On June 16, Michael Cole met his new broadcast partner on Friday Night SmackDown: John Bradshaw Layfield. JBL's tour of duty began one week after Cole's previous partner, Tazz, deciced to leave for ECW.
Michael Cole & JBL now make up the lead broadcasting team on the SmackDown brand, calling the action on Friday Night SmackDown and SmackDown-brand pay-per-view events. Cole has been the lead announcer on SmackDown since the brand’s inception, working with partners ranging from Jerry "The King" Lawler to Tazz to JBL. In that time, Cole has sometimes found himself in the thick of the action. While some of his assignments are enviable (such as emceeing a Divas Bikini Contest, for instance), he has also found himself as the object of several SmackDown Superstars’ ire. Regardless, his talent for calling the turbulent action every Friday night has made him one of WWE's top announcers.
In April 2006, Cole added another responsibility to his resume when he was named Managing Editor of WWE.com. As a graduate of Syracuse University's prestigious Newhouse School of Communications with years of experience in the world of news radio, Cole brings a unique and knowledgeable perspective to the WWE.com staff.
Whether it be on television or the internet, nearly a decade of hard work describing describing all of the action World Wrestling Entertainment has to offer has earned him as much praise in sports-entertainment as he earned in the news world.
While working for CBS Radio in 1993, Cole covered the entire 51-day standoff at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas that led to tragedy when more than 80 residents of the compound perished in a fire that erupted during a shootout between them and federal agents.
In 1994, he traveled to Sarajevo for what was supposed to be a six-week assignment covering the siege of the city by Serbian forces. The assignment turned into a nine-month life-changing experience that saw him report daily from the war-torn city, ducking snipers and mortar shells at every turn. His documentary, “Voices of Bosnia,” was critically acclaimed and won several major awards.
Experienced in the face of tragedy, Cole was dispatched to Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995 to cover the horrific bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, where 168 people were lost their lives.
Cole also covered three presidential elections—1988 with Michael Dukakis, 1992 with Bill Clinton, and 1996 with Steve Forbes and Bob Dole.
In 1997, Cole brought his talents to WWE. In his early days, he hosted the syndicated Livewire show, as well as Shotgun Saturday Night with Jim Cornette. By the end of that year, he was an announcer on RAW. From 1997-99 he held regular stints as a RAW announcer, and when SmackDown made its debut in 1999, Cole was chosen for the lead play-by-play announcing role. Originally teamed up with Jerry “The King” Lawler, Cole was paired with Tazz in 2001 and the two were together for five years until Tazz' departure in June 2006.
On June 9, Cole was set to interview Rey Mysterio and ask him whether or not he would defect to ECW. Instead, Tazz entered the ring to interrupt his partner. Tazz told the world that while he had a great time on SmackDown, he was going home to where he belonged...ECW. He then shoved the microphone at Cole and walked out, hugging Paul Heyman on the way to the back. Two nights later at ECW One Night Stand, JBL announced that he was coming back to SmackDown...as Cole's new color commentator.
In April 2006, Cole added another responsibility to his resume when he was named Managing Editor of WWE.com. As a graduate of Syracuse University's prestigious Newhouse School of Communications with years of experience in the world of news radio, Cole brings a unique and knowledgeable perspective to the WWE.com staff.
