Why WWE Fans Love Michael Cole Now

3. The Beast In The East

The Beast in the East was a 2015 WWE Network special which emanated from Ryōgoku Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan. While the majority of matches on the card received plentiful praise - particularly Chris Jericho vs. Neville, and Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor - one other element of the show that was warmly received was Michael Cole's commentary.

By this point in time, Cole had long been viewed as the generic WWE voice who battered audiences with Vince McMahon buzzwords and a sanitised commentary that rarely offered anything of genuine note to the in-ring action and instead was overflowing with plugs and recaps. For all accounts and purposes, the New York native was Vince's surrogate who spouted exactly what McMahon wanted the watching audience to hear.

So, when Vinny Mac opted against making the trip out to Tokyo for The Beast in the East, fans were left stunned by how darn impressive Michael Cole was. Without VKM constantly berating him down his ear, Cole produced a performance that felt more natural, more fresh and more stripped back. He and partner Byron Saxton left the wrestling to speak for itself at times, never being scared to sit out in silence if called for, rather than constantly filling the air and taking away from the grappling.

With this one show, fans started to realise that, despite their long-standing feelings, Michael Cole may not actually be all that bad. Rather than him, it was Vince McMahon who was the real problem for WWE commentary.

Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.

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