4 Ups & 7 Downs From WWE Raw (6 Jul - Results & Review)

DOWNS…

7. Michael Cole, WWE Historian

Michael Cole
WWE

The Voice of WWE strikes again.

Michael Cole, anointed by WWE as its official vocal mascot, flubbed yet another fact Monday night, this one coming just after CM Punk had captured the Undisputed WWE Championship by defeating Sami Zayn. Punk’s win meant that Zayn’s reign ended at nine days.

Not missing an opportunity to botch like he’s Sol Ruca on the ropes, Cole blurted out that it was “the shortest world championship reign in nearly five years.”

Fun (actual) fact: this isn’t even the shortest world championship reign in the past year, with none other than Punk himself logging a five-minute reign at SummerSlam 2025 when Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase. And you can flash back to WrestleMania 40 when Drew McIntyre similarly had a five-minute world title reign ended via cash-in by Damian Priest.

Both of those title reigns were World Heavyweight Championship reigns, while the shortest Undisputed WWE Championship reign before Sami’s was The Miz’s eight-day reign in early 2021.

But Cole clearly said “world championship,” which isn’t title-specific. How should we as fans receive him as an authority on WWE when he can’t get basic facts correct, much less call moves and get names right?

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Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.