Michael Cole On How Many More Years He Will Be A WWE Announcer
Michael Cole has put a number on how many years he might have left as a WWE announcer while also confirming the WrestleMania commentary team.
For over 25 years, Michael Cole has been a part of WWE. The former news reporter that covered major events like wars started with WWE in late 1997. Within a few years, he was doing commentary on matches and became the lead play-by-play announcer on Smackdown in late 1999 for most of the next decade.
Michael Cole has been the lead voice on WWE’s Smackdown on Fox (the most-watched weekly WWE TV show) since October 2019 with Wade Barrett as his current broadcast partner. Cole also is the lead play-by-play voice on WWE Premium Live Events with Raw’s Corey Graves joining him.
As WWE slowly phased out WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross, Cole got more TV leading to the company calling him the “Voice of WWE.” Cole even played the role of a heel announcer in the early 2010s and even had a match at WrestleMania when he “beat” Jerry Lawler at WrestleMania 27 in an awful match.
In an interview with Richard Deitsch on the Sports Media podcast, the 54-year-old seemed to indicate he has less than five years left as a WWE announcer.
“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.”
“I’ve busted my ass, 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.”
While Michael Cole may not be as beloved as a Jim Ross in terms of being a play-by-play announcer in WWE, he has been praised for improving over the years, especially since last July when Vince McMahon left the WWE creative team and Cole has had a bit more freedom on the job. Cole also oversees the WWE commentary team, so he’s more than just an announcer.
Regarding WrestleMania 39 this weekend, Michael Cole made it clear that he’ll be on commentary for both nights of WrestleMania.
“I’m calling the entire show (WrestleMania 39). Corey Graves and I, we’ll call the entire show both nights.”
WrestleMania goes Hollywood for a special two-night Premium Live Event, Saturday, April 1, and Sunday, April 2, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, streaming live on Peacock in the United States and on WWE Network everywhere else.