For only the second time in 20 years, Michael Cole will miss a WWE television broadcast.
WWE announced that the longtime RAW play-by-play announcer will miss the upcoming October 2 episode of Monday Night RAW because his son is getting married. In his absence, Tom Phillips, SmackDown Live's play-by-play announcer, will take over Cole's position, meaning that Phillips, Corey Graves and Booker T will be the announce team for that episode.
Cole, nicknamed "The Voice of WWE," has been with the company since the late 1990s, serving as a backstage interviewer at first and eventually becoming the play-by-play broadcaster for SmackDown's pilot episode. Within a couple of years working with WWE, Cole became the regular play-by-play announcer for Monday Night Raw, subbing for Jim Ross when Ross was hit with Bell's palsy.
Phillips has had an increased role as a WWE broadcaster within this past year. He became the lead announcer for SmackDown after Mauro Ranallo left the company earlier this year and called the opening match of the WrestleMania 33 Kickoff Show, joining an extremely short list of announcers to open WrestleMania.
The October 2 episode of RAW will be featured by Braun Strowman vs. Seth Rollins and an Intercontinental Championship match between The Miz and Roman Reigns.
Fightful will have live coverage of RAW, including a post-RAW edition of the Fightful podcast live on YouTube and on Fightful as soon as the show ends.
