Actor

1968-12-08 · United States · Male

5 series in the catalog

Sean Michael Coulthard (born December 8, 1966), better known by his on screen name Michael Cole, is an American professional wrestling commentator and journalist. Since 1997, he has been signed to WWE, where he serves as the play-by-play commentator for the Raw brand, and was the vice president of announcing between 2020 and 2024.

Coulthard began his career in journalism in 1988 for CBS Radio before being hired by the then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1997 (WWF was renamed WWE in 2002). He has performed multiple on-screen hosting and commentary roles across his two-decade-plus-long career.

Early life and education

Sean Michael Coulthard was born on December 8, 1966, in Syracuse, New York. He attended the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, graduating in 1988 with a B.A. in broadcast journalism.

Journalism career

Coulthard began his career in the media as a journalist, working for CBS Radio. His first high-profile assignment was to cover the 1988 US presidential campaign of Democratic Party nominee Michael Dukakis. In 1992, he reported on the presidential campaign of Bill Clinton. He also covered the 51-day siege at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, in 1993, and the following year, spent nine months covering the Yugoslavian civil war. In 1995, he was also selected to cover the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing. He returned to the presidential campaign trail in 1996 to cover the campaigns of Republicans Steve Forbes (who lost in the primary election) and Sen. Bob Dole (who lost in the general election).

Professional wrestling career

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment/WWE (1997–present)

Backstage interviewer and Raw (1997–1999)

Coulthard came to the World Wrestling Federation in mid early-1997 after being recommended to company officials by Todd Pettengill, and started using the stage name "Michael Cole". He provided voice-overs for promotional videos and later became the host of the LiveWire show. Cole first appeared on screen at the June 30, 1997 episode of Raw is War, interviewing The Legion of Doom and replaced Todd Pettengill as a backstage interviewer after SummerSlam. In late 1997, Cole became one of the three announcers for the first hour of Monday Night Raw, alongside Jim Ross and Kevin Kelly. Eventually, Cole was permanently replaced by Jerry Lawler in mid-1998. In December 1998, Cole became the regular play-by-play announcer for Raw is War, subbing for Jim Ross when Ross was ill with Bell's palsy. He continued in this role until WrestleMania XV in March 1999.

SmackDown! (1999–2008)

When the WWF's new SmackDown! television program debuted later that year, Cole was chosen to be the show's play-by-play announcer. Lawler was his original broadcast partner, but when Lawler briefly left the WWF in 2001, he was replaced by Cole's WWF Sunday Night Heat broadcast partner Tazz shortly before the WWF vs. WCW/ECW invasion storyline. After the WWE Brand Extension, Cole worked exclusively for the SmackDown! brand, cutting down to doing play-by-play on SmackDown!-only pay-per-views, while Raw-only pay-per-views were announced by Raw's announce team.

Cole was rarely involved in storylines; however, he has had minor roles in storylines involving Heidenreich, Stephanie McMahon, Vito, and D-Generation X (Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Chyna, and Rick Rude). His 2004 angle with Heidenreich was infamous due to an implied scene where Heidenreich "Heidenraped" him in the arena restroom; in a 2008 interview, Heidenreich explained that the Cole rape angle was McMahon's idea and that Pulp Fiction came to mind when Stephanie McMahon approached him with the idea. He called play-by-play at the 2006 Royal Rumble match because Jim Ross, who had commentated the last two Royal Rumble matches with Tazz, had been (kayfabe) "fired" and replaced by former ECW play-by-play man Joey Styles, reuniting the original SmackDown! team of Cole and Jerry Lawler. On February 3, 2006, it was announced that Cole and Tazz were starting a radio show on Howard Stern's Howard 100 on Sirius Satellite Radio, but the show was a trial run that only lasted a couple of weeks.

On the June 9 episode of SmackDown!, Cole's broadcast partner Tazz left SmackDown! to ECW, leaving Cole at that moment without a broadcast partner. Two days later at ECW One Night Stand, John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) announced he would replace Tazz as color commentator. After JBL left the broadcast booth and returned to wrestling on Raw, Jonathan Coachman became Cole's new partner on the January 4, 2008 episode of SmackDown!. Coachman was then replaced by Mick Foley, beginning at Backlash.

Return to Raw (2008–2009)

As part of the 2008 WWE Draft, Cole was drafted to the Raw brand as Jim Ross was drafted to the SmackDown brand, ending Cole's nearly 10-year run as a play-by-play commentator on SmackDown. On the July 7 episode of Raw, Cole was attacked by Kane, who repeatedly asked Cole "Is he alive or dead?" before Cole was saved by Jerry Lawler. Cole made his in-ring debut on the July 28 episode of Raw, teaming with Lawler against Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase for the World Tag Team Championship, but they lost after Cole inadvertently tagged himself in and was quickly pinned by Rhodes after a lariat.

Heel turn and feud with Jerry Lawler (2010–2012)

Cole was the lead commentator for WWE NXT for its first three seasons, and during the first season in 2010, Cole began showing signs of arrogance and cockiness towards face wrestlers and WWE fans alike, turning heel for the first time in his WWE career. He also began to belittle Daniel Bryan and took a liking to The Miz, leading to confrontations with Bryan throughout the season. Meanwhile, on the Raw brand, Cole was made the official spokesman for the Anonymous Raw General Manager on June 21. On October 1, Cole returned to SmackDown to join Matt Striker and Todd Grisham on commentary, and branded himself the "Voice of the WWE", stating that he should be on all WWE shows going forward.

On the November 29, 2010 episode of Raw, Cole interfered in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the WWE Championship between Jerry Lawler and The Miz, costing Lawler the match and helping The Miz retain his title. This began a feud with Lawler that built towards a match at WrestleMania XXVII. During this time, Cole revealed Jack Swagger as his trainer and antagonized Lawler with antics such as making light of his mother's death and inviting his son Brian Lawler to air family secrets. At WrestleMania on April 3, special referee Stone Cold Steve Austin announced Lawler won the match, but the Anonymous Raw General Manager reversed the decision and declared Cole the winner by disqualification, due to Austin being involved in the match. On May 1, at Extreme Rules, Cole teamed with Swagger to defeat Jim Ross and Lawler in a Country Whipping match. Lawler and Cole had a final "Kiss My Foot" match at Over the Limit on May 22, which Cole lost; after the match, Bret Hart returned and put Cole in his signature submission move, the Sharpshooter, to help Lawler make Cole kiss his foot. Cole apologized to Lawler the following night on Raw, ending their feud.

Cole continued to wrestle sporadically after this and still favored most heels while questioning the actions of the faces to regain control in matches. On the July 25 episode of Raw, Triple H placed Cole in a match against Zack Ryder, which Cole lost quickly. Cole and Alberto Del Rio lost a tag team match to John Cena and Jim Ross on the October 17 episode of Raw SuperShow, prompting Cole to challenge Ross to the "Michael Cole Challenge" (a series of three contests); Cole said that if Ross won each challenge, Cole would quit his job. During the challenge on the November 14 episode of Raw SuperShow, Ross won the first two challenges (arm wrestling and dancing), causing Cole to declare that the third contest was who weighed less, which Cole won. Ross was subsequently fired and CM Punk…