10 Wrestlers Who Are The Most Overrated At Precisely One Thing
4. Michael Cole: Commentary
The critical acclaim WWE generated by operating at a better standard than "total dog sh*t" under Triple H was remarkable.
Because he scrapped the 24/7 division, scripted his WWE Superstars to say the word "wrestling" and elongated virtually every match length by five minutes, he was considered the saviour of WWE. That's one thing - snark aside, Vince McMahon would never have promoted anything as outstanding as GUNTHER Vs. Sheamus at Clash At The Castle - but the standard elsewhere was insanely generous.
Michael Cole is still Michael Cole; very polished to an extent that is synthetic, his calls are exposition heavy, he clutches your hand through basic story beats, and he rarely feels like he's holding an organic conversation. And the screaming, holy hell the bloody screaming.
When something ostensibly exciting happens, the man is much too eager to let you know. It is beyond forced, and the generally bleak atmosphere of a WWE TV show brings the desperation into further focus; if something were that exciting, you'd see the fans going apesh*t. Ultimately, Cole still makes it feel that bit more fake.
He is a bit more loose now, and he has devised a cheat code of referencing smaller promotions to put over a wrestler's background, but the only appreciable difference is that he sounds slightly less like there's a weapon poking into his back.