CHRIS JERICHO talks About Ross & Cole...

[jskinnyg]

Chris Jericho also made the following comments on last night’s RAW…

The difference between Jim Ross and Micheal Cole is the difference between Paul Newman and Paulie Shore…

DAMN!

I know a LOT of you agree... Talk amongst yourselves...

[itsmeJD]

I hate Michael Cole. I was thinking the difference between the two would be the difference between healthy and full blown AIDS. Fuck Cole and his Cole-miners.

[MoFo]

So Cole is Newman and JR is Paulie Shore?

Because JR is fucking terrible.

[itsmeJD]

So Cole is Newman and JR is Paulie Shore?

Because JR is fucking terrible.

I would love to hear the thought process on how Cole is better at calling matches than Jim Ross. I'd rather listen to Todd Pettengill than Michael Cole....

[Nark Order]

I'm curious as to why people would choose now to berate Michael Cole, as this is the freshest his character and his commentary has ever been. He's really been developing quite the on screen role as of late and seems more comfortable on the stick than he's ever been. This heel persona he's been developing is golden and as a result he seems far more confident just in general. He's more crisp, he takes more risks with his jokes, and he's generally just a delight to listen to now.

It reminds me alot of what happened to Jonathon Coachman. He was such a bland straight-to-the point guy for so long and then underwent a drastic transformation after he was given a character to work off of.

[itsmeJD]

I'm not saying his change in character hasn't been an improvement, but it's similar to dressing up a turd. I've never liked him at any point. I've felt him to be bland and boring as fuck. I'm glad he's making an attempt to change things up, but I still feel Jim Ross is a better caller. Listening to him call something "vintage" every 3rd word is annoying as shit, and while I feel his heel persona helps I often feel it can take away from the match at times.

[BollywoodSingh]

I used to hate Michael Cole. He was never a good wrestling commentator, but I love his new heelish character. Still can't call a match but at least it's entertaining now.

And on a related note, Lawler is terrible. He stopped being funny about 13 years ago.

[Nicky Fives]

I got nothing against Cole..... Lawler is the one of the pair that I can't stand...... His days as a heel comentator were is best beyond question.....

[Jordan]

Well Lawler is still training Cole to some extent. Lawler may not be great for "us" because we know too much behind the scenes shit to get sold on Lawler's Kayfabe commentary. But come on, he is selling the product and doing it well. Lay off, he's just what Vince want's and he makes the kids think about shit they normally wouldn't.

[JimmyMess]

I don't know if it was just me or if any of you felt the same way. But last night, I didn't find Cole to be "over" in the sense of his heel character, I frankly found him annoying to listen to after a while. Especially when JR came down... now I understand what WWE was attempting to do... but I feel it did not come off well, it was just distracting and not entertaining at all.

[Nark Order]

I don't know if it was just me or if any of you felt the same way. But last night, I didn't find Cole to be "over" in the sense of his heel character, I frankly found him annoying to listen to after a while. Especially when JR came down... now I understand what WWE was attempting to do... but I feel it did not come off well, it was just distracting and not entertaining at all.

Disagree.

[VSG]

Cole is the best he has ever been, but to say JR was horrible is just wrong :nono:

[itsmeJD]

Cole is the best he has ever been, but to say JR was horrible is just wrong :nono:

I agree with this statement. I just believe Cole being the best he's ever been is still a looooooooooooooooooooonnnggg way from J.R. hence my healthy to AIDS analogy :D

[Poit]

I've been liking Cole's heel character, but I thought he overdid it last night.

[The Jayman]

Having JR come out and call a match with Lawler/Cole involving Daniel Bryan who called Cole a "poor man's JR" was priceless. I like the fact that JR said nothing to Cole the whole time he was being berated and simply slapped Cole with his hat as he left.

[Domino]

Seriously, last night's seg was gold, especially when Cole was fake sleeping. I've always loved JR, but a lot of you Cole-haters are just doing so because you've decided you're gonna hate Cole no matter what he does. Now he's finally something good and all you do is whine that JR is better.

JR is great, don't get me wrong, but Cole is dynamite right now. Put down the Haterade.

[Xero]

Cole makes a great character. Unfortunately, that character doesn't work on commentary because he's constantly going in and out of being heel and the way the character comes across it's over-saturated. If he was consistent with it and was heel ALL THE TIME, I'd say he was a good heel commentator. Ditto if he went off to become only the GM or something.

[jskinnyg]

I'm curious as to why people would choose now to berate Michael Cole, as this is the freshest his character and his commentary has ever been. He's really been developing quite the on screen role as of late and seems more comfortable on the stick than he's ever been. This heel persona he's been developing is golden and as a result he seems far more confident just in general. He's more crisp, he takes more risks with his jokes, and he's generally just a delight to listen to now.

It reminds me alot of what happened to Jonathon Coachman. He was such a bland straight-to-the point guy for so long and then underwent a drastic transformation after he was given a character to work off of.

This is why I did the thread... To see if there were more Cole fans out there now that his heel character is bringing so much heat...

I was with everyone else in hating the "Vintage" comments all the time, but he is getting my attention as of late with loving the Miz and provoking the crowd more... Started back with the Daniel Bryan stuff on NXT season 1...

He is NO J.R. in my book, and I loved the team of J.R. & King, but times change kids... I think Cole is actually shaping up... Time will tell...

[Jeritron]

I'm curious as to why people would choose now to berate Michael Cole, as this is the freshest his character and his commentary has ever been. He's really been developing quite the on screen role as of late and seems more comfortable on the stick than he's ever been. This heel persona he's been developing is golden and as a result he seems far more confident just in general. He's more crisp, he takes more risks with his jokes, and he's generally just a delight to listen to now.

It reminds me alot of what happened to Jonathon Coachman. He was such a bland straight-to-the point guy for so long and then underwent a drastic transformation after he was given a character to work off of.

I'm with you on him being very entertaining right now, in his new capacity.
I also always try to point out that it's ridiculous that people are complaining about him now, when he's been on TV weekly for more than 10 years.
He was calling Raw weekly during the winter of 1998/99, and nobody was complaining then. Simply because the product was better.
He's a scapegoat for people's gripes. Same with "TV PG."
He's a far better commentator now than he was on Raw back then, or Smackdown earlier in the decade.

With that being said, comparing him to JR is like comparing Paulie Shore to Paul Newman.

[JimmyMess]

I don't hate Cole... he's been a commentator for so long... I just think the WWE needs to underplay the angle, or his character-transformation, whatever you want to call it. Otherwise it overshadows what he's meant to do, call the match.

And like Xero said, he slips in and out of it, kind of defeats the purpose

[Cool King]

Cole's character is a heel.

People are bitching about him constantly.

He's obviously doing a great job then.

[Tazz Dan]

Michael Cole is shit and should die /cool tpww posters

Can't we all just get over this already? Yes, JR is probably the best of all time and I can see why everyone loves him. But I've also been around here long enough to remember a lot of people hating him just a few years back because his calls had become old and stale and WWE needed to push a new announcer. Stop being so fucking hypocritical.

Also if we're going to hold it against Cole forever for "Not being as good as JR" lets also hate every wrestler from now on because they're not as good as Flair/HBK etc.

[Domino]

With that being said, comparing him to JR is like comparing Paulie Shore to Paul Newman.

That's a hell of a comparison. How'd you ever come up with that? ;)

[Xero]

Cole's character is a heel.

People are bitching about him constantly.

He's obviously doing a great job then.

This is actually something a lot of smart fans miss. They hate Cole because he's "annoying". Well, that's kind of the point. But they blame it on everything else under the sun, specifically the person (Cole in this case).

I won't say that Cole's commentary is my "cup of tea". Like Jerry said, in 98 and 99 when he was calling RAW there was no real problem. He's not a bad commentator if he actually commentates. He's obviously no JR, as it's been said, but I'd say he can be good when he's allowed to actually go out and commentate.

Unfortunately, and this is where the big problem with Cole (and everything else in WWE) comes in, Vince likes Cole this way. Vince tells Cole what to do, and Cole jumps. JR didn't listen to Vince down to the letter. This I'm sure of. If JR thought something was stupid on Vince's (or Dunn's or whoever was in his headset) part, he'd ignore it, or spin it in a way that it makes sense. Cole, I think, just goes along with the flow and is content in making his boss happy.

When it comes down to it, Cole can be a good commentator, but he's changed over the years, and a big part of that is Vince.

Cole has become a character who commentates, not a commentator with a character.

[Jeritron]

Cole makes a great character. Unfortunately, that character doesn't work on commentary because he's constantly going in and out of being heel and the way the character comes across it's over-saturated. If he was consistent with it and was heel ALL THE TIME, I'd say he was a good heel commentator. Ditto if he went off to become only the GM or something.

This is true, but you may notice the only time he slips out of the character is to put over the mega-faces like Cena and Orton.
That's obviously a directive coming from WWE. Maybe they're testing the waters, or maybe they're just trying to have their cake and eat it too.
Either way, that's a Vince problem, not a Cole problem.

[Rammsteinmad]

I agree with Mofo on this one, JR has been fucking awful for the last five years. If you need proof listen to him at Wrestlemania 24, his announcing is awful and a lot of the times I feel bad for him coz the other announcers are probably all like 'wtf is he on about now?'.

[Domino]

I agree with Mofo on this one, JR has been fucking for the last five years. If you need proof listen to him at Wrestlemania 24, his announcing is awful and a lot of the times I feel bad for him coz the other announcers are probably all like 'wtf is he on about now?'.

JR has probably been fucking for more than five years. :lol:

[Rammsteinmad]

Oh ha ha! Meant to say 'fucking awful' obv.

[James Steele]

http://www.worldbuzznow.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/jim-ross.jpg

http://www.obsessedwithsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/jim-ross-wwf.jpg

[Loose Cannon]

Cole makes a great character. Unfortunately, that character doesn't work on commentary because he's constantly going in and out of being heel and the way the character comes across it's over-saturated. If he was consistent with it and was heel ALL THE TIME, I'd say he was a good heel commentator. Ditto if he went off to become only the GM or something.

yea, I don't understand this. I hate it. He's good at being a dick, but when he starts doing the regular babyface announcer role, it downgrades his heel persona

[dhellova guy]

Cole makes a great character. Unfortunately, that character doesn't work on commentary because he's constantly going in and out of being heel and the way the character comes across it's over-saturated. If he was consistent with it and was heel ALL THE TIME, I'd say he was a good heel commentator. Ditto if he went off to become only the GM or something.

This.

I never hated Michael Cole, although i'll admit to being pissed off when they switched him & JR as Raw & Smackdown commentators. I love JR, and even if his abilities had deminished in the past few years, i'd still rather listen to him then anyone else. Period.

My problem with Cole, as has been stated, is the inconsistancy with which he commentates. He is SOOO overboard with the Miz that he might as well jump in the ring and give the man a hand job, but he switches out of his heal charicter as soon as Nexus enters the ring. Its very distracting.

Another thing I hate, and this is more to do with how hes being directed, is commentators interupting promos and talking shit about the guy in the ring, which Cole does whenever Daniel Bryan is talking. How does this put anyone over?

Just my thoughts

[bigslimjj]

*Cough**Cough* Ahem. FUCK MICHAEL COLE!

[Emperor Smeat]

I was laughing a lot during the match with how Cole kept pleading for the match to end and JR just ignoring him while commentating on the match.

Before JR left to Smackdown, a lot of people thought he was becoming stale or boring because the combo of Lawler-JR wasn't as entertaining as in the past.

When JR returned, it proved it wasn't JR but Lawler as the "stale" commentator since JR was able to go with the flow of the match like he had never left.

[ron the dial]

cole held his own and thensome last night. he's definitely the man these days.

[KayfabeMan]

I've never cared for Michael Cole.

I never cared for Coachman, or in the 1990's, the bit of Kevin Kelly I had to sit through.

To me, all the hatred for Tony Bologna from WCW - and yet not that much on Cole.

I also find it funny how THIS MUCH EFFORT AND TIME is invested in a gimmick and / or possible angle for a COMMENTATOR and yet 'creative' can't find things for various talents to do. When a focal point of your broadcast is angle involving a commentator, primarily one with NO PHYSICAL WRESTLING BACKGROUND, something is seriously wrong with your show.

When there was actually good commentary from guys like Ventura, Heenan, etc. they never needed to make them a focal point. Their work spoke for itself. It seems like WWE is doing with Cole what they TRY SO HARD TO DO with their younger talents, and that is try to get us to believe that they are better than the generation before them - which is totally a crock of shit.

[dhellova guy]

It just seems to me that Cole has to spend so much time putting HIMSELF over that he isn't able to put the TALENT over, and thats not a good model for business.

[KayfabeMan]

That angle definitely outshined the Bryan - Swagger match, IMO.

Cole, rather than sounding heelish or entertaining, came off whiny and annoying - and not in a 'Mr. Perfect' whiny and annoying way, but in an 'X-Pac heat' kind of way. That may be 1/2 his fault, but it's definitely 1/2 Vince's and 'creative's' for that great idea.

You know Vince was feeding him everything through the headphone - thus the joke he made during the show about 'imagine if I had to work with Vince, that'd be something' - or something to that effect.

[Mr Amazing]

at the beginning of the heel turn for Cole was ok but now he is just annoying

[Favre4Ever]

only problem with Cole i really see is that King doesn't balance the table out enough as a "good guy". Sure, King is likeable, but he doesn't REALLY support the faces the way JR did. If Cole had a different, better broadcast partner, I think his new persona would be 10 times better.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

I loved the angle, and the Bryan/Swagger match was so terrific you could have made it an HLA lumberjack match with girls getting it on at ringside and it wouldn't have overshadowed that match...

... OK, I may have not realised there was a match going on in that scenario, but still.

[Shadrick]

I appreciate good heels. Cole annoys me because it doesn't seem form-fitting, he's just trying to be a heel, and its annoying.

It is what it is though. Theres a difference between you being a successful heel and me being so annoyed by you I want you off my screen. But JR >>>>>>>>> Cole regardless of how fresh his character is.

[Mr. JL]

I used to hate Cole, but I love the new heel direction of his commentary.

[stultiloquy]

I really don't like the current RAW commentary style, as a whole it sounds forced as both members are working fake personalities.
Cole comes off as trying way too hard to be a heel commentator, and King has been a boring phony in his face role for quite some time.
As it is now they just chit-chat about current WWE events and fill in the gaps by reciting the in ring action as though they are reading directly off a script.

Heel Lawler and JR have a chemistry that helps bring the matches to life, they actually invest some emotion and natural charisma into their commentary - a little bit of that came through on Monday during JR's commentating and when King told Cole to "Shut the Hell up."

Come to think of it, the only time I could stand Cole as a commentator is when he was paired with JBL, and that's pretty much due to JBL constantly berating him to keep the commentary exciting. Personally I think Cole worked best when the Rock was using him to display his new shirt in backstage interviews.

The only bad part about having JR back the past Monday is that now I have to go back to just Michael Cole and King. :/

[MoFo]

Cole just needs someone witty next to him, berating him all the time. JBL and Josh Matthews were/are perfect partners for Cole, King isn't that guy, and it shows.

[dingdongyo]

Cole makes a great character. Unfortunately, that character doesn't work on commentary because he's constantly going in and out of being heel and the way the character comes across it's over-saturated. If he was consistent with it and was heel ALL THE TIME, I'd say he was a good heel commentator. Ditto if he went off to become only the GM or something.

i disagree with this. i like that his character has his own opinions and does not fall into the good guy/bad guy cookie cutter.

i cannot stand the phrase "controlled frenzy." all those word associations with certain wrestlers get stale way too quick. i do wish that would go away.

[chrisat928]

I've never liked Cole, and I think the best thing he's ever done was being canon fodder for DX.

On RAW, when JR came out to call that match, Cole turned in to a spoiled, whiny little bitch boy.

It was fucking terrible. That's not being a heel.

Cole needs to go away.

[Jeritron]

i disagree with this. i like that his character has his own opinions and does not fall into the good guy/bad guy cookie cutter.

i cannot stand the phrase "controlled frenzy." all those word associations with certain wrestlers get stale way too quick. i do wish that would go away.

I suppose that's one way to look at it. I never thought of it that way. Probably because it's blatantly obvious that his "opinions" are that he's a heel except for when Cena is wrestling.
I'd buy it as opinions if it wasn't painfully obvious that it was a bulletpoint on his runsheet.

[XL]

I don't hate Cole... he's been a commentator for so long... I just think the WWE needs to underplay the angle, or his character-transformation, whatever you want to call it. Otherwise it overshadows what he's meant to do, call the match.

And like Xero said, he slips in and out of it, kind of defeats the purpose
This pretty much summerises my thoughts.

I really didn't like JR towards the end of his run and I'm not all that bothered that he's not around anymore. I also like Cole's character right now. my only gripe is that he seems to bury a lot of the talent. Whilst we get that that is his character I can't help but think the stuff he says about the likes of Daniel Bryan won't help the wrestler get over with the casual audience/marks.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I agree with Xero on this. Michael Cole's character is fresh and such, but it doesn't feel like a commentator's character. If he left the booth to become a heel manager, or the GM somewhere, I could really get into him. Keep in mind that the best work he has actually done as this character has been during in-ring promos with Daniel Bryan, or the like.

I've been reading that a lot of people backstage really want Jim Ross to return to the commentary desk. If that happened, I'd do a switch with Michael Cole. Not because Cole is horrible, but because he'd be better out from behind the desk. I'd hate to see JR & King paired together again, though. How about Todd Grisham & Jerry Lawler on RAW, with King constantly ripping into Grish, which can allow King to play the heel commentator; and Jim Ross & Matt Striker on SmackDown!, which I think would be an amazing duo. Jim Ross & Josh Mathews can do Superstars, and you could also have Mathews work the booth during Superstars with King & Striker, respectively.

[Aguakate]

It wasn't right having Cole go off like he did last Monday. A little bit of moaning and complaining would've been ok, but he overdid it, and actually came across as disrespectful and rude. Actually, everytime he goes off on someone, he does it in a very rude way, like when The Hart Dynasty did commentary a couple weeks back, and he said they were boring, making fun of them, etc. Last Monday, JR and Lawler were trying to call the match, but all Cole did was yell in a very rude way to JR, and took the viewer's attention off the match.

[Tommy Gunn]

Cole is a great heel these days, he was awesome on NXT season 1 especially.

[Mike the Metal Ed]

I started watching in January 1999 while JR was off until WrestleMania, so I've always had a soft spot for Cole, and never figured out why people find him annoying, especially now it's his job to be, as Cool King pointed out. Cole has been built for a couple of years now as the future voice of the company, and to go back to Ross like they did with Styles and Adamle would once again make all parties concerned look weak. JR schooled Cole on Monday night, but that was literally the best performance JR had put on in several years, on a week to week basis, he was past it. It's great to have an out and out heel at back at the desk though, but maybe he should try toning it down, but only slighly. I remain a firm Cole Miner.

[sulzerdrone]

Actually I thought Cole played his part perfectly on monday. What was disappointing was that they built it to the point where JR had to bitch slap him and all we got was him clipping him with is hat. The segment wasn't terrible, it was the payoff that killed it. Having Bryan or Lawler hold him while JR got his licks in would have been gold, instead we got tin.

[Nightwing]

Cole is the goods now. He has really stepped it up. JR can call a match and give everyone of them that "big fight" atmosphere. Thats whats lacking right now.

[Jimmy Cones]

So what we're all saying is get rid of King, and let JR and Cole commentate for a while?

[Nightwing]

That wouldnt be a terrible idea.