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Michael Cole Recalls CM Punk Knocking His Tooth Out Before His WrestleMania Match, Vince McMahon’s Reaction

January 4, 2020 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
Michael Cole WrestleMania 28

– On the latest After the Bell, Michael Cole spoke with Corey Graves about his infamous match at WrestleMania XXVII match, Vince McMahon’s reaction to it and more. Cole faced Jerry Lawler in a singles match to cap off a feud where Cole was the heel announcer, in a match that saw Stone Cold Steve Austin as the referee. Cole won the match by DQ due to the decree of the Anonymous General Manager, who claimed Austin was a biased referee.

Speaking with Graves, Cole recalled how his tooth got knocked out by CM Punk before the match and how another one got knocked out during the bout. You can see highlights from the discussion and the full podcast below:

On getting a tooth knocked out before the match: “So, I never watched this match until just a couple of years ago. But let me tell how this whole day works out. So, I’m in the ring before the match during the day. And Jerry and I are going over the match a little bit. And CM Punk also had a match at that WrestleMania. And Phil and I had known each other for years. Good friends. And he comes for some reason — and to this day, we don’t know why. He comes running across the ring, and he delivers a knee lift that knocks my front tooth out. Now, this is like four hours before my WrestleMania match. My tooth goes flying, there’s blood everywhere. Punk’s telling me, ‘Oh my god, I’ll pay for the dental work, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what got into me, I was just out here goofing around, yadda yadda yadda.’ So I’m not worried about my dental work, I’m about to lose the biggest payday of my career because you knocked my tooth out. So that’s how my day started.’

On calling the show and then going back to prep for the match: “So what happens is, is I still have to do commentary, Jerry and I, for the first half of that WrestleMania. So I had my ‘Cole Mine’ out there, which is the plastic case that protected me from Jerry. Jerry had never laid his hands on me at all during the program. I’m in a tuxedo, and underneath my tuxedo is my orange singlet. And we did the first half of the show, I had to run to the back. Had to rip off our tuxedos, had to put on our — the wrestling gear. The stupid earmuffs that I had, and the singlet and the boots, and the whole nine yards.”

On Steve Austin coming down as the guest referee: “So one of the things that I could do well — I couldn’t wrestle obviously, as anyone who’s seen that match knows. But I could cut a promo, because I’ve been trained to talk. So I cut a promo on my way down to the ring. And I get into the ring, and I’m like, ‘Ah, I don’t know what the big deal is about WrestleMania. Okay, there’s 70,000 people out there, whatever.’ I just cut this great promo, I’m a heel, people are booing me. This is the greatest thing ever. [Jack] Swagger comes down, he’s my guy. ‘Yeah, this is great! I don’t know what everybody gets all worked up about for WrestleMania!’

“All of a sudden, the glass breaks. And here comes Stone Cold Steve Austin, the special guest referee, and he’s on his four-wheeler, zooming down to the ring. And at that point in time, I look at the referee, I look at Swagger, and the first thing I said was, ‘Oh s**t. This is real.’ I said, ‘I am in the ring with Stone Cold Steve Austin and Hall of Famer Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler in a match at WrestleMania.”

On getting blown up early on: “So the match gets ready to get started. I jump in the Cole Mine, I hide from Jerry. Jerry climbs over the top, he finally gets to me. What happens is, is he — at the time, if you recall, I was the spokesman for the Antonymous General Manager. We had that stupid steel podium that I would go up and say, ‘Can I have your attention please.’ Jerry drags me out of the Cole Mine, and he throws me head-first into the front of this steel podium. And I go head-first on it. The next thing I know, somebody’s throwing me in the ring. I think I was knocked out for however long it was. So I get thrown into the ring now, the cameras are all on Jerry and Swagger, because they’re doing something outside the ring. Austin’s inside as the referee. And now I’m on my rear end and I’m backing up to the ropes … I feel like I’m gonna throw up in the center of the ring. I look at Steve, Steve’s laughing his ass off. And I look at him and I ask ‘How much longer, how much longer?’ And he goes, ’35 minutes, son!’ I said, ’35 minutes?!? I can’t even breathe!'”

On getting his other tooth knocked out: “So Jerry starts his comeback. And Jerry comes off the rope with a missile dropkick. And he gets me right in the mouth. And what happens? My other tooth, next to the one Punk knocked out, goes flying across the ring. So now I’ve lost two teeth in the same day. There’s blood everywhere. Jerry looks at me and he throws a right hand, and I don’t even sell. I don’t even know where I’m at. I’m still on my feet, and Jerry says, ‘Michael. You’ve gotta go down when I throw a punch. So the next punch he throws, with his index knuckle out and he catches me under the eye? I go down like a brick. Then as I get up again, Jerry says, ‘I’m gonna deliver the Stunner.’ I said, ‘The Stunner? How I do a Stunner?’ He says, ‘Just sit there.’ He jammed his shoulder into my chin so bad, I’m just laying there. And they count the 1-2-3. And then it was overturned or I tapped out, whatever happened.”

On Vince McMahon’s reaction to the match: “I get carried out of there a bloody mess. And as I go the back, I walk in the back, I’m like, ‘Man! I thought that went pretty good!’ I go to the back and I look at Vince. And Vince looks at me and says, ‘That is the worst thing I’ve ever witnessed in 60 years. [laughs] So that was my WrestleMania match. But the check cleared. So there we go.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit WWE’s After the Bell with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.