[4] Coulthard came to the World Wrestling Federation in mid early-1997 after being recommended to company officials by Todd Pettengill, and started using the stage name "Michael Cole".

[4] In late 1997, Cole became one of the three announcers for the first hour of Monday Night Raw, alongside Jim Ross and Kevin Kelly.

[9] Two days later at ECW One Night Stand, John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) announced he would replace Tazz as color commentator.

[10] After JBL left the broadcast booth and returned to wrestling on Raw, Jonathan Coachman became Cole's new partner on the January 4, 2008 episode of SmackDown!.

[13] Cole made his in-ring debut on the July 28 episode of Raw, teaming with Lawler against Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase for the World Tag Team Championship, but they lost after Cole inadvertently tagged himself in and was quickly pinned by Rhodes after a lariat.

[21] On May 1, at Extreme Rules, Cole teamed with Swagger to defeat Jim Ross and Lawler in a Country Whipping match.

[24] Cole continued to wrestle sporadically after this and still favored most heels while questioning the actions of the faces to regain control in matches.

[27] On January 29, Cole was a surprise entrant in the 2012 Royal Rumble match, but was quickly eliminated by Lawler, Booker T, and the returning Kharma.

[28] Cole was put in a match with John Cena on the June 4, 2012, episode of Raw SuperShow, but lost and was forced to make an apology for all of his wrongdoings.

[29] On the July 9 episode of Raw SuperShow, Cole was booked against Jerry Lawler in a WrestleMania XXVII rematch, which he quickly lost.

Cole was lauded for his handling of his fellow commentary partner Jerry Lawler's legitimate on-air heart attack on the September 10, 2012 episode of Raw.

Despite being a heel commentator for two years, Cole provided updates to television viewers on Lawler's condition throughout the episode.

[31][32] Cole also joined in commentary during Raw and pay-per-view events, including Night of Champions and Hell in a Cell by Jim Ross and John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL).

On the November 12 episode of Raw, Cole cemented his face turn when he hugged the returning Lawler in the ring.

[35] On June 8, Cole welcomed Byron Saxton as the color commentator for Raw, replacing Booker T.[36] On the January 15, 2018 episode of Raw, Cole was attacked by Braun Strowman due to Strowman's anger at being fired by General Manager Kurt Angle and was subsequently replaced by Tom Phillips for the remainder of the broadcast.

[39] McAfee eventually took a break to work for ESPN's College Gameday, and Cole would be joined by Wade Barrett on commentary for SmackDown and for premium live events with Graves.

[40] On January 1, 2024, Cole left SmackDown again, leaving Patrick and Graves as the two-man commentary team and was rejoined by Pat McAfee on Raw later that month.

[46] Legendary professional wrestling commentator, WWE Hall of Famer and former broadcast partner colleague Jim Ross has praised Cole: "Michael works his ass off.

[47] PWInsider's Dave Scherer called Cole "The GOAT (Greatest of All Time)", praising his work under Vince McMahon's pressure.