Greg Hamilton began working with WWE in 2015 and stayed on until October 2021. Despite getting promoted to the current roster & eventually taking over as the voice of SmackDown, his initial position with the business was as a ring announcer on NXT. Hamilton was frequently spotted commenting on social media regarding his travels with WWE and his connection with Shinsuke Nakamura. Here’s why you should be aware that Greg is the finest ring announcer in the world.
For six years, Greg Hamilton served as the ring announcer for WWE SmackDown. You might remember him most for declaring Shane McMahon “the finest in the world” in the ring and his forceful announcement of “Shinsuke Nakamura.” Greg Hamilton just left WWE in what he characterized as a courteous parting. Greg’s final significant performance was at WWE’s Crowning Achievement pay-per-view in Saudi Arabia in October 2021. During his stint, he faced criticism from the WWE Universe over his remarks regarding Lio Rush. Rush made his retirement known after a career-threatening injury.
For more than 20 years, Michael Cole has served as a voice for the wrestling community. When Cole first joined WWE in 1997, he worked as a voice actor for promotional movies before becoming a backstage announcer, a fill-in play-by-play announcer, and then a full-time commentator in 1999 with the launch of Smackdown. Even though they were rivals to JR & King on Raw, Cole and Tazz’s relationship on Smackdown allowed them to grow into one of the show’s most beloved announce teams. When WWE decided to switch Cole off Smackdown to Raw in 2008, things started to change for Cole, who had no distinct persona and was seldom featured in storylines. The decision to have Cole take over as the primary commentator for WWE’s flagship show was viewed as contentious because JR had not indicated any desire to quit his position.
Michael Cole retracts his position
Around 2010, Michael Cole began to act like a heel. He got haughty and began disparaging faces like Daniel Bryan while developing a genuine admiration for heels like The Miz. As soon as Cole started advertising himself as the “Voice of the WWE,” he took on the persona of the despised Mysterious Raw General Manager. Cole became a smothering presence in WWE; Raw was no anymore about the action in the ring since viewers were forced to listen to Cole’s rants and raves about everything that happened there. Weekly Michael Cole promos took up three hours of Raw. Listening to Cole yell over the action makes it difficult to witness legendary WWE moments like Christian capturing the World Heavyweight Championships and the Summer of Punk. Despite this, Vince McMahon was reported to have made Cole his favorite character since he could express himself completely via Cole. Cole’s screen time didn’t decrease either. During this time, Cole and Jerry Lawler started a feud that would end at WrestleMania 27. For months, one of the greatest heavily promoted storylines was this conflict, which dominated Raw. At Wrestlemania, Lawler and Cole engaged in a very protracted bout where Cole mysteriously received the most of the offense, and the rivalry didn’t even stop there! It was prolonged for two additional pay-per-views!
Heart Attack of Jerry Lawler
While co-commentating with Cole during Raw on the September 10, 2012 program, Lawler experienced a potentially fatal heart attack; while Cole bravely attempted to commentate upon that match as usual with his real-life buddy dying next to him, King was one minute heard commentating as expected and the next, he was lying on the floor receiving treatment by physicians.
Thankfully, King would fully recover, and Cole would get a lot of admiration for his response to the predicament. With tears in his eyes, Cole would convey the news that King had had a cardiac arrest and that he’d remain seated at ringside to offer updates all night. His tenacity and resolve to press on despite fully understanding that he could have to break the news that his buddy might pass away was a noble act.
Having Vince McMahon out of Cole’s ear, is Cole better?
Michael Cole is constrained since he has to push aside awkward branding chances and overused catchphrases. When Michael Cole has indeed been allowed to commentate unrestricted on occasion, he has excelled.
With Byron Saxon & Nigel McGuiness, respectively, Cole put on some fantastic performances In the Beast in the East competition in 2015 as well as the two UK Championships. It was obvious that Cole is a terrific announcer since he seemed like a completely different guy.
