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.
Contents
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)
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.
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.
Reality of Wrestling (2013)
In December 2013, Cole served as a special guest announcer for fellow WWE employee Booker T's professional wrestling promotion Reality of Wrestling, along with Rich Brennan (formerly known as Anthony Pratt and Rich Bocchini).
Legacy
Legendary professional wrestling commentator, WWE Hall of Famer and former broadcast partner colleague Jim Ross has praised Cole: "Michael works his ass off. He's a good family man, he's a company man, he works diligently to do his job. I respect him for all those things. I've always liked him, he's a good dude, and folks won't understand that. They only judge him for his television persona, rightly or wrongly. It's kind of frustrating". PWInsider's Dave Scherer called Cole "The GOAT (Greatest of All Time)", praising his work under Vince McMahon's pressure. Nigel McGuinness also praised Cole, pointing how many things he learned from him.
Other media
Cole has appeared as a commentator in numerous WWE video games, providing his voice. He has also appeared as a non-playable character in several and is a playable character in WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role, WWF No Mercy as an unlockable character and WWE '12 as a downloadable character.
Cole has also appeared in Activision's Call of Duty Modern Warfare III and Call of Duty Warzone as Himself. He announced finish moves for the featured wrestler operator skins of Rhea Ripley, Rey Mysterio and Cody Rhodes, as well as other various voice lines in the game, including a variation of Team Deathmatch called "Slam Deathmatch".
Cole appeared on the September 12, 2012, episode of Fox & Friends to address fellow WWE commentator Jerry Lawler's heart attack that occurred during the September 10 live broadcast of Raw.
Filmography
Awards and accomplishments
The Baltimore Sun
Non-Wrestling Performer of the Year (2010)
World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE
Slammy Award (4 times)
"Oh My" Moment of the Year (2009) vomiting on Chris Jericho – SmackDown's 10th anniversary
"And I Quote..." Line of the Year (2010)
Most Regrettable Attire of the Year (2011) Dressing as Triple H
Favorite Web Show of the Year (2013) – with John "Bradshaw" Layfield and Renee Young for The JBL & Cole Show
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Worst Gimmick (2011)
Worst Television Announcer (2001, 2009–2012, 2020)
WrestleCrap
Gooker Award (2011) Antics throughout the years
