Cole Vs. Lawler: The Most Developed (and Annoying) Match Going into Wrestlemania

Commentators are supposed to commentate. And although many in the IWC do not particularly enjoy “vintage Cole” moments while Michael Cole is commentating, that does not give the WWE the right to turn him into an over-obnoxious, Miz suck up, purely annoying heel.

But what’s worse is this: The feud with Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole is the most developed storyline and match heading into Wrestlemania. And it may be one of the most tasteless ones since the Katie Vick-fueled Triple H and Kane storyline.

For the past couple of months, Cole has pestered Jerry Lawler by screwing him in title matches, calling him out publicly and even having the audacity to call him out after his own mother passes away.

It may make for some controversy, but this is ridiculous. The amount of coverage this one rivalry receives is absurd. Here we are, just under two weeks away from Wrestlemania, and Cole vs. Lawler seems to have gotten more coverage than even the Cena vs. Miz, Undertaker vs. Triple H, Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio, and other matches that have actual WRESTLERS performing in them, not a recently-turned heel commentator like Cole who has had zero experience.

I really don’t fault Lawler in any of this. What did everyone expect, that he was actually going to win the title against Miz at Elimination Chamber? Of course, that wasn’t going to happen, but for a man who has dedicated so many years to being behind the announce table on the granddaddy of them all, one would think McMahon or someone would’ve given him a match against maybe Swagger, with Cole in his corner. Or maybe even a handicap match!

Does anyone also care that Stone Cold Steve Austin is refereeing the match? To me, that should at least be something of a sticking point in the feud. Still, they have literally focused one show about that and since, no mention of it. 

To make matters worse, it's just an insult to fans who want to see more of the drama involving the Rock against the Miz and John Cena (and we still don’t know where its going to go completely yet) to have to suffer through the long-winded diatribes of Cole badmouthing Lawler.

For a program that’s supposed to be TV-PG, suddenly we’re seeing Cole bring out Brian Christopher, Lawler’s son, and listen to him rip on his dad. And when Lawler’s mother passes just a few weeks earlier, Cole rips on Lawler about that! Bringing in family and death just crosses the line to me, I don’t care how scripted the program is. We’re not talking about Kane and the Undertaker; we’re talking about Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler.

What really annoys me the most about this storyline is how repetitive it has been. Each show, Cole rips on Lawler, Lawler gets mad, and then Swagger beats up on Lawler. Rinse and repeat. 

I’d rather watch Vicki Guerrero yell annoyingly for five minutes than deal with this same garbage over and over again each week.

But what I will give the guys behind the scenes of this match is this: I really want to see Cole get annihilated at Wrestlemania by Lawler. I certainly hope that this isn’t like last year’s Bret Hart versus Vince McMahon match, which at least had a real life, knockdown, drag-out type of build-up that had years in the making, only to be a complete and utter bore fest of a match. 

I really hope Cole can bring something into this match besides Jack Swagger and Lawler’s family photo album, because for the amount of air time that’s been dedicated to this story, one really prays that the WWE has at least trained Cole for this match to some extent.

The folks who are paying 50 bucks for the pay-per-view at least deserve something more than a snoozer.