Michael Cole explains why he prefers the three man booth

It’s probably one of the more common complaints among WWE fans: “Why do they need so many announcers?”

The man who’s become the voice of the company since Jim Ross’ departure, including as a teacher for commentators and interviewers at the Orlando Performance Center, recently defended the practice - at least in its three person form (they didn’t ask him about SmackDown’s weird “three announcers and a host” set-up). Michael Cole explained to ESPN that he prefers to work as part of a trio, because it frees him up from having to play heel or face:

I know a lot of critics don't like a three-man booth, but I enjoy it. The main reason is because it allows me to be right down the middle. I can just be an unbiased play-by-play guy, and let Corey have his views, and Byron have his views, and they can go back and forth and debate and argue with each other while I can just do what I do, which is call a match and tell stories. That's why I like the three-man booth. I think sometimes when you're in a two-man booth, I get bogged down having to be the good guy a little bit too much, or the bad guy as it used to be. It's tough that way, but just having that straight play-by-play guy to tell your stories, be unbiased, and have your two guys playing off each other, it's perfect.

And before you disregard his point, because he’s Michael Cole and we’re the internet and that’s usually how these things go, bear in mind you probably have at least one thing in common with Cole - being fans of Corey Graves:

We knew he was gonna be good, I just didn't know he was gonna be this good, this fast. We gave him a chance and he really worked hard at it. This didn't come to him easy. He put a lot of time in at the Performance Center, and hours and hours of work. We put him on Raw, and he took off. He's the new guy, he's the new heel. He's the next JBL, the next Jerry Lawler. He's got a unique presence, he's got sarcasm and he's got wit, and he also has the experience of being in the ring, being a former NXT tag team champion. He has everything. A good looking young kid - he's the future of what we do here.

Check out the whole interview at ESPN, where he also talks about how excited he is to have Nigel McGuinness joining the WWE announcing family. And let us know...

Does Cole’s argument in favor of the “three man booth” change your opinion of it?