Michael Cole Talks Retirement; Charlotte Update; WWE Rumors on Roman Reigns' Titles

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Michael Cole Not Planning to Retire in Near Future

Michael Cole has been with WWE since 1997 and has been a play-by-play announcer since 1999, but he isn't looking to hang up his headset in the near future.

During an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show (h/t Steve Carrier of Ringside News), the 56-year-old Cole indicated that he doesn't want to "slow down" until age 60 at the earliest:

"Oh, well, I'm gonna have to stop or else. I'm gonna be married 30 years, so if I want it to last longer than that, I'm probably going to have to stop at some point. But no, it won't be anytime soon. I still got a lot of work to do with this company. I mean, there's still a lot of stuff to do. Still a lot of shows to call. I told somebody that I would—you know, I'm 56 now, so 60 sounds like a pretty good age to maybe slow down a little bit."

Cole has been the voice of WWE longer than anyone else in the company's history, and he has received a great deal of praise for his play-by-play work ever since Triple H took over as head of creative last summer.

In addition to being the lead announcer on SmackDown alongside Wade Barrett, Cole is a key figure within WWE in terms of training a developing younger announcers.

Given how entrenched he is in WWE and the fact that he already has behind-the-scenes roles, it seems likely that he will remain a major contributor even once he steps away from the announce table.

While Cole has had his fair share of detractors over the years, it is fair to say that no one else in WWE is ready to assume his duties as the lead play-by-play guy.

Vic Joseph has potential in NXT and could be the heir apparent to that spot, but based on Cole's comments, it will be at least a few years before any such decisions are made.

Charlotte Competing in Cornhole Tournament During WWE Absence

Charlotte Flair has been off WWE programming since dropping the SmackDown Women's Championship to Rhea Ripley in a spectacular match at WrestleMania 39, but The Queen is staying busy.

According to WrestlingInc's Nick Miller, Flair is set to compete in a celebrity cornhole tournament for charity called the American Cornhole League's Johnsonville Superhole Series IV.

As part of the tourney, Flair and other celebrities will be paired with professional cornhole players.

Flair will team with Bret Guy to face Real Housewives of Miami star Marysol Patton and Whittney Martinez, and the match will air live Friday at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN3, while a replay will air Sunday at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

Although Flair is away from WWE, she was part of the WWE draft on last week's SmackDown and this week's Raw. Charlotte was one of SmackDown's top selections.

While Flair is staying on the blue brand, she will have some new faces to mix it up with, including Bianca Belair and all of Damage CTRL, who moved to SmackDown from Raw.

Charlotte is one of the most accomplished female wrestlers in the history of the business, and one of the most decorated Superstars to ever step foot in a WWE ring.

Her 14 individual title reigns on the main roster are the most ever by a woman in WWE, and it seems likely that she will add even more to her resume in the future.

It is unclear when Charlotte plans to return to the fold, but when she does, she figures to be at or near the top of the card as usual.

Reigns' Missing Day 1 Reportedly Led to Title Unification Decision

WWE reportedly had no plans to unify the WWE and Universal Championships until Roman Reigns became unavailable for a premium live event last year.

According to Fightful Select (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News), the decision to unify the title came when Reigns was unable to compete at the Day 1 premium live event in January 2022 due to a COVID-19 diagnosis.

Reigns had been scheduled to defend the Universal Championship against Brock Lesnar in the main event, but with Reigns out, Lesnar was added to a scheduled Fatal 4-Way between Big E, Bobby Lashley, Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens for the WWE Championship.

Lesnar won the match and the title, which set the wheels in motion for a unification match against Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania 38.

Reigns defeated Lesnar in the main event of WrestleMania 38 to become the undisputed WWE universal champion, and he has held both titles ever since.

With WWE doubling down on the brand split, Triple H made a move to ensure that there would be a world title on both Raw and SmackDown by introducing the new WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

Since Reigns is staying on SmackDown, the world heavyweight champion will reside on Raw, and the inaugural champ will be determined by a tournament culminating at Night of Champions later this month.

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