Michael Cole says new WWE deal will take him to retirement age
Michael Cole says his new WWE contract will last until he is “retirement age.”
The 58-year-old revealed the news on Monday during an episode of Logan Paul’s Impaulsive, stating that WWE made him feel important to the company for the first time.
“Just signed a brand new contract with the company. So I’m going to be here for a number of years,” Cole said on the show. He would later reveal that he has eight years left on the deal.
“The company really made me feel, you know, really for the first time that I was really important to this place.”
He was asked what about the deal made him feel that way and he responded:
“The paycheck is part of it but the new regime had a lot to do with it. When I went to sign the new deal, I sat down with my wife and I’m 58 years old now and I’m like, ‘They want to get me to retirement age.’ And this is because we had talked about me getting out of this for a long while now just because of the travel and everything else. And and she was like, ‘You got to do it. This is your legacy. Like, you’re going to be miserable if you don’t finish this up the way you want to finish it up.’ And she was great about it. So, she was one hundred percent on board with it and so I’m here for a while.”
Cole re-signed with WWE last spring, but the length of the deal was not disclosed. It was only stated that it would keep him with the company for “the foreseeable future.” He’s been in WWE for nearly 30 years, having first signed with the company in 1997.
Cole also addressed Corey Graves’ situation, noting that Graves took a brief sabbatical after a late-night social media post implying frustration over being moved from the Raw broadcast team to NXT.
Cole said:
“I still don’t understand all the dynamics of it. I know that he sent something out on social media that was pretty critical of the company. He tried to explain to everyone that he was trying to generate some interest in maybe a type of a storyline. I don’t think the company saw it that way.”
“I think he and the company are working that out. I love Corey to death—he’s an unbelievable commentator. Beside McAfee, he’s probably the best partner I’ve ever had.”
Cole also spent some time during the interview discussing the changes he’s seen in the company since the departure of Vince McMahon.
“Listen, I will never ever disparage Vince McMahon,” Cole said. “He’s got his personal issues and whatnot but from a professional standpoint, I’ll never disparage the man. I would not be here today without Vince. He gave me everything.”
He continued:
“I’ll never disparage the man but Vince was very heavy-handed. It was his company, his sandbox, whatever he wanted. So, I was never really able to break out and be myself, with the exception of a little bit of a heel run I had over a decade ago. But when Vince left and Paul came and was in charge, Triple H, he really changed things. Then we brought in Lee Fitting, who came from ESPN. Lee coming from ESPN, where the talent is the announcer, he came here and said, ‘I don’t understand why our guys at the desk aren’t bigger and have bigger personas and aren’t as respected as the people in the ring.'”
“What Lee and Paul have allowed us to do is bring our personalities out and you’re seeing the real Michael Cole now.”
The full interview is available below: