Michael Cole Discusses How WWE Tries To Balance Pleasing Hardcore And Casual Fans

It’s all a balancing act for WWE.

Making a rare podcast appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, Michael Cole addressed criticism from online fans that WWE pushes certain talent more than others.

“Roman Reigns, people believe he’s been shoved down their throat by the WWE machine, hence why they want to fight back. That’s important because the die-hard fans, the people who follow our industry, are maybe 15 to 20 percent of our audience are the most vocal people on social media because they care,” said Cole. “That sometimes influences so many people. They are a very vocal, but a very important minority that I believe the company is starting to listen to. You’re almost serving two types of audience. Your die-hard, hardcore wrestling audience.”

Cole continued, “Triple H realized that many of them seemed to be turned off by our core product. They didn’t want as much entertainment and wanted more in-ring wrestling. He goes out and forms NXT. We grab that niche audience with NXT but you still have Raw and SmackDown, which still has the hardcore audience but also has the casual fan, who will come and go. You have to keep those fans happy as well, which is why the mainstream stars work. It’s a tricky thing to be able to please everyone and try not to alienate the hardcore fan.”

In the same interview, Michael Cole revealed he’s never turned down anything WWE has asked him to do. You can view his full comments here.