Michael Cole - Biography and Images

Sean Michael Coulthard – born December 8, 1968 – is a professional wrestling commentator.

He is currently signed to WWE, where he serves as the play-by-play commentator for the SmackDown brand and as the Vice President of Announcing since 2020.

Coulthard began his career in the media as a journalist, working for CBS Radio.

His first high-profile assignment was to cover the 1988 US presidential campaign of Democratic Party nominee Michael Dukakis.

In 1992, he reported on the presidential campaign of Bill Clinton.

He also covered the 51-day siege at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, in 1993, and the following year, spent nine months covering the Yugoslavian civil war.

In 1995, he was also selected to cover the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing.

He returned to the presidential campaign trail in 1996 to cover the campaigns of Steve Forbes and Sen. Bob Dole.

Coulthard came to the World Wrestling Federation in mid early-1997 after being recommended to company officials by Todd Pettengill, and started using the stage name “Michael Cole”.

He provided voice-overs for promotional videos and later became the host of the LiveWire show.

Cole first appeared on screen at the June 30, 1997 episode of Raw is War, interviewing The Legion of Doom and replaced Todd Pettengill as a backstage interviewer after SummerSlam.

In late 1997, Cole became one of the three announcers for the first hour of Monday Night Raw, alongside Jim Ross and Kevin Kelly.

Eventually, Cole was permanently replaced by Jerry Lawler in mid-1998.

In December 1998, Cole became the regular play-by-play announcer for Raw is War, subbing for Jim Ross when Ross was ill with Bell’s palsy. He continued in this role until WrestleMania XV in March 1999.