Heidenreich on Infamous Michael Cole Segment From 2004, Reveals Its Pitch, Cole’s Reaction & Whether He Regrets Doing It

Former WWE Superstar Jon Heidenreich recently shared his thoughts on his infamous backstage segment with commentator Michael Cole in 2004. On the September 16, 2004 episode of WWE SmackDown, a deranged Heidenreich abducted Michael Cole and took the lead announcer to a room backstage. He pinned Cole against a wall and started “thrusting” into him. He then recited a poem to Cole before letting the commentator go.

Heidenreich appeared on INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet, where he revealed his current feelings about that infamous segment, the pitch he received for it, Michael Cole’s reaction toward it, and whether he has any regrets about doing that segment two decades on. Below are the highlights:

On how he feels about the segment

“It’ll always be disturbing, there’s no doubt about it. I mean, it was brought to me, I don’t remember particulars, but I do remember thinking, man, this is really off the wall. When you’re training to do vignettes and practicing in Louisville, you don’t practice for a vignette like that.”

On the pitch he received for it

“Well, I mean, they said I was gonna abduct him and bring him to the back and then put him in a room. Then I think it was like, ‘You’re gonna act like you were like watching him, and you’re going one place with it.’ It’s like you’re going like it, and then you say, ‘I’m gonna give you a poem.’ But it sounds like, ‘I’m gonna give him something other than a poem.’ I don’t know if it’s innuendos and stuff when you say it, ‘I’ve been watching you, I know what you want, and I’m gonna give it to you.’ But I look back and all the things that have been said about all these years, it’s kind of made me infamous, more than famous. But it’s disturbing still, and it’s weird.”

“Yeah, for sure, man. But I mean, when they bring it to you, I’m not gonna say no. Like when they said, ‘You’re gonna be with the Legion of Doom,’ I’m like, ‘All right.’ Whatever they bring to you, that’s where I was. If they told me to do a backstage thing or do this and not, like killing somebody or something where you have to go to jail. I would do it; I’m gonna do it the best I can.”

Heidenreich on how Michael Cole felt about that segment

“I guess he was kind of like, ‘This is weird,’ and joking around. But he wasn’t like, ‘I didn’t like it,’ off-put or not wanting to do it. I mean, I could tell he was down for whatever. It’s like we’re working together, right? It’s a scene, and we’re building a story. He was whimpering. I mean, even though it was disturbing and weird and bizarre, I would have never come up with that on my own. I think it helped. That thing made me more memorable. People will never forget that.”
On whether he regrets that segment

“No. I think I did the best performance, I guess. I liked it the way it ended. He was about to leave, I said, “You’re going to thank me? It was a poem by Heidenreich. I thought it was cool. I ended up calling them ‘disaster pieces’ after a while, because I figured they’re so bad instead of masterpieces, but yeah, I like the character Heidenreich. Always in my mind, I thought I would go back. I had an idea to come back. I didn’t even think about telling you this. I never went back, but I wanted to. I just probably just didn’t know how to approach it to do it. If I would have went back, could I say the idea I always thought about?”

Elsewhere in the interview, Heidenreich revealed an incident from his WWE career that left him worried about his job. You can check out his comments HERE.