually join Cole’s side to call the rest of the show.
Graves was initially a wrestler in NXT before retiring in 2014 due to concussion issues. Back in 2022, it was reported that Graves was cleared by WWE doctors and is no longer on WWE’s no-contact list. Despite this, Graves said at the time it wasn’t an immediate goal of his to get back into the ring.
Michael Cole and Corey Graves opened Friday’s WWE SmackDown and welcomed us to the program. Cole informed viewers that they would be the announce team going forward in the coming months as Joe Tessitore covers college football, which just started.
The announce teams for both Raw and SmackDown have shifted in the last year. When Tessitore came on board with WWE, he and Wade Barrett were made the SmackDown announce team while Michael Cole and Pat McAfee served as the voices for Raw. However, earlier this summer McAfee announced that he would be taking a break from doing WWE commentary, with Graves being called back up from NXT as a fill-in.
Graves was initally moved from the main roster to NXT as a result of Tessitore joining the broadcast team last year. He voiced his frustrations with the move online and was briefly removed from NXT commentary before eventually returning.
Barrett did commentary with Cole for the Clash in Paris PLE and this past Monday’s Raw in Lyon, France.
Michael Cole has named his all-time favorite broadcast partner.
During an interview with WFAN, Cole named Taz, who previously worked at the station, as his favorite. Cole and Taz were the broadcast team on SmackDown from 2001 until 2006, when Taz moved to the newly revived ECW brand.
Cole also mentioned Corey Graves, Pat McAfee, and JBL, but noted that he and Taz were the best announce team in wrestling for a number of years.
Cole said:
“I’ve had a lot of great partners over the years. JBL was a great one, Corey Graves, Pat McAfee. But to me, my favorite partner of all time was Taz. Taz and I really took over SmackDown, under the tutelage of Paul Heyman. And we, to me, became the best announce team in the business there for a few years.”
Cole also gave his thoughts on WWE SummerSlam as a two-night event during the interview:
“I love the two-night format, especially for our big shows, WrestleMania and SummerSlam, because we were getting to the point on these big shows where we were going five, six, sometimes seven hours. That is viewer fatigue. I think now we’re able to get more of our talent on the cards. We can keep the shows to three and a half to four hours.“
Taz worked primarily in radio after departing TNA Wrestling in 2015. In addition to hosting a show on CBS Radio, Taz also occasionally hosted shows on WFAN in a fill-in role. He also hosted a special post-WWE Survivor Series show on the station in 2018. He later joined AEW in 2019 and began working on the AEW Dynamite commentary team in June 2022.
Cole’s full appearance on WFAN, where he also gives his thoughts on his New York Mets, is available below. His thoughts on Taz begin around the 16:25 mark.
Gunther took his anger out on the Raw announce team.
During the Raw following WrestleMania 41, Gunther emerged at the ringside area through the crowd as they started to chant “you tapped out.” An angry Gunther confronted Michael Cole about his situation. Cole responded that he wasn’t the one who tapped out on Saturday. The enraged former champion then went in on the attack, putting Cole in a chokehold. Pat McAfee went to save his commentary partner, only for Gunther to let go of Cole and attack McAfee, putting him in a choke as well. WWE officials came in to break things up as Gunther had McAfee on the ground.
The next several minutes saw officials help McAfee to the back, with Cole nearby. As McAfee was taken to the trainer’s room, Pearce asked Cole to take the rest of the night off. Cole rejected the idea, saying he wasn’t going to let a bully tell him not to have opinions or enjoy WrestleMania weekend. He eventually returned to the announce table with Joe Tessitore.
Jey Uso defeated Gunther at Saturday’s WrestleMania 41, shockingly submitting the Ring General with a rear naked choke. Earlier on Raw, Uso celebrated his championship win with the returning Sami Zayn and his twin brother Jimmy.
Michael Cole says his new WWE contract will last until he is “retirement age.”
The 58-year-old revealed the news on Monday during an episode of Logan Paul’s Impaulsive, stating that WWE made him feel important to the company for the first time.
“Just signed a brand new contract with the company. So I’m going to be here for a number of years,” Cole said on the show. He would later reveal that he has eight years left on the deal.
“The company really made me feel, you know, really for the first time that I was really important to this place.”
He was asked what about the deal made him feel that way and he responded:
“The paycheck is part of it but the new regime had a lot to do with it. When I went to sign the new deal, I sat down with my wife and I’m 58 years old now and I’m like, ‘They want to get me to retirement age.’ And this is because we had talked about me getting out of this for a long while now just because of the travel and everything else. And and she was like, ‘You got to do it. This is your legacy. Like, you’re going to be miserable if you don’t finish this up the way you want to finish it up.’ And she was great about it. So, she was one hundred percent on board with it and so I’m here for a while.”
Cole re-signed with WWE last spring, but the length of the deal was not disclosed. It was only stated that it would keep him with the company for “the foreseeable future.” He’s been in WWE for nearly 30 years, having first signed with the company in 1997.
Cole also addressed Corey Graves’ situation, noting that Graves took a brief sabbatical after a late-night social media post implying frustration over being moved from the Raw broadcast team to NXT.
Cole said:
“I still don’t understand all the dynamics of it. I know that he sent something out on social media that was pretty critical of the company. He tried to explain to everyone that he was trying to generate some interest in maybe a type of a storyline. I don’t think the company saw it that way.”
“I think he and the company are working that out. I love Corey to death—he’s an unbelievable commentator. Beside McAfee, he’s probably the best partner I’ve ever had.”
Cole also spent some time during the interview discussing the changes he’s seen in the company since the departure of Vince McMahon.
“Listen, I will never ever disparage Vince McMahon,” Cole said. “He’s got his personal issues and whatnot but from a professional standpoint, I’ll never disparage the man. I would not be here today without Vince. He gave me everything.”
He continued:
“I’ll never disparage the man but Vince was very heavy-handed. It was his company, his sandbox, whatever he wanted. So, I was never really able to break out and be myself, with the exception of a little bit of a heel run I had over a decade ago. But when Vince left and Paul came and was in charge, Triple H, he really changed things. Then we brought in Lee Fitting, who came from ESPN. Lee coming from ESPN, where the talent is the announcer, he came here and said, ‘I don’t understand why our guys at the desk aren’t bigger and have bigger personas and aren’t as respected as the people in the ring.'”
“What Lee and Paul have allowed us to do is bring our personalities out and you’re seeing the real Michael Cole now.”
Working alongside Pat McAfee has changed how Michael Cole approaches his role as a WWE commentator.
Speaking to Front Office Sports for an article published this week, Cole said being paired with McAfee has “100 percent” increased Cole’s enthusiasm for commentary and his longevity in the role. Cole said McAfee has taught him how to have fun — and Cole sees their pairing as two guys sitting back drinking beer on a Monday night talking about wrestling as opposed to two people acting like traditional commentators.
“I think one of the reasons that I’ve been here so long is the ability to…evolve. Over the years, I’ve gone from a straight play-by-play man to a heel. I’ve had matches. I’ve been beaten up. I went back to being a straightforward play-by-play man again,” Cole said. “With the emergence of Pat McAfee, Pat’s allowed me to understand that this business is supposed to be fun. It’s not serious, right? This is supposed to be a fun place to work. Sitting back and watching Pat, the one thing I’ve learned is we’re all fans. Pat has allowed me to really open up. He’s taught me how to entertain.
“It’s sort of like two guys just sitting back on a Monday night drinking a beer and talking about wrestling as opposed to two guys that are trying to act as wrestling commentators. We’re trying to understand and decipher it just as you guys do at home.”
Cole told Front Office Sports that he’s having more fun now than he’s ever had in his 28-year WWE career. He signed a new multi-year contract with WWE in 2024, and Cole said he’s looking forward to WWE reaching new heights over the next few years with Raw now on Netflix.
Raw moved to Netflix at the start of 2025 with Cole and McAfee serving as the show’s commentary team. McAfee made his return to Raw on the Netflix premiere after being gone for several months during college football season.
This Sunday (February 16), a new series titled WWE’s Greatest Moments premieres on A&E at 10:30 p.m. Eastern time. Cole is the host of the series. Its first episode will count down classic moments from Raw in the 1990s.
The Raw commentator made his WWE return at Saturday Night’s Main Event joining Michael Cole on commentary to call the action. It was his first appearance since August, when he took time off to call College GameDay coverage for ESPN.
Prior to his absence, it was announced that McAfee would be returning for the premiere of Raw on Netflix, which is set for January 6. In a recent post on social media, McAfee reiterated he was excited to return to announcing next month when the college football season wraps up.
“Can’t wait to be talking into a microphone next to @MichaelCole again.. He’s the [greatest of all time] I’m excited to tell the worldwide audience on Netflix how great the WWE Superstars are…. and how big of scumbags some of ‘em are too. Let’s go,” he wrote.
McAfee is slated to return to commentary on Raw with Cole, who moved to SmackDown in the fall. It wasn’t made clear what would happen to the current Raw announce team, Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett.
Our weekly show with Garrett Gonzales on Friday had myself, John Muse, and Ethan Tyler discussing the 2024 Hall of Fame ballot. If you are into a historical look at Europe, Mexico, U.S., and other places, you’ll really like this show. Muse and Tyler really brought their A games and we’ve had a lot of very positive feedback on it.
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking about the weekend news.
PFL fighter Daiane Silva, 29, is in a coma after cutting weight for her 9/14 bout in London on a Bellator show. She had fought previously at 155 and cut to 145. MMA reporter Drake Riggs wrote “Can confirm she was in a coma and is still there, although her current status is unknown. Everything has been eerily quiet as I’ve been tracking this story since it happened…It’s been kept under wraps because PFL and employees have been explicitly told not to talk about it.” That is crazy that this has been kept quiet until today. PFL officials haven’t responded to questions.
PFL Battle of The Giants PPV results from yesterday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia:
Paul Hughes b AJ McKee via split decision 29-28 28-29, 29-28 to cost McKee a shot at the Bellator lightweight title
Zafar Mohsnsen b Husein Kadimagomaev 30-27 across the board
Johnny Eblen retained the Bellator middleweight title with straight 48-47 scores over Fabian Edwards, who came on strong late.
Cris Cyborg won the women’s superfight title over Larissa Pacheco on straight 49-46 scores
Francis Ngannou finished Renen Ferreria via knockout in 3:22 of the first round to win the men’s superfight title.
Rev Pro from yesterday in Doncaster, UK:
Will Kaven b Cameron Khai to retain the British cruiserweight title
Hiromu Takahashi & Titan b Callum Newman & JJ Gale when Titan pinned Newman. Chris Bronson attacked Gale after the match.
AZM b Kanji with a small package
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Leon Slater & Zozaya b Gabe Kidd & Connor Mills & Jay Joshua when Tanahashi pinned Mills with a high fly flow. Tanahashi said that Slater & Zozaya are the future of wrestling and that New Japan should try to sign them. He also said he wants to come back to the U.K. next year before he retires.
Yota Tsuji b Mascara Dorada. Tsuji replaced Lio Rush who had transportation problems coming from the U.S.
Zack Sabre Jr. b Robbie X. abre offered X a spot in TMDK but X refused
Mina Shirakawa b Lizzy Evo to keep the British women’s title
Michael Oku b Ricky Knight Jr. after two frog splashes to earn a British heavyweight title shot. The crowd was split. Many were negative on Knight due to a controversial post.
Luke Jacobs b Tomohiro Ishii via chicken wing facelock to keep the British title. Oku & Amira came out to set up the Jacobs vs. Oku rematch
I was told every match was good but the Oku, Jacobs, and Sabre bouts are all really strong. (thanks to Fox Whittaker, Chris Bourke, Paul Leask, David Hayter and Graeme Barrie)
Another match I heard people raving about was yesterday’s Konosuke Takeshita vs. Mike Bailey match for Maple Leaf Wrestling in Windsor, ONT.
It was 21 years ago yesterday that Mike Hegstrand, Road Warrior Hawk, passed away at the age of 46.
NJPW Royal Quest results from today in London:
Yuto Nakashima & Oskar Leube b Danny Jones & Brendan White
Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X b Joe Lando & Danny Black
Michael Cole was on a family vacation this week and took Friday off TV.
Maple Leaf Wrestling at 7 p.m. Eastern on Triller tonight with:
Konosuke Takeshita vs. Josh Alexander for the AEW International title l
Athena vs. Gisele Shaw for the ROH women’s title
Mike Bailey vs. El Phantasmo for the TNA X title
Classy Ali vs. El Reverso for the Qatar title
Raj Dhesi & Bhupinder Gujjar vs. QT Marshall & Bully Ray
Jake Something vs. Trevor Lee vs. Stu Grayson vs. Psycho Mike Rollins vs. Sheldon Jean vs. Alex Zayne
Update on Wednesday’s Dynamite show has Mark Briscoe vs. Chris Jericho in a ladder match for the ROH title, Young Bucks & Jack Perry vs. Daniel Garcia & Private Party, Sammy Guevara vs. Shelton Benjamin plus Hook reveals who attacked Taz and Kyle Fletcher has an interview.
If you want to plant a tree in honor of Joe Koff, whose funeral took place earlier today, here is information.
House of Glory results from Friday night in New York: Amazing Red b J Boujii, Joey Silver & Midas Black & Jay Lyon b Nolo Kitano & Raheem Royal & Jay Armani, Allie Katch b Diamond Virago, La Sombra NC Idris Jackson, Nic Nemeth b El Hijo del Vikingo to retain the TNA title, Zilla Fatu b Real 1 (Enzo Amore) to keep the Crown Jewel title, Mike Santana b Masato Tanaka to retain the HOG title. The next show is 12/20 (thanks to Samuel Rosenthal)
GCW from last night in Los Angeles: 1 Called Manders & Effy b Bad Dude Tito & Che Cabrera, Sidney Akeem b Jack Evans (said to be really good), Alec Price & Cole Radrick b Choch Chhun & Guillermo Rosas, Megan Bayne b Juicy Finau (said to be really good), Parrow & Richard Holliday b Broke Havok & Dark Sheik, Jack Cartwheel b Mr. Danger, Arez & Gringo Loc b Epydemius Jr. & Spider Fly (excellent match), Chris Bey b Broski Jimmy, Scorpio Sky b Starboy Charlie, Ciclone NC Rina Yamashita in a death match (thanks to Chris Champol)
Beside the Ring Wrestling on 11/23 in Elizabethton, NJ at Happy Valley High School with Heath Slater wrestling and an appearance by Marcus Bagwell.
Clash Wrestling from Friday night in Taylor, MI: Kid Lykos & Kid Lykos II b. Philly & Marino Experience, Alex Colon b Otis Cogar, Alice Crowley b Jessicka Havok, Turbo Lover b Joe Dredd, Shane Sabre won over Jake Crist, Christian Napier & Zach Thomas & Crash Jaxon and Mark Wheeler, Homicide b Vince Nothing, Eric Ryan b Atticus coar, Krule b Rickey Shane Page (thanks to Leonard Brand)
Kirk White’s Big Time Wrestling from Friday night at the Newark, CA Pavilion: Jiah Jewel b Jheri Giggalow, Toa Liona b Ice Williams Titus Alexander b Alan Angels, Harley Cameron won three-way over Sandra Moone and Leila Grey, Starboy Charlie b QT Marshall, Too Fresh won over Los Sauavasitos and Billy Gunn & Kaka Meng, Aaron Solo b Marcus Lewis to win the BTW title (thanks to Jim Davis). Alexander vs Angels was said to be the highlight.
Derrick King, who dates back to the Jarrett territory days, announced his retirement on this week’s Memphis Wrestling TV show. We don’t know if it’s an angle or not (thanks to Brian Tramel)
On this week’s SmackDown, Corey Graves announced that Cole was on ‘special assignment’ and as a result, wouldn’t be doing commentary. Wade Barrett instead called the action alongside Graves.
Cole has only missed WWE events a handful of times since he joined the company in 1997. He last missed a show during Raw’s season premiere last October due to a personal commitment. Before that, he missed a show back in September 2017 to attend his son’s wedding.
As WWE started their new television deals this fall, they have once again reshuffled their announce teams. Cole and Corey Graves are now the announce team for SmackDown on the USA Network, while Barrett and Joe Tessitore are the new Raw announce team as the show’s time on the USA winds down. When Raw moves to Netflix in January, Pat McAfee will return to commentary following college football season.
It was announced earlier this year that Cole had signed a new contract with the WWE this spring.
WWE Bash in Berlin coverage, business, records, interest level, crossover buys with AEW and an overview of the show.
AEW All Out
NXT No Mercy coverage
The life and career of Villano V, son of one of the biggest stars in history, Ray Mendoza, his sons, formation of a promotion that became one of the hottest in the world at the time, the background of Los Villanos from a movie, his run in WCW as enhancement talent, the legend of Villanos vs. Brazos and Villano V vs Blue Panther in Mexican legacy and life after wrestling.
How Turki Alashikh is trying to change boxing on PPV, possible motives, and how AEW does on PPV is a key in analyzing this.
Kevin Kelly and the Tate Twins sue AEW, the most detailed look at the suit itself what it means, and potential outcomes
The life and times of Sonny King, wrestling all over the world, from early WWWF tag champion to Crockett headliner, when he was stabbed, his days as a manager, philosophy of wrestling, and more.
The most detailed look at the ratings for all the pro wrestling shows over the past week, demos,
segments placing and competition.
Chris Jericho talks about returning to Mexico
All kids of major events planned for Arena Mexico in upcoming weeks
Celebrity knocks company that used him and praises their opposition
Stardom Five Star Grand Prix finals
NOAH’s N-1 finals
Suzuki vs. Shibata in Japan
Honoring Yoshihiro Takayama and Don Frye talks
Three generations of superstars in one match
Nikki Bella/Garcia news coverage
Notes on movies and TV shows featuring current stars
Santo retirement tour
The Wrestling Combine
Rich Swanna going to rehab
TNA big show coverage
Lots more on All In business
Tony Khan press call
Health updates on wrestlers
Nigel McGuinness talks wrestling
Mark Henry had words regarding AEW and Tony Khan
International TV ratings
Sting’s son training for wrestling update
Highest merch sellers in WWE and AEW
UFC record gate coming
Fighter sues manager for embezzling $2 million
WWE television changes
More Janel Grant court issues
Firing of Odyssey Jones
Vince McMahon documentary
Lawsuit against WWE and Cody Rhodes
More people leaving WWE after decades with the company
This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter Back Issue
Punk responded to the news of him and Drew McIntyre facing off in a Hell in a Cell match on Instagram.
The Street Profits vs. Axiom and Nathan Frazer for the NXT Tag Team titles will kick off Tuesday’s NXT.
Both Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair expressed interest in defending the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles on NXT. Shawn Micheals on X replied: “I hear you ladies loud and clear and love the sound of that. Door’s always open, just say when.”
Cargill replied: “Chicago?,” referencing NXT’s premiere on the CW on October 1. Shawn Micheals replied: Then ladies, “I’ll see you in Chicago.”
NXT Anonymous posted a video of Tony D’Angelo paying someone off to take care of Oba Femi.
In an interview with NJPW’s website, DOUKI continued to express interest in a future title vs. title match with Mistico: “We-ell, maybe the Japanese fans might not realise this, but Mistico tends to challenge people to mask versus mask and title matches in every venue he’s in (laughs). It got a good reaction, so I don’t know whether he was serious or just saying it for the pop. But if he’s serious I want to do it. If we did it in Mexico, it would be ten times the heat in Sendai. The crowd would be 1000% for him so that would be a lot of fun.”
William Regal reflected on the death of Kuniaki Kobayashi on X: “A brilliant wrestler who wasn’t heralded enough for his exceptional skills and being a huge part of the early ‘80’s Jr Heavyweight division in @njpwglobal. My deepest condolences to his friends and family. I think every tour I did for NJPW I did in the 90’s he was on. Rest well.”
Michael Cole & Corey Graves will be the broadcast team for WWE SmackDown when it returns to USA Network next month.
Cole & Graves announced during Monday’s WWE Raw show that they will be at the commentary desk for SmackDown as it returns to USA Network with the Friday, September 13 episode. Graves substituted for Pat McAfee on Monday’s Raw as McAfee is on hiatus from WWE until the conclusion of college football season in January.
Joe Tessitore will join the Raw commentary team on the Monday, September 2 episode. It remains unclear if Tessitore will be paired with Graves on Raw or Wade Barrett. Graves & Barrett have been the SmackDown commentary duo on Fox since February of this year.
Reports indicate that Tessitore will be moving to SmackDown in January, also after college football season, as Tessitore calls football for ABC/ESPN, and that Cole will shift back to Raw at that point as the program moves from USA to Netflix.
Earlier this year, Michael Cole agreed to terms on a new contract with WWE.
The Ringer recently spent some time with Cole for a profile piece that was published in advance of SummerSlam. In the story, it was revealed that Cole signed a new WWE contract this spring. The length of the deal wasn’t disclosed, but Cole will remain the voice of WWE for the “foreseeable future.”
“This spring, Cole signed a new contract that will keep him as the voice of WWE for the foreseeable future,” The Ringer wrote.
Cole is currently part of the WWE Raw commentary team, calling the show alongside Pat McAfee. The Ringer’s story says that Cole will remain Raw’s lead play-by-play voice when it moves to Netflix in January 2025.
It was reported this May that Cole had “pulled back” from his behind-the-scenes role managing WWE announcers so that he could fully concentrate on his on-air duties. In addition to calling SummerSlam, Cole will be one of the panelists for the PLE pre-show this Saturday.
Cole has now been with WWE for 27 years. Since Vince McMahon exited the company, fans have discovered a newfound appreciation for Cole and the work he does on play-by-play. Cole (real name Sean Michael Coulthard) told The Ringer that — over the last three years — he’s shown more of his real personality on-screen.
“The first 24 years, Michael Cole was out here,” Cole said. “I was playing a broadcaster. The last three years, Sean Coulthard, … that’s who you’re seeing. That personality I’m bringing out now is who I really am. I’m bombastic. I’m sarcastic. I’m a prick. But I’m also a hell of a good broadcaster.”
