Michael Cole Credits Pat McAfee For Changes To WWE Commentary Style, Michelle McCool Has Specific WWE HOF Induction Preference

– Michael Cole spoke with FrontOfficeSports.com for an interview this week, during which he credited Pat McAfee for helping him change his approach to commentary, and essentially prolong his career in WWE.

“I think one of the reasons that I’ve been here so long is the ability to…evolve,” he said. “Over the years, I’ve gone from a straight play-by-play man to a heel. I’ve had matches. I’ve been beaten up. I went back to being a straightforward play-by-play man again. With the emergence of Pat McAfee, Pat’s allowed me to understand that this business is supposed to be fun. It’s not serious, right? This is supposed to be a fun place to work. Sitting back and watching Pat, the one thing I’ve learned is we’re all fans. Pat has allowed me to really open up. He’s taught me how to entertain.”

Cole continued, “It’s sort of like two guys just sitting back on a Monday night drinking a beer and talking about wrestling as opposed to two guys that are trying to act as wrestling commentators. We’re trying to understand and decipher it just as you guys do at home.”

– Michelle McCool spoke about a potential WWE Hall of Fame induction during an appearance on the latest episode of INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet. During the interview, the former WWE Superstar made it clear that she would prefer for LayCool to be inducted as a duo, with she and Layla going in together.

“I don’t know. I get that question all the time,” she said. “It would be an honor. I don’t know — not my call, don’t even know whose call it is. But, I have no idea. I hope LayCool would go in. It would be an honor to go in as Michelle McCool, obviously. But — think about it — LayCool is what put Michelle McCool really on the map. And I’ll never take that for granted, but [Layla] just disassociated from wrestling for quite some time. And I’ve respected that, but I’d give anything to have a LayCool reunion at a [Royal] Rumble.”