Michael Cole discusses potentially retiring and says he won't step away full-time until he can reunite with Pat McAfee.
Cole has been with WWE since 1997; after he initially worked as an interviewer, he eventually joined the Raw broadcast team. He then became an established member of the commentary team, and he moved between Raw and SmackDown at different points over the next several years. Cole has been on WWE SmackDown since 2019. Additionally, he was promoted to Vice President of Announcing in 2020. His pairing with Pat McAfee proved to be a fan-favorite dynamic when the latter moved up to the blue brand in April 2021. McAfee went on hiatus in September 2022, as he joined the ESPN College GameDay team. He returned to WWE at WWE Royal Rumble 2023 and WrestleMania 39, but these appearances were one-offs.
On The Pat McAfee Show, the former NFL player noted that he doesn't think Cole will be able to stop, as he praised the veteran broadcaster for the way he has barely missed any shows throughout his lengthy career. Cole responded by saying that he'll have to stop at some point, but it won't be any time soon.
"I’m gonna have to stop or else I’m… I’m gonna be married 30 years, so if I want it to last longer than that, I’m probably gonna have to stop at some point. But no, it won’t be any time soon. I still got a lot of work to do with this company. There’s still a lot of stuff to do, still a lot of shows to call. I just told somebody that I’m 56 now, so 60 sounds like a pretty good age to maybe slow down a little bit. Maybe," Cole said.
McAfee then repeated that he doesn’t think Cole will be able to “disappear” or get away from work as he talked about going on vacation, Cole described how his perspective has changed as he has aged. He made it clear that he wants to spend time with his grandchildren, and it's easier to see the end of his career now than it was when he was younger.
“I’m about 20 years older than you, I’ve been on the road nonstop for 26 years. I mean, 52 weeks, every week on an airplane, away from home, away from seeing the kids grow. I’ve got a couple grandkids now that I want to spend some time with as they get older. Your priorities change as you get older. I know a lot of people have said this to you, but your life is gonna change drastically in a couple of weeks. Those little ones come, and they really change a lot of perspective in your life. I raised two heats sons, and I was really happy with the way they turned out, but in retrospect, I wish I had spent a little bit more time at home with them, so now the fact that I have some grandkids, I want to be able to spend some time with them, bring them out to the ranch, have a good time with them. I want to be able to do that. I think now, at this point in my life, with everything that I’ve accomplished, it’s a little bit easier, seeing the end of the road, as it might have been when I was in my mid-30s enjoying life. It’s just a different perspective on everything," Cole said.
When McAfee emphasized that he wants to work with Cole again as he stated that he enjoyed their time together, Cole promised him that he would not leave his role as a full-time commentator until they could have a run together.
“Pat, I’ll make a promise to you. I won’t get out of this full-time until you and I can have at least have a little bit of a run left. Now, if you’re gonna push that off until I’m 75, we’re gonna have to re-talk," Cole said with a laugh.
Cole has stated that 30 years with WWE would be a cool goal, but he would get out before he slipped. Check out his comments here.
McAfee previously commented on his future with WWE. Click here to see what he had to say.
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