Kaitlyn Explains Why Michael Cole Apologized To Her In 2018
Former WWE superstar Kaitlyn has revealed that long-time WWE commentator Michael Cole offered her an apology following some questionable commentary several years before.
Cole was the commentator on NXT when it was still somewhat of a reality-based show that saw rookies compete for a spot in WWE. The third season of this incarnation of NXT was exclusive to female competitors and took place at a time when Michael Cole was at the height of his heel run at the commentary table.
As with previous seasons of the show, Cole took every opportunity to rundown the rookie contestants and treated much of the presentation like a joke.
Appearing on the Total Smark Wrestling podcast, the winner of season 3 of NXT Kaitlyn discussed Cole’s commentary and how the veteran broadcaster offered an apology when the two came across each other again at the 2018 Mae Young Classic:
“When I went back to the Mae Young Classic in 2018, I had the opportunity to sit down with Michael Cole. I think he might have felt a little bad because he was the main commentator on NXT, and he was so mean to us. As a commentator, you have so much ability to shift people’s perspectives and mindset, and he just sh*t on us like so much. It was funny but it also made us feel like sh*t and other people sh*t on us because of it. And it just added more to the concept of like, people used to refer to the divas matches as bathroom breaks, and so it didn’t help our cause.”
“There was nothing to elevate the women for a long time. And I know he was just doing his job and making his name. So I had the opportunity to sit down with him, Beth (Phoenix) and Renee (Young) because they did the commentary for the Mae Young Classic in 2018. It was cool to sit down with the three of them, and Michael Cole apologized about that time. And I was like ‘I totally get it.’ It wasn’t personal obviously. It was cool to have that moment that we all kinda came back after however many years.”
Kaitlyn began appearing on SmackDown after her on-screen NXT success. She formed a tag team with AJ Lee before the two women embarked on a heated feud with one another. Kaitlyn won the WWE Divas Championship in January 2013 for the only time in her career, holding onto the title for several months before losing it to Lee.