Michael Cole is one of the most senior members of WWE, having started his career in the promotion back in 1997 as a backstage interviewer. Over the years, Cole would slowly transition from this role to commentary, even stepping into the ring and becoming involved in several storylines.During an appearance on the "What'sYourStory? WithStephMcMahon" podcast,Cole looked back at his journey into the WWE and getting accustomed to the heavy travelling schedule."At the time, my contract was coming up at CBS," he recalled. "When they moved me fromHouston to New York in 1995, they promised me that I wouldn't travel. (...) Well, as soon as '96 rolls out, I end up six months on the road with the presidential campaign."Cole then added that his wife was still at home during this period and didn't want him on the road anymore. While working withCBS, Cole had worked with ToddPettengill, who opened the door to WWE for him."He got me an audition with KevinDunn and MichaelHayes at the time, and I didn't hear from anybody for typical WWE I didn't hear from anybody for three or four months," he recalled, adding that he began to stress about his CBS contract that was about to expire before Dunn called him back and offered him a job."I genuinely thought that I was coming to WWE for about a year, because I wanted to get television experience," Cole admitted, explaining that he wanted to continue his career in news. "And lo and behold, nearly thirty years later,I'm still here, and I've had this love affair with this company ever since."
While MichaelCole's wife wasn't happy with his time away from home while he followed the 1996 US Presidential race, when it came to WWE, she seemed to have a different opinion about his schedule. "She was okay with it because, the thing about WWE is we have a schedule, and I know whenI'm going to travel," he explained."At CBS, I didn't have that luxury, because I'd sometimes get a phone call in the middle of the night and [they'd] say, 'Hey, there was a plane crash inFlorida, go ahead and go down to that,'" Cole recalled, "and I had to be there till the story was over and sometimes that was five days and sometimes that was a month."Cole further explained that while dating his now-wife, there was little consistency because of his career, leaving her to care for her two children by herself most of the time."So,I'm mid-20s, ready-made family, just got married, trying to figure out what to do with my life, started in this crazy world of wrestling which I was a fan, but I had no idea getting into but now I end up like this," he expressed.Despite all of this, Cole benefited from being KevinDunn's first WWE hiree, as he always made sure Cole was protected and learned the business the right way."I wasn't just thrown out there, having no idea what was going on," he claimed, but Dunn put him with a duo that ended up smartening him up fast. "I ended up travelling withRonSimmons and JBL, and that shaped my life in WWE and I grew up quick."If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "What's YourStory? WithStephMcMahon," and provide a h/t toWrestling Inc. for the transcription.
