3 months ago
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Both Michael Cole and Jim Ross looked back on their time working WWE commentary under Vince McMahon.
Cole remains with the promotion as its lead play-by-play commentator on "WWE Raw," albeit working under a changed leadership following last year's WWE merger with UFC to form TKO Group Holdings. Under Paul "Triple H" Levesque, both his performance and the way he is received has seen a remarkable upward shift. which was chronicled during a career profile ran by The Ringer on Cole, with comments from he and former colleague Ross.
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"I've been cursed out on the headset many times," said Ross. "You say, 'Well that's disconcerting.' Of course it is. That's the idea. The old man tries to rattle you, and he wants to see if you're going to hold up."
Cole saw McMahon's micromanagement, talking directly in commentary's ears, as "constructive criticism" and a sign that he had earned a degree of professional respect in the eyes of the chairman. "Vince could feed me a couple of words, and I would be able to expand on that and make it paragraphs." However, there were times when even he drew the line. "I'm not going to lie," he said, "There have been times where he has said things to me that were inappropriate. I would go back to Gorilla after the show and get in his face and tell him, 'That was bullsh**.' He respected that I did that."
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At the end of the day, Cole simply saw himself as doing the job he was paid to do. "I'm not a rebel. I'm here to make money and take care of my family and provide myself a good living. And when your boss asks you to do something, you do it... I still think, at that time, I was a hell of a good announcer."

