"How old are you, 12?" - Jim Ross defends WWE veteran over big WrestleMania 37 botch
Michael Cole had a forgettable WWE WrestleMania 37 event. He called every match on the two-day show and was unfortunately responsible for a significant botch during night one's main event.
Bianca Belair won the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship from Sasha Banks. Cole's commentary for the bout attracted a lot of attention.
Michael Cole messed up while calling the match's finish and mistakenly declared that Banks had kicked out of the KOD, when in fact The Boss had succumbed to Belair's three-count.
Michael Cole had a few other slip-ups at WWE WrestleMania 37, and the usually alert and vocal fans took to social media to highlight the veteran WWE announcer's mistakes.
Jim Ross wasn't a fan of the trend as he defended his former WWE colleague during the latest edition of the Grilling JR podcast on AdFreeShows.com.
JR felt the crowd was a little too harsh on Michael Cole. Ross explained to co-host Conrad Thompson that an announcer's job isn't easy, as they often work without scripts and have to create content on the fly.
Jim Ross explained that the current digital environment and the propensity for negative opinions online has created unfair situations for the performers and personnel.
According to Jim Ross, everyone is human - including Michael Cole - and mistakes are bound to happen:
"I thought some of the audience was a little hard on Michael Cole for having a couple of mistakes. You know, this damn job Conrad, is not easy. You know, you think about it in logic and think about it logically, you do a two or three-hour show without a script, with, you know, you're not reading the lines, you are creating lines. You are creating the content. You're bound to make a mistake here and there, and because of social media, a lot of the fans just have no patience. 'Oh, he made a mistake.' Yeah? And what is your point? Are you pointing out that he is human?"
"You're going to be an expert and tell me how to do my job?" - WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross
The WWE Hall of Famer also had a strong message for anyone who chose to call out wrestlers and personalities on social media over their on-screen missteps.
Jim Ross said that the times have changed, and the present-day generation has all the inner knowings of the WWE and the entire wrestling business:
"You know, I make plenty of them? And then, of course, when you make a mistake, everybody calls for your head. 'Oh, they've got to get rid of JR. They have got to get rid of this; they've got to get rid of that guy.' Easy Einstein. You've got to be shi***** me. This, what are you basing this on? How old are you, 12? What do you get? 19 Twitter followers? You're going to be an expert and tell me how to do my job? You can make suggestions, but you're only going so far with that logic, I think Conrad. So, it's a tough time to be on television where the digital imprint that's there because everybody knows more than they've ever known; the curtain has been pulled back vividly. So now everyone is a quasi-booker, and it's just sometimes not fair, quite frankly."
Do you agree with Jim Ross's take on the hate against WWE's Michael Cole and the overall situation in the digital era of wrestling?
Please credit Grilling JR and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.