Many things in WWE have changed since the company has entered a “new era,” as it has been touted since WrestleMania 40, with former chairman Vince McMahon no longer with the company, but one specific change has been the sound of the promotion. Former WWE writer Freddie Prinze Jr. believes Michael Cole, the voice of WWE broadcasting, has been reinvigorated. On a recent, “Wrestling With Freddie” podcast, Prinze said he thinks Cole’s broadcast partner Pat McAfee plays a big role in that.

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“I have never heard Michael Cole laugh so much,” Prinze said. “I have never heard him have such a good time. I have never seen him have so much fun on and off camera as I have since they paired him up with this dude. [McAfee]… I didn’t know how he was going to do. It’s a hard job and there have been professional commentators that have come in, and professional hosts of TV shows that have tried to come in and he came in and it took him like one episode to find himself and now he’s friggin’ killing it every single week and he’s really brought a lot… I mean, every time he yeets, Michael Cole is literally saying things like, ‘Please don’t yeet in my face.'”

Cole and McAfee started working together on “WWE SmackDown” in April 2021 to September 2022, before Cole was moved to “Raw,” and joined by McAfee at the beginning of 2024. McAfee and Cole have been close since they started together on the blue brand, with the former punter even crediting Cole for “making his WWE dreams come true.” McAfee has also called Cole “the greatest of all time,” and when he left the commentary desk in 2023 to work with ESPN on “College GameDay,” McAfee was confident he would one day rejoin Cole. Cole also said he wouldn’t retire from his position until his friend returned to WWE for another run.

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Please credit “Wrestling With Freddie” when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.