Michael Cole might still be one of the busiest people in WWE, but he says his workload is nowhere near what it used to be. After juggling several major backstage roles for decades, the longtime commentator decided a few years ago that it was finally time to focus on just one job.
Speaking with Bobby Burack of OutKick, Cole explained that for most of his WWE career he wasn’t just the voice of the company. Alongside calling shows, he worked in live event production, ran WWE’s website at one point and spent more than a decade overseeing the company’s announcers. Eventually, though, he decided he wanted to step away from all of that and simply be on-air talent.
“So, my life over the last year or two has gotten a lot easier than compared to what it used to be. In my first 26, 27 years in the company, I was not only an announcer, but I had many different roles. I was involved in live-event production early on in my career. I ran the WWE website at one point in my career. I was basically in charge of all the announcers in the company for over 10 years. And a couple of years ago, I decided I just wanted to be a talent.”
Cole admitted that life has become much easier since making that decision, although one part of the job hasn’t changed at all—the travel. Between SmackDown, Premium Live Events and WWE’s growing international schedule, he still spends a huge portion of the year on the road. Cole estimated that he traveled somewhere between 200 and 230 days over the past year, explaining that regular television weeks, PLE weekends and overseas tours all quickly add up.
“So, my life now is extremely easier than it was, except for the travel. The travel’s always the caveat. On a normal week, I’ll leave on Thursday, work on Friday, come back on Saturday. That’s maybe two weeks a month. Premium live event week’s a little bit different. I’ll leave a day early and stay a day later. And then, of course, probably every six weeks or so, we have an international show. So we’ll go to Saudi Arabia, where I’ll spend a week, or we’ll go to Australia like we are in December, where I’ll spend a week. So, all told, I probably did about, I don’t know, 200 to 230 days on the road last year.”
Even when he isn’t traveling, Cole said there’s still plenty happening behind the scenes that fans never see. Before sitting down for the interview, he’d already spent hours recording voiceovers for WWE 2K, and he also puts significant time into researching statistics and preparing for major broadcasts like the Money in the Bank Countdown Show.
“That’s pretty much what my life looks like from a travel standpoint. Now, Bobby, what people have to remember is there are a lot of other things going on during my week. I did four hours of video game voiceovers for 2K before I jumped on this interview with you today. I did that yesterday, and I did that on Monday as well. Also, there’s prep. I’m doing prep right now for our Money in the Bank Countdown show. And obviously, there’s a lot of research that goes into the different events that we have. Money in the Bank is a very heavy statistics show, so there’s a lot of research that goes into this to be able for us to put our best foot forward.”
Cole may have handed off several of his backstage responsibilities, but it’s clear he still has a packed schedule. These days, though, he’d rather spend that time preparing to be the best commentator he can be than trying to juggle multiple jobs behind the scenes.
Were you surprised to learn how many different roles Michael Cole held behind the scenes in WWE? Let us know in the comments below.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
