What is Michael Cole's Net Worth and Salary?
Michael Cole is a professional wrestling commentator and former journalist who has a net worth of $4 million. Signed to WWE, Michael Cole serves as the play-by-play commentator for the Raw brand and the color commentator for the SmackDown brand. Earlier in his career, Cole worked for CBS Radio.
Early Life and Education
Michael Cole was born as Sean Michael Coulthard on December 8, 1966 in Syracuse, New York. For his higher education, he attended the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, earning his bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism in 1988.
Journalism Career
After graduating from Syracuse, Coulthard became a journalist for CBS Radio. His first high-profile assignment was covering the 1988 US presidential campaign of Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis. For the next presidential election cycle in 1992, he covered the campaign of eventual winner Bill Clinton. The year after that, Coulthard covered the siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. He went on to report on the Yugoslav wars in 1994 and the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. Coulthard returned to the presidential campaign trail in 1996 to cover the campaigns of candidates Bob Dole and Steve Forbes.
Professional Wrestling Career
In 1997, Coulthard joined the World Wrestling Federation. Using the stage name Michael Cole, he started out by doing voiceovers for promotional videos. That June, he made his first appearance onscreen in an episode of "Raw is War," and subsequently replaced Todd Pettengill as a backstage interviewer. Later in the year, Cole became one of the three announcers during the first hour of "Monday Night Raw," alongside Kevin Kelly and Jim Ross. After leaving the show in mid-1998, he became the regular play-by-play announcer for "Raw is War." In 1999, Cole became the play-by-play announcer for WWF's new SmackDown program. Following the WWE brand extension, he worked exclusively for the SmackDown brand. Although he was seldom involved in professional wrestling storylines, Cole did have brief roles in storylines with Heidenreich, Vito, and D-Generation X. In 2006, Cole's broadcast partner Taz left SmackDown, and was replaced by John Layfield. A couple years later, Layfield left to return to wrestling action with Raw, and Cole's new partner became Jonathan Coachman. Not long after that, Coachman was replaced by Mick Foley.
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During the 2008 WWE Draft, Cole was drafted back to the Raw brand, ending his tenure as a play-by-play commentator for SmackDown. He went on to make his in-ring debut as Jerry Lawler's partner against the tag team of Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase, with the latter duo ultimately winning. In 2010, Cole became the lead commentator on the new show "WWE NXT," a position he held for the program's first three seasons. During that time, he turned heel for the first time in his WWE career. Also in 2010, Cole began a feud with Lawler. After the feud ended, he continued to wrestle, mostly favoring heels. Despite having served as a heel commentator since 2010, Cole showed his compassion in a September 2012 episode of "Raw" when his partner Lawler had a heart attack on the air. He continuously provided updates to viewers on Lawler's condition, and earned praise for his class and professionalism in handling the emergency. Cole went on to join in commentary during various "Raw" and pay-per-view events. In November, he hugged Lawler in the ring when Lawler returned to "Raw."
Return to SmackDown and Raw
In 2019, Cole returned to the SmackDown brand as a full-time commentator, appearing alongside former Raw commentators Renee Young and Corey Graves. Later, in 2021, he was joined on commentary by Pat McAfee. When McAfee was on break, Cole was joined by Wade Barrett. In the summer of 2023, Cole returned to the Raw brand as a commentator, alongside Barrett. Meanwhile, he continued his work with SmackDown.
Personal Life
Cole has been married to his wife Yolanda since 1987; they have two sons together. Beyond wrestling, he is a fan of the New York Jets, New York Mets, and Boston Celtics.
