Michael Cole has been the voice of WWE for decades, but he already knows he doesn’t want to spend the rest of his life behind the commentary desk. While he isn’t planning to step away anytime soon, Cole says he has a retirement age in mind—and he wants to leave while fans still remember him at his best.
Speaking with Bobby Burack of OutKick, Cole was asked how much longer he sees himself calling WWE matches. The longtime commentator revealed that although he signed a new multi-year deal about a year ago, he’d ideally like to retire around the age of 65. More importantly, he’s already told the people around him that he expects them to be honest if they ever think his work is slipping.
“So, I signed a multiyear contract a year ago, so I’m here for a little bit longer. I know some people will be happy about that. A lot of other people are going to be like, ‘Oh my God, more years of Cole.’ Listen, I’m 59, going to be 60 this week, actually. I want to get to retirement age. I’d like to get to 65 if I can.”
Cole said he’s already had conversations with Paul Levesque, WWE executive Lee Fitting, and his producers about exactly that. He doesn’t want anyone protecting his feelings if the quality of his work starts to decline because, in his mind, leaving at the right time matters just as much as having a great career.
“But one of the things that I’ve been very adamant about, and I’ve talked to Paul Levesque about this, I’ve talked to my producers, my boss Lee Fitting, and I’ve made sure I want them to know that if they believe that I’m slipping at all, I want to know because I want to get out at the top of my game.”
Cole admitted he’s seen too many broadcasters stay behind the microphone well past their prime, and that’s something he wants to avoid. He’d rather fans remember him as someone who consistently delivered than someone who stuck around too long and became a shadow of himself.
“I don’t want to hang on and do this till I’m 75 or 80 years old. You know, there’s a lot of broadcasters out there that do that, not just in wrestling, but in sports in general, and they’ve become shells of themselves. And I don’t want that. I want to go out and people saying, ‘Hey, he was a damn good commentator.’ I don’t want people to be remembering me for not being able to get through a show and really wearing out my welcome.”
Even with retirement on his mind, Cole made it clear he isn’t counting down the days just yet. He said he still genuinely enjoys the job, from hosting pre-show coverage to calling WWE’s biggest matches, and as long as that feeling is still there, he has no plans to walk away.
“So, I’ve got a few more years left in this. I still enjoy it. I love it. I’m looking forward to this weekend. There’s so many different things I’ll be involved in. I’ll be hosting the Countdown show on Saturday. Obviously, I’ll be at ringside calling all the action. When that red light goes on, it is still fun. And when it’s not fun anymore, then it’ll be time to hang things up.”
For now, Cole isn’t saying goodbye anytime soon. But when the day eventually comes, he wants it to be on his own terms—with fans remembering the work he did at his best, not because he stayed behind the desk longer than he should have.
When Michael Cole eventually retires, who would you like to see become WWE’s next lead commentator? 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.
