Leaked audio of Michael Cole arguing with Vince?/Interesting interview with Cole

Gerry Rio

Some think it is Kevin Dunn he initially gets a bit smart with and then he changes his tone completely to Vince ("sir").

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmJgCO2JjBI

There's also this, he recently spoke with Sports Illustrated, here are the highlights

How privy he will be to what’s going down at WrestleMania:


If I wanted to know, I could know everything. But I don’t want to know and especially at WrestleMania. A perfect example was last year with the Undertaker and Brock Lesnar. When Undertaker’s streak was ended by Brock, oh, my God, I was as shocked as the people sitting at the stadium that night inside the [New Orleans] Superdome. I had know no idea in a million years that was going to happen, and that was the reaction you got out of our call hopefully. I was expecting The Undertaker to kick out and I did one of my normal “One, two…” and I was expecting to say kick out and all of a sudden it was three. I looked at John and he looked at me and I mouthed to him off-air, “Is it over?”



His eyes were big and wide and I said to myself: “Okay, the streak is over.” I want those moments to happen. One of my favorite WrestleMania matches to call was the first time Rock and John Cena met in Miami [at Wrestlemania XXVIII]. I didn’t know what would happen and it was such a great year-long build. It makes that moment so much better. At the end of the day, just like anyone else who calls any sport, we are fans of the product and we want to be as intrigued as everybody else.


Who is in his ear during RAW? :



So this is the fun part of my job. People think I sit down in a chair and I look at the ring and say, “Okay there are two guys fighting and this is what they are doing” and call the match. That is, and I swear to God, so far from the truth. I sit down and in my headset when I am calling Monday Night Raw for three hours, I have my executive producer, I hear my audio technician, I hear whoever is producing us backstage whether it is [WWE Chairman and CEO] Mr. [Vince] McMahon or Triple H or whoever it may be at the time. I also have two guys I have to listen to that I am working with so we can have a conversation on the air.



So at any given time I have my voice, the two guys at ring side, audio, the executive producer and whoever is producing that night. So I sometimes have six voices in my head at once while we are on the air on live television.



While that is going on, someone might say that the number one trend in the world on Twitter is this and we have to hit on it. Meanwhile, don’t forget to tell people why Paige is doing this to Nikki Bella. Then John may be telling me a joke and Booker T might be laughing and I have to keep all this going and keep the train on the tracks. I am a traffic cop.


How hard it is to do three hours of RAW? :



When 11:15 p.m. ET rolls around, people have said to all of us, “You guys look like zombies. And it’s true. It is mentally exhausting. And it is physically exhausting, too. I sweat through my suit sometimes. When I am done, I get in my car to drive to the next town and I completely zone out for two or three hours. But it is also rewarding every week. I love it.


What he considers the greatest match he’s called:



I have done a lot of thinking about this the last couple weeks as we get ready for WrestleMania. I think the number one match for me professionally and personally wasEddie Guerrero and Brock Lesnar in 2004. Eddie had gone through a lot in his career and I was very close to Eddie. That night was a really special moment for me. I’d also pick theMick Foley call the night he won the championship [in 1999] during the Monday Night Wars. Was it a great call? I don’t think by any stretch of the imagination but what made that call special to me was the emotion in my voice.



That was a special moment. Mick and I have been real close over the years because of our connection to Bruce Springsteen. We are both huge Springsteen fans and we both know Springsteen’s guitarist, Nils Lofgren. That’s sort has been our bond, and Mick gave me for my birthday one year a harmonica that Springsteen had used in a concert. Rock-John Cena I is up there too. That was one of my all-time favorite calls. And in retrospect, I would put last year’s Lesnar-Undertaker match because of the historical significance and the surprise factor.


On Sting in WWE:



He’s a great guy, number one. Number two, I thought I would ever have the opportunity to do that. In my career I have called matches of some of the greatest guys of all time andSting is one of those guys that I don’t think any of us who have been all WWE all the time ever thought we’d have the opportunity to say, “Oh, my God, it’s Sting.”? To be able to call him and Hunter (Triple H) at WrestleMania is going to be an absolute thrill.


On Paul Heyman:



He is an absolute genius. Paul Heyman, a lot of people don’t know this, used to be the head writer on SmackDown when I was cutting my chops as a wrestling announcer. He taught me so much about this business. If it weren’t for Paul, I probably would not be in the position I am in. He is a genius.

I dont believe for a second that he wasnt privvy to Taker losing at Mania last year. There was no disbelief in his voice whatsoever when he said "and the streak ..... is over"

There's a point as well where JBL says something about "it feels like the Streak could really end" or similar and Cole changes the tone completely, to try and keep the result a surprise to the audience.

Nevertheless, both the video and the article show that maybe the IWC are a bit harsh on Cole as his decline in decent commentary is down to Vince/HHH/Dunn in his ear asking him to push the Network, Twitter, the App or whatever else isnt calling the actual match.

Cole's commentary with Tazz on Smackdown wasnt too bad at all. He was never going to be JR standard, but then who is?

Tugboats

Gerry Rio wrote: »

I dont believe for a second that he wasnt privvy to Taker losing at Mania last year. There was no disbelief in his voice whatsoever when he said "and the streak ..... is over"

I was under the impression the streak was kept under wraps?. Either way Cole is rubbish so his reaction to it doesn't lend weight to the argument that he knew

Gerry Rio

Tugboats wrote: »

I was under the impression the streak was kept under wraps?. Either way Cole is rubbish so his reaction to it doesn't lend weight to the argument that he knew

Same here. Wasnt it Shawn Michaels who revealed that the only people who knew were Vince, HHH, Taker, Brock, Heyman and the ref?

For what its worth the Cole detractors can use that match as ample ammunition. Terrible stuff from all involved on that match.

Tugboats

Gerry Rio wrote: »

Same here. Wasnt it Shawn Michaels who revealed that the only people who knew were Vince, HHH, Taker, Brock, Heyman and the ref?

For what its worth the Cole detractors can use that match as ample ammunition. Terrible stuff from all involved on that match.

ya. He said on JRs podcast that the decision was made 4hrs before the show started

Donegal Dan

The fault lies with all the voices in his head. All 6 of them. But then again it is hard to sympatise with Cole too much after hearing all those grovelling "sir"s. Who the hell has to call their boss "sir"?

Caovyn Lineah

Donegal Dan wrote: »

The fault lies with all the voices in his head. All 6 of them. But then again it is hard to sympatise with Cole too much after hearing all those grovelling "sir"s. Who the hell has to call their boss "sir"?

Think about who his boss is for a second, I would imagine any hint of disrespect and he would be future endeavoured immediately.

Tugboats

Donegal Dan wrote: »

The fault lies with all the voices in his head. All 6 of them. But then again it is hard to sympatise with Cole too much after hearing all those grovelling "sir"s. Who the hell has to call their boss "sir"?

Caovyn Lineah wrote: »

Think about who his boss is for a second, I would imagine any hint of disrespect and he would be future endeavoured immediately.

Plenty of Yanks use the Sir word its pretty common. I dont think evil Vince is forcing people to call him Sir:rolleyes:

Moneymaker

Donegal Dan wrote: »

The fault lies with all the voices in his head. All 6 of them. But then again it is hard to sympatise with Cole too much after hearing all those grovelling "sir"s. Who the hell has to call their boss "sir"?

It's Vince McMahon.

This is the guy who booked himself to go over God.

Enough said.

the groutch

I think the number one match for me professionally and personally wasEddie Guerrero and Brock Lesnar in 2004.

the match after which he referred to it being a "new kind of high" for Eddie.

Agent Coulson

Leaked audio of Michael Cole arguing with Vince?

What I get from that is someone asking their boss a question and their boss giving them an answer of what they want done no sign of arguing at all.

Gerry Rio

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Leaked audio of Michael Cole arguing with Vince?

What I get from that is someone asking their boss a question and their boss giving them an answer of what they want done no sign of arguing at all.

"Do you want me to say that every time, because Ive said it a sh*t load of times already"

Sounds like an argumentative tone to me.

But then he changes tact completely and goes into "sir" mode which is why some think it was Kevin Dunn he was talking to at the start and then Vince butts in.

Machismo Fan

Raw's commentary is objectively terrible but that's always sounded like the absolute worst job in the company. Josh Mathews on Taz's podcast was talking about how much he dreaded going out there because of how much he was shouted at. I've always thought when Cole just gets a chance to call matches he's a damn good announcer.

Gerry Rio

In addition I think Tazz has stated or hinted at that the reason he left WWE was how much Vince was shouting at him in the headset during the broadcasts.

I dont have a link to hand but Ive read it somewhere before.

grames_bond

Gerry Rio wrote: »

In addition I think Tazz has stated or hinted at that the reason he left WWE was how much Vince was shouting at him in the headset during the broadcasts.

I dont have a link to hand but Ive read it somewhere before.

Foley said the same!

slicus ricus

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Leaked audio of Michael Cole arguing with Vince?

What I get from that is someone asking their boss a question and their boss giving them an answer of what they want done no sign of arguing at all.

Gerry Rio wrote:

"Do you want me to say that every time, because Ive said it a sh*t load of times already"

Sounds like an argumentative tone to me.

I'm with Agent Coulson on this. Sounds to me like Cole was just contributing by asking a question, Vince replied confirming that Cole needed to say it every time and explained why, Cole then understood and confirmed he would say it every time. Don't see any sign of argument at all, just constructive questioning by Cole.

Mick Murdock

Doesn't he explicitly say 'Vince' before asking the question?

Gerry Rio

Mick Murdock wrote: »

Doesn't he explicitly say 'Vince' before asking the question?

Upon closer inspection, yes he does. Good spot.

So he starts the conversation with some balls and ends it in "yes sir!" mode.

gerrybbadd

Cole wasn't always bad. Not very good, but not bad either. Him and Tazz were a good team on Smackdown.

It's Vince in his, and everybody elses ears that's the problem. If he wants to put words in their mouths, why not just return to commentating instead?

Sickening to hear the shyte that's coming from WWE commentators these days