Michael Cole Admits He Doubted Filling Jim Ross’s Shoes

Michael Cole is opening up about the long shadow cast by Jim Ross during his early years as WWE’s lead broadcaster. Speaking with Stephanie McMahon, Cole admitted that for a significant stretch of his career, he genuinely wasn’t sure he could measure up to the man widely regarded as the greatest play-by-play voice the business has ever produced.

“For many years, I wasn’t sure if I was going to fill the shoes of Jim Ross,” Cole said, reflecting on the pressure that came with essentially becoming the face and voice of WWE television.

Cole joined the company back in 1997, arriving with the kind of hype usually reserved for a top prospect rather than a broadcaster. He was quickly positioned as the future of WWE’s commentary booth, working alongside Ross and other veterans while gradually absorbing more responsibility on flagship programming. Over time, that path led him to take over as the company’s primary commentator, effectively inheriting the chair Ross had occupied for so long.

That transition was never going to be simple. Ross wasn’t just a commentator — he was a storyteller who could sell a match’s emotional stakes better than almost anyone in wrestling history, someone whose call of moments like Steve Austin’s WrestleMania 13 submission or the Attitude Era’s biggest angles became inseparable from the moments themselves. Stepping into that role meant Cole wasn’t simply doing a job; he was being measured against a standard that fans had already canonized.

What makes Cole’s admission notable is how candid it is about the psychological weight of that comparison. Broadcasters rarely discuss self-doubt in real time, especially while they’re still the ones calling the matches. But Cole has now spent nearly three decades with the company, weathering criticism, evolving alongside multiple eras of WWE storytelling, and eventually carving out his own identity at the desk rather than simply trying to replicate Ross’s style.

It’s worth remembering that Cole has called some of the most significant moments in modern WWE history — title changes, retirements, debuts, and shocking returns — building a body of work that stands on its own even if it started under Ross’s shadow. His voice has become as synonymous with WWE’s current product as Ross’s was with the Attitude Era and the years surrounding it.

The comments also speak to a broader theme that’s become common in recent years: WWE personalities using podcasts and long-form interviews to reflect on their careers with far more introspection than they ever showed on television. Stephanie McMahon’s show has increasingly become a place where longtime company figures open up about pressures fans rarely got to hear about in real time.

For Cole, the acknowledgment doesn’t diminish his legacy — if anything, it reinforces just how difficult the assignment was from day one. Following a legend is never easy, and by his own admission, it took years before Cole felt he’d truly made the seat his own.