For the first time in its storied history, WWE has entered into a deal with Netflix to present Monday Night Raw exclusively on the streaming platform. Michael Cole, the longtime voice of World Wrestling Entertainment, recently was in Los Angeles to meet with Netflix executives. Cole came away impressed, and convinced that the company is 100% invested in their groundbreaking partnership.
The agreement, which is reportedly for 10 years and $5 billion, expands the global reach of the professional wrestling promotion and provides a new ability to connect with and retain its audience. Cole has been part of WWE broadcasts across different platforms for the past 28 years, but recognizes the importance of what’s about to transpire.
“I think what’s about to happen on Monday changes the game completely for everybody, not only for our company and our product, but I just think for broadcasting live television shows in general,” Cole said. “Netflix has had success with the Tyson fight and then did very well with the NFL games on Christmas Day, but we’re bringing a weekly live television show to them. Monday Night Raw, the longest-running episodic television show in history, and 52 weeks a year, live. It’s amazing to be able to team up with a company that globally leads the world in entertainment streaming.”
According to its latest quarterly earnings report, Netflix has approximately 282.7 million global paid subscribers. The platform recently presented a doubleheader of Christmas Day NFL games that attained an average minute audience of more than 30 million global viewers with improved overall performance. While Cole understands that some people are concerned about watching on Netflix, he feels that the issues the platform first encountered during the Tyson-Paul fight have been corrected. He’s confident that everything will run smoothly.
“I think this is going to be groundbreaking, it’s trailblazing,” Cole said. “I think there’s going to be bumps along the road, but I think we’re going to iron it out pretty quickly and we’re going to be ready to roll.”
There won’t be a preset run time for episodes of Monday Night Raw on Netflix, eliminating the need to hasten certain parts of the show. Over the last 19 years the show has aired on USA Network, there were constraints surrounding built-in commercial breaks that needed to run for a set duration.
“I think we’re going to have enough time to be able to develop our stories to the best of the ability,” Cole said. “There’s no rush to get through things. If we need a couple extra minutes in a certain match or segment, we’re going to be able to provide that for our audience, and they’re not going to feel like they missed out on something.”
Cole said the program could last for an hour or three hours, emphasizing that it depends on what is written into the show every week. On top of that, he is optimistic that WWE superstars will be able to branch out, conveying that Netflix probably has interest in talent to do things along the platform aside from Monday Night Raw. As viewers tune in for the premiere episode on Monday night, they can expect to see a lineup filled with champions and newcomers, some of whom include Roman Reigns, CM Punk, Liv Morgan, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and John Cena.
“I think it’s going to be a huge opportunity for us, and it’s also a huge opportunity for the world who may not have sampled our product before or who may have watched back in the ‘80s and ‘90s when it was, ‘Your dad’s wrestling show,’ that we’re different now,” Cole said. “We’re sports entertainment, we’re episodic television. It’s a lot different than it was 30 years ago, so hopefully we bring in some lapsed viewers and people start to watch the product and gain a better appreciation for what we do.”
Paul Levesque, WWE’s Chief Content Officer has worked with Cole and those across the company to create an entertaining television product. Before Levesque took the reins, Cole communicated frequently with WWE’s longtime owner Vince McMahon. Cole believes that McMahon helped him grow as an announcer and taught him everything about the business, but he expressed that Levesque understands that WWE has an All-Star team working on the property.
“I rarely hear from him in my headset,” Cole said. “When I do hear from him, I know it’s very important and I need to get in the point that he’s having me make, but he lets me do my job. Knowing that you can be free and say certain things, and you can have fun and loosen up without having in the back of your mind that you might get yelled at in 5 or 10 minutes is really important for us. That has allowed us to grow.”
Lee Fitting, a former executive at ESPN who oversaw NFL and college sports broadcast properties, including College GameDay, joined WWE in January. Fitting was hired as the company’s head of media and production, implementing more aspects of sports coverage in its presentation through kickoff shows, camera angles and arrival footage. Cole added that Fitting has changed the perception around commentators, stating that WWE announcers would sometimes “get lost in the shuffle.” He understands, however, that it is the superstars who are stepping into the ring and risking their health and wellbeing.
“We’re not out there putting our bodies on the line each and every week for our audience,” Cole said. “We’re not selling tickets. The superstars are doing that, but Lee has positioned us as commentators now to be thought of differently and in a different light than we ever have in the past because, obviously, we are an important part of the product.”
Cole has built a strong relationship with the fans by being a master storyteller, narrator and salesperson. He’s recently used more historical references on the broadcast, even acknowledging other wrestling companies, something that was previously prohibited. Contextualizing different wrestlers and tag teams and understanding that professional wrestling spans beyond WWE is something Cole has divulged to viewers. Despite professing that WWE is the biggest promotion in the industry, he also tries to make it clear that personnel usually do more beyond the company.
“It’s important to let people know that our guys don’t just operate in a bubble, that they’re doing a lot of other things outside of just wrestling in a WWE ring,” Cole said, “and it’s very important to explain that to people so they know, ‘Oh my God, these guys are everywhere.’”
Cole refers to the current time as the “Triple H era” and considers the team to be his family, sometimes seeing them more than his wife and children. At the same time, Cole also understands that WWE president Nick Khan has been key in leveraging growth and expanding the impact of the property.
“I knew Nick a long time before he started here, and then obviously since Nick has taken over, he’s been nothing but great to me,” Cole said. “He has an unbelievable vision for this company, and is unmatched when it comes to negotiating television rights and sponsorship deals.”
With Khan and Levesque leading WWE throughout the last several years, there have been a variety of new hires among executives and on-air talent. While working more closely with WWE NXT, Cole recommended that the company talk to Pat McAfee, a former punter for the Indianapolis Colts who, at the time, was working for Barstool Sports. Cole first met McAfee at an event, and he communicated his interest in the business and aspirations to be part of it. As he demonstrated his skillset, McAfee earned roles within WWE and was added to the commentary team for Friday Night Smackdown. McAfee will now make his return to work with Cole again on Monday Night Raw.
“I’ve never had the chemistry I’ve had with Pat McAfee. We just hit it off from Day 1 and we continue to do it today, and I can’t tell you how excited I am to have him back, and how excited he is to be back,” Cole said. “He has been dying for this day for four months, and he’s finally going to get it, and he’s so excited to be a part of it.”
Even though events that take place on the show are scripted beforehand, Cole understands the importance of eliciting spontaneity and genuine reactions. Rather than describing himself as a play-by-play announcer, he is a versatile on-air presence who fulfills various responsibilities pertaining to the presentation, sales and perception of WWE and its superstars. Before the show begins, he is at the arena ringside taking notes and speaking with talent to ask how he can enhance their storyline amid the action.
“It’s going to be my job to be able to explain to the new audience who our characters are without insulting our everyday fans,” Cole said. “That’s a juggling act, and you want to be able to explain to people, ‘Okay, who is Liv Morgan? Who is the women’s world champion? What is she all about?,’ without making it sound repetitious to the fans that have been watching each and every week, so that’s a juggling act that I really enjoy.”
Whereas Cole engages in meticulous preparation and is also responsible for sponsorship reads, McAfee comes to the venue and does not want to know anything. Rather than looking at the production run sheet, he will ask Cole if there are important things he needs to know and then simply watch the action and add his commentary.
With Cole and McAfee working together on WWE Raw, the SmackDown commentary team will now include Joe Tessitore with analysts Corey Graves and Wade Barrett. Tessitore called Raw for the last several months after joining WWE over the summer, and Cole is enthused to have added someone from outside of the wrestling universe. In the past, he felt the company was trying to find people to replicate him, but the approach has ostensibly changed under the new regime that will help create a dichotomy between both broadcast teams.
“Joe was a fan, a lifelong fan,” Cole said. “He had been at our events for many, many years before he came to work for our company. Joe is probably the best college football broadcaster on the planet right now. He’s also done combat sports, so he has that fight knowledge and fight background. Joe’s also done entertainment shows like Holey Moley, and he’s a veteran and established, plus he has a very distinct voice.”
Cole recently signed a new multi-year contract with WWE and is energized to continue documenting WWE events behind the microphone. He acknowledged that he’s not sure about the specific metrics that will be used to measure the success of WWE Raw broadcasts on Netflix, but as a commentator, he checks the X platform to see what superstars and fans are saying about certain things. Additionally, he measures the audience and tries to glean their enthusiasm for the lineup.
“I believe I’m at the top of my game, I don’t believe I’ve been any better and I just want to continue to be a part of all this, but at the end of the day, it’s fun,” Cole said. “I’ve got the easiest job in the world. I could be putting shingles on a roof [in] Texas, but I’m not. I’m walking into an arena every day, and I’m sitting behind a desk and I’m acting like a fool and I’m calling wrestling.”
WWE’s longtime voice doesn’t foresee himself retiring any time soon. He adds that he’d love to call a WWE event with NFL play-by-play announcers such as Mike Tirico, Al Michaels and/or Joe Buck. Cole previously worked with college football announcer Brad Nessler on a match on WWE SmackDown last year. For now though, he’s focused on bolstering the prominence and prestige of WWE and its brands to millions of people around the world.
“Even in the dark times when people are like, ‘How do you deal with people yelling at you in your headset?,’ it’s fun,” Cole said. “When that red light goes on at 8:00 Monday night on Netflix and I get to say, for the first time ever, ‘Welcome to Monday Night Raw live on Netflix!’ – I still get goosebumps doing it right now – it’s a part of making history within our small little world of professional wrestling. You never know when that next opportunity to make history is going to be.”
Derek Futterman is an associate editor and sports media reporter for Barrett Media. Additionally, he has worked in a broad array of roles in multimedia production – including on live game broadcasts and audiovisual platforms – and in digital content development and management. He previously interned for Paramount within Showtime Networks, wrote for the Long Island Herald and served as lead sports producer at NY2C. To get in touch, email Derek@BarrettMedia.com or find him on X @derekfutterman.
