Michael Cole and WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler make up the lead broadcasting team on Monday Night Raw, calling the action on USA Network and WWE pay-per-view events.

Prior to switching announce booths with Jim Ross and heading to Raw in the 2008 WWE Draft, Cole was the lead announcer on SmackDown since the brand’s inception, working with partners ranging from Tazz to JBL to Mick Foley.

For nearly a decade, Cole has worked hard to vividly describe all of the action World Wrestling Entertainment has to offer, and has earned him as much praise in WWE as he earned in the news world.

While working for CBS Radio in 1993, Cole covered the entire 51-day standoff at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas that led to tragedy when more than 80 residents of the compound perished in a fire that erupted during a shootout between them and federal agents.

In 1994, he traveled to Sarajevo for what was supposed to be a six-week assignment covering the siege of the city by Serbian forces. The assignment turned into a nine-month life-changing experience that saw him report daily from the war-torn city, ducking snipers and mortar shells at every turn. His documentary, “Voices of Bosnia,” was critically acclaimed and won several major awards.

Experienced in the face of tragedy, Cole was dispatched to Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995 to cover the horrific bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, where 168 people were lost their lives. Cole also covered three presidential elections – 1988 with Michael Dukakis, 1992 with Bill Clinton, and 1996 with Steve Forbes and Bob Dole.

In 1997, Cole brought his talents to WWE. In his early days, he hosted the syndicated Livewire show, as well as Shotgun Saturday Night with Jim Cornette. By the end of that year, he was an announcer on Raw. From 1997 to 1999 he held regular stints as a Raw announcer, and when SmackDown made its debut in 1999, Cole was chosen for the lead play-by-play announcing role. Originally teamed up with Jerry Lawler, Cole was paired with Tazz in 2001 and the two were together for five years until his realignment with ECW in June 2006. After that, Cole found himself sitting beside then-retired JBL, Jonathan Coachman and later the Hardcore Legend himself, Mick Foley, until Cole was ultimately drafted to Monday Night Raw.

In his tenure behind the broadcast booth, Cole has sometimes found himself in the thick of the action. While some of his assignments are enviable (such as emceeing a Divas Bikini Contest, for instance), he has also found himself as the object of several SmackDown Superstars’ ire. Regardless, his talent for calling the turbulent and unpredictable action of WWE has made him one of the top all-time announcers.

Source: WWE.com