[Chi Town Punk]

Credit: Bleacher report

http://bleacher* report.com/articles/1170231-wwe-news-big-update-on-michael-cole

(just remove the * and space in between)

Has anyone noticed that smarmy heel commentator Michael Cole has toned down his act on television in recent times?

Indeed, while the announcer's overbearing and obnoxious nature has blighted many an episode of Raw and SmackDown in the past, these days Cole tends to be more sympathetic with the faces. He's called for Brock Lesnar to be punished after his vicious attack on Josh Matthews last week and told SmackDown diva AJ to get shot of her uncaring boyfriend Daniel Bryan several times in the past couple of months.

Well, in this week's (subscribers-only) Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer gives an interesting update on the direction of the Michael Cole character noting that, per WWE storylines, the announcer is no longer a full-fledged heel:

Even though he goes back-and-forth like the wind, officially Michael Cole as a heel announcer was supposed to have ended with WrestleMania a few weeks back. He’s supposed to be an edgy character down the road now, although he was still favoring John Laurinaitis on TV, but in the Cena angle, was trying to be sympathetic to Cena and not behind Laurinaitis.

For those sick of Cole's constant damaging disparagement of WWE's top faces, this will be welcome news. Certainly, the announcer's over-the-top heel act has served as an annoying distraction for far too long, and management should be placing all their focus getting over the wrestlers—not a non-worker with strictly a supporting role in the company.

Personally i applaud this. I know that Michael Cole can be a good commentator when he wants to be, when he's not over the top. And now that he's officially a tweener this gives him the oppertunity to tone it down a bit, much of which has gone noticed by me. (and well appreciated i might add) I loved THE WAY he was shocked at Laurinaitis/Cena segment Monday, really added to it that he was feeling much sympathy for Cena and much confusion towards John Laurinaitis attacking his employees.

Hey, come to think of it, with all this attacking referees and interviewers, anyone thinks they an angle out of Johnny getting fined for attacking Cena??

 

[Alex]

I have to admit I enjoyed his heel turn and found him to be really entertaining. That being said, I also admit that his overbearing heel personality after a while was taking the focus too much off what was actually happening in the ring. For me anyway, it's a welcomed change in terms of his on screen character.

 

[lightfm]

I'll give it a few months until I see an "I miss heel michael cole" thread here.

 

[Tronnik]

Now if only he can start acknowledging what's actually going on in the ring.

 

[Chi Town Punk]

Now if only he can start acknowledging what's actually going on in the ring.

This. Theres not much on this show that bugges me more than when Cole misses a huge spot because of constant bickering.

 

[JBL_Wrestling_God]

It's going to be a sad day when Michael Cole returns to his full flat out babyface form. I understand people think he's over the top and annoying as a heel but as a babyface the guy was just so corny and uninteresting. His commentary during the last segment on Raw last week with the attack on John Cena was excellent and I wouldn't mind him being a tweener on Raw but still a heel and nothing but a heel on Smackdown. Even the last couple of months I've noticed he has been tweeking his commentary a bit and developing into more of a tweener on RAW. It must be Raw and only Raw if you ask me because his chemistry with Booker T is fucking brilliant when he's a heel. His chemistry with Booker T and Josh Mathews is one of the highlights of Smackdown every single week for me and I think it would completely ruin things if he starting turning into a tweener on Smackdown as well. His heel tactics on Smackdown allows Booker T to become even more hilarious than he already naturally is because of there back and forth arguments and of course Josh Mathews being the mediator.

He was still being a heel on Smackdown last week when he was bashing Teddy Long so I assume they are going to keep it that way. It seems like Vince just allows Cole to do whatever he wants on Smackdown but makes sure he's on his 'A' game on Raw. It's the same reason why Vince doesn't allow Booker T to replace that god awful Jerry Lawler on Raw. Booker T is very entertaining but is much more likely to make a mistake than the tight veteran commentary of Jerry Lawler. Situations like Johnny and Lord Tensai attacking John Cena is just a MUST for Cole to act surprised and almost be a babyface commentator especially when Jerry Lawler wasn't even there. Does that mean he's going to be a tweener on Smackdown as well? I certainly hope not.

 

[fulcizombie]

So after having almost no credible heel wrestlers, you know heels that actually win, we won't have a heel commentator and forced to have a neutral cole , the obnoxious face lawler ( that acts like a deranged old man whenever a diva is around) and the unfortunately awful booker t ?

 

[Klee]

Now if only he can start acknowledging what's actually going on in the ring.

I think he has started to call moves in the matches now. Like calling the moves Lesnar was using, granted probably written down for him, like the Kimura. I think we'll see a lot more of this move.

Michael Cole has finally stopped me wanting to rip his heart out. Almost, ALMOST ruined it for me. Unbearable! (no he wasn't doing a good job!)

 

[Apex Rattlesnake]

Finally, It annoyed me how out of an entire burried roster (Thanks superman) the E decide to push and give to spotlight to an announcer...

 

[superfudge]

His heel commentating was good or bad depending on the situation. Sometimes I didn't want to hear it and just wanted him to call a match, but during the dreadful NXT and Smackdown times, his commentating was the most enjoyable part. Live SuperSmackdown a couple of weeks back was saved by his mocking commentary.

 

[dangreenday]

he was great as a heel BUT he did go too far sometimes .. when he was bringing jerrys mother in2 the situation just after she died (RIP) - i was shocked , That was too far !! But other than that he was great at being a heel

 

[Cookie Monster]

I'd love babyface Michael Cole, only if it means we get old-school heel Jerry "The King" Lawler back though which isn't going to happen so I am happy with the way things are now, sadly.

 

[doinktheclowns]

Coles role is definitely under valued.
He is the voice of the WW, the millions who watch WWE every week listen to him more than they do any other wrestler because hes on air on both shows through out, he an important part of narating the story and inform us of things that are not easily conveyed.

 

[Jobbin'likenoother]

^^^ His role is important(*), but that goes no way to illustrating that Cole himself is of such value.

(*...and in turn this is why he has been so detrminatal to the product - His ACTUAL purpose was neglected in favour of him being pushed as an onscreen personality.).

Bottom line:

He is a mediocre face and his heel run was detrimental to the product.

 

[MillionDollarProns]

This is good, Heel Cole was terrible.

 

[Lennon]

Great news, Cole is actually a very good commentator when he concentrates on the job at hand, rather than chatting shit about how he's undefeated at Wrestlemania or licking The Miz's ringpiece.

Just need to get rid of the Twitter nonsense and we're golden.

 

[A-C-P]

I liked the Cole heel character ALOT. But Cole as a heel announcer definitely hurt the show more thean it helped at times I would say. You can't have your play-by-play guy not focusing on the matches half the time and constantly running down face characters on air.

 

[Little Mac]

I noticed a huge improvement during the call of Extreme Rules. He put over Bryan as a technical wrestler, and explained methodically what he was doing with Sheamus, all the while putting over Sheamus's power and resilience. Also during the Lesnar vs Cena match (as someone pointed out above).

Something I've noticed about the commentating in some of my favourite matches (especially in ROH) while they call what the moves are, they also call why the wrestlers are using them. They explain the psychology, which can often aid a good match.

 

[Choke2Death]

Good thing. We don't need an over the top heel announcer. Scratch that, we don't any face/heel announcers, just two good announcers that call the actions and have some fun with some funny lines here and there. Cole and Lawler can both deliver that every now and then if they don't talk about twitter. No need for over-the-top dick sucking of The Miz and John Cena, respectively.

 

[hahawas]

WE WANT 'YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME' Cole back