Michael Cole reveals that he has lost 65% of his hearing, explains how WWE works around it

Michael Cole has been a WWE Play-by-Play announcer since 1997; he began his career at the height of the Monday Night Wars, and currently serves as lead announcer on Friday Night SmackDown. In April 2020, it was reported that Cole was promoted to Vice President of Announcing. While WWE fans in the past have criticized Cole for his announcing style, many have come to appreciate the work Cole does at the announcer's desk.

During an interview on the Pat MacAfee Show, the highly popular program hosted by Cole's broadcast partner Pat MacAfee, the WWE broadcasting veteran discussed what it's like to work for WWE.

“When the red light goes on, it’s fun. There’s a lot leading up to it and a lot of stuff that happens during the week, but Friday nights at 8 o’clock, when that red light goes on, it’s the best job in the world. You get to be play-by-play guy, color analyst, but you also get to be a storyteller and a narrator. You get to be an actor, you’re part of the show. It’s the best of every world possible," Cole stated. (h/t NoDq.com)

Later on, Cole would reveal that he has lost 65% of his hearing during his time with WWE, forcing the company to come up with creative ways to help the broadcast veteran hear the voices that are pumped into his headphones.

“I’m actually 65% hearing loss. They make these special in-ear pieces that go underneath my headset on air, so I can actually hear," said Cole

Adnan Virk praised Michael Cole for helping him during his time with WWE

Sports broadcaster Adnan Virk had a shortlived WWE career, joining the company in mid-April 2020 and leaving the company in May of the same year. His exit was due to both the massive negative fan reaction to his work, and Virk claiming that the travel schedule was too much for his family.

While his time in WWE was only 6 weeks long, Virk still took the opportunity to express gratitude to all he worked with, including Michael Cole. In an interview with Peter Klein on Coach Potato Diary, Virk said:

"Kevin Dunn is a great producer. Michael Cole was very very generous. Michael is not only the voice of SmackDown, he's the on-air conglomerate and oversees the talent. He was so helpful every week. I would do the show, I would watch the show, I'd call Michael on Thursday and we'd go through stuff and go through notes. I would try to make as many notes as I could. Everybody there, I have such respect for because they work so hard."

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