5 Ups And 2 Downs From Last Night's WWE Mae Young Classic (Sept 20)

2. Redemption For Cole

Michael Cole Bio
WWE.com

Whenever WWE talks about the “Women’s Evolution,” you don’t have to go back into the Stone Age to find the low point of this journey. No, it’s not bra and panties matches, or the 30-second #GiveDivasAChance match.

It was season three of NXT when it was a game show. That 2010 season featured women, including Kaitlyn, AJ Lee and Naomi. That season was treated as a total joke, with announcer Michael Cole in full heel mode, mocking them constantly and belittling them. It was embarrassing for women’s wrestling and a true low point, making a joke of the women and the show itself.

On Wednesday’s episode, Cole had a chance to redeem himself when Kaitlyn entered the ring, and he took it.

Cole acknowledged his past transgressions – “I humiliated these women in many of my calls” – and noted that it was wrong, and it shows how far WWE has come in treating women’s wrestling.

Truer words were never spoken.

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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.