Michael Cole recently appeared on Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast, where he discussed various topics and confirmed a long-rumored incident involving Pat McAfee.
Cole addressed the reported argument that took place before WrestleMania 37 in Tampa, years before they became an on-screen commentary duo. The dispute stemmed from McAfee’s decision to wear shorts during the WrestleMania Kick-Off Show, which led to Cole reprimanding him.
While the two initially clashed over the incident, their relationship eventually evolved into one of the most popular commentary pairings in WWE history.
“With Pat, it’s different. Pat and I are really good friends. He’s always been a wrestling fan his whole life. He came to one of our house shows in Indiana a number of years ago, and we just started talking, and he’s like, ‘I’d like to try this.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, you know,’ he was at Barstool all the time, and we’re like, ‘Why don’t you come in and start doing some stuff with NXT?’ And he came in and he started doing the countdown shows and all that. And he and I got really, really close, and then our relationship imploded for a night, because at WrestleMania a number of years ago…I’m no longer in charge of the announcers. I used to not only be an announcer, but I was [also] in charge of all the announcers. So I was a VP in the company doing all that. And so we brought Pat in to do the WrestleMania kickoff show. And you know, everybody at WrestleMania is in tuxedos and ties and the whole nine yards, and Pat shows up in shorts. Now, they were tuxedo shorts, but he shows up in shorts. So now we’re about to go on the air live. It’s all this pressure. I see Pat walk into the gorilla with these shorts on, and I’m like, in front of everybody—which was my bad—’What the fuck are you doing, dude? You’re in fucking shorts. It’s WrestleMania. Stephanie McMahon’s there. Vince is there… all these people…’ I’m dressing down Pat. In the moment, I didn’t think about it. Then I… then he stormed off. And I’m like, ‘Where the fuck are you going?’ ‘I’m not doing the show.’ He goes back. He’s packing his bag in the locker room to leave. He goes, ‘You just embarrassed me in front of everybody in this company.’ And I never thought of it that way, but he was right.”
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
