Its so weird to me that something that took place in 2001 can be considered a classic. But when I started doing these posts I chose ten years as the cutoff period for something to be called one because there are kids watching where some of this information is new to them. Are there ten year olds visiting this site? What a scary thought. Recently I was talking to a co-worker about Michael Cole and how strange he looked in a singlet when I brought up the time Stone Cold Steve Austin whipped his ass.Now, this wasn’t your regular Stone Cold ass whipping. This was the kind you used to see when you were little. You know those times when a kid would do something really jacked up and their mother would show up and go bonkers on them in front of everyone? Yeah. That. Where at first you instigate it, then you laugh when it starts, then cheer, then quickly feel uncomfortable. Comedian Bill Burr once talked about seeing a kid get his ass kicked in school and the way he described it like “Yay, oh, ugh…!”
Back in 2001 Austin was buddying up with Vince McMahon and Cole had accused him of making a deal with the devil and that he didn’t like Austin’s chances in the upcoming pay per view. With Paul Heyman doing commentary with Cole Austin strode to the ring to confront him. Heyman ran away so fast it made a sound. What followed was the most uncomfortable ass kicking I’d seen in a while. Hell, till this day it still makes me feel the same way!
Now mind you, this wasn’t the Michael Cole that we all know today. The one that trash talks and was one of the most hated men in WWE. This was poor skinny Michael Cole that wore mom jeans and was a respected announcer. Sorta. I never had a problem with the guys skills. Austin starts with slaps and shit talking and it escalates to Cole on the ground having his shirt ripped off and having his head stood on. Even the crowd that was bloodthirsty and cheering ended up booing Austin. I think this was the incident, not him beating Lita with that chair, that solidified him as an evil son of a bitch.
Nowadays guys want to be cool. No one wants to look like a bitch. But Cole took this ass beating and didn’t lift a finger to try and defend himself, making him seriously sympathetic. I know it sounds weird to say this, but I wish more guys got ass kicking’s like this. I also wish guys could give ass kicking’s like this today. The last time I recall seeing brutality like this in WWE was when Nexus attacked Raw which of course is what led to Daniel Bryan was fired for.
Click here to watch Cole getting beaten.
