Michael Cole has been WWE’s lead announcer for some time now which means that he spent a number of years working closely with Vince McMahon prior to Vince’s retirement.
It’s no big secret that Vince McMahon was very involved when it came to giving announcers instructions during WWE events, and former WWE writer Brian Gewirtz explained in his book “There’s Just One Problem…: True Tales from the Former, One-Time, 7th Most Powerful Person in WWE,” that Vince fined Cole for saying the word “now” on TV.
“We all have our personal verbal tics. Announcer Michael Cole used to say ‘now’ at the end of every sentence. ‘Jeff Hardy, into the ropes now…’ Vince took it upon himself to fine Cole every time he ended a sentence with the word ‘now,’ and sure enough Cole stopped doing it.”
Michael Cole has spent the majority of his time working in WWE as an impartial announcer, but Gewirtz also explained why the anonymous Raw GM storyline led to Cole’s infamous heel turn.
“This mysterious being would send in key decisions via email, which announcer Michael Cole would then read live on the air. The email sound effect would reverberate throughout the arena and always get a reaction. Michael Cole simply walking to the computer (which had its own setup at ringside) and reading the GM’s emails eventually forced our hand to turn Cole heel.”
H/T Sportskeeda
