Within the last year, the wrestling world has learned to live without Jerry “The King” Lawler at any of the announce tables for WWE. Well, the next longest running commentator may soon end up disappearing as well. Michael Cole, who has long been the voice of Monday Night Raw , may soon end up leaving WWE television entirely and taking on a backstage role to do different things with the company.
The world of wrestling from WWE has been called by a lot of different voices and talents. For a very long time, though, one name has been what many fans hear in their heads when watching wrestling at all and it is because Michael Cole has been around for what seems like forever. Unfortunately, it may not be that way much longer.
PW Insider , by way of Yahoo News , is reporting that Michael Cole is looking to transition away from WWE television, but he won’t be leaving the company. Cole is looking to take on more of a backstage role and possibly even train the future of announcers for WWE programming.
Now, there are a number of announcers on WWE’s payroll, and some already have a lot of experience in their current field. John Bradshaw Layfield and Tom Phillips are on Tuesday nights, but it doesn’t seem as if one of them would be ready to take the lead on Raw . JBL is more of a color commentator and Phillips, while good, isn’t quite ready.
There is Mauro Ranallo, who is the lead guy on SmackDown Live , and it isn’t entirely out of the question for him to move to Raw and take charge. Recently, it was revealed that Jerry Lawler would be taking Ranallo’s spot in calling the Royal Rumble , and he was every bit gracious and professional.
Really happy that my former broadcast partner will call the #RoyalRumble match! Welcome back King!???? https://t.co/HCSdd1gFR3
— Mauro Ranallo (@mauroranallo) January 18, 2017
Still, WWE has a lot of faith in Ranallo and he could end up moving to Monday nights in the future, but there is another name that keeps popping up. Wrestling Inc. is reporting that it is possible that Cole could end up training recently hired Nigel McGuinness to end up replacing him on Raw .
McGuinness recently joined WWE to call the WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament which was a huge hit for the company. Cole and McGuinness worked well together, and it would not be surprising to see Triple H move the very popular former Ring of Honor star on one of the main shows.
Another option to replace Michael Cole could be Corey Graves, who proved himself as a commentator on NXT and moved quickly to the table on Raw . He has been there since the summer and could easily be the voice of Monday nights in the future.
Michael Cole has been with WWE for 20 years now, and for a long time, he was the featured voice of SmackDown after it debuted in 1999. In 2008, he was drafted back to Monday Night Raw , and he has been there since, but it may not be for much longer.
It isn’t entirely known if announcer trainer is the exact backstage role that Michael Cole will be taking on with WWE, but it makes a lot of sense. Cole can really help guys like Graves, McGuinness, and even Byron Saxton improve their skills and learn the full ways of calling WWE matches.
If Michael Cole does end up leaving Monday Night Raw , there will likely be a lot of shifting around at the announce tables. It is possible that Cole could up end grooming Nigel McGuinnes to take his place in time, but Corey Graves has already proven himself worthy of being the primary guy. Of course, there’s Maura Ranallo who could be moved from SmackDown Live , but that remains to be seen. Either way, Cole’s time on TV seems limited, but his time with WWE is far from over.
[Featured Image by WWE]