Michael Cole says WWE is ‘not professional wrestling anymore’

WWE’s lead announcer, Michael Cole, told Logan Paul, “We’re an entertainment product.”

As Cody Rhodes embraced his mother after winning the WWE Title at WrestleMania XL, Michael Cole emotionally declared, “Damn it, I love professional wrestling.” Yet, less than a year after Rhodes finished his story, Cole now describes WWE differently.

During an appearance on Impaulsive with host Logan Paul, WWE’s longtime announcer explained the company’s evolution. “We’re a storytelling entity first,” said Cole. “We’re not professional wrestling anymore; we haven’t been for many years. We’re an entertainment product. And we need stories so our fans can emotionally invest in our characters.”

While Cole is right about WWE’s evolution and the importance of storytelling, his statement sends a mixed message as he and WWE still refer to the product as pro wrestling.

Under Vince McMahon, “professional wrestling” and “professional wrestler” became prohibited words. To set WWE apart and distance it from the stigma of pro wrestling, McMahon rebranded his version of the genre as “sports entertainment.” Pro wrestlers, at least those in his employ, were called “WWE Superstars.”

However, after McMahon’s first exit from WWE in 2022, which later led to his complete ouster in 2024, things began to change. Paul “Triple H” Levesque, McMahon’s son-in-law, took over the company’s creative direction. Soon, it became acceptable for WWE talent to refer to their field as professional wrestling. While the label of “WWE Superstars” remains, calling performers sports entertainers or pro wrestlers now seems to be a personal choice.

“JR had come to the WWE already a wrestling guy,” said Cole. “And I think me being new and fresh and not a wrestling guy, Vince was able to mold me how he wanted me to be an announcer.”

Old-school WWE fans will recall that McMahon started as an announcer for his father, Vince McMahon Sr. As the World Wide Wrestling Federation became the World Wrestling Federation and Vince Jr. took control of his father’s territory, he also changed how announcing was done.

Over time, viewers started to see, or more precisely, hear a shift. More focus was placed on the characters and their stories and less on the holds applied in the ring. “What a maneuver” became McMahon’s go-to line when describing the action in the ring. As McMahon morphed into a narrator and less of a play-by-play man, he passed that philosophy on to Cole, who sees himself as a storyteller.

“I think that people are beginning to understand now that, ‘Yeah, you know what, you don’t have to call every single move in a wrestling match.’ You make sure you call the big spots, the big moments. But it’s more important for me to explain to our audience who you guys are,” Cole said.

In his estimation, that’s especially important as WWE’s partnership with Netflix introduces the company to new viewers. As Cole said to Paul, “One of my jobs now, which I love, is being able to educate this new audience on who you guys are. Like, who’s Logan Paul? Who’s John Cena? Who’s Roman Reigns?”

As Cole emphasized the need to educate new fans, he also stressed the importance of respecting longtime viewers, demonstrating an ongoing balancing act between WWE’s wrestling roots and identity as an entertainment powerhouse. More than anything, Cole’s words reflect WWE’s ultimate reality: storytelling is king.