Former WWE NXT Announcer Recalls Michael Cole's "Ridiculous And Irrationally Nonsensical Temper"

Former WWE NXT announcer Alex Reyes (Alex Del Barrio) took to Twitter this week and shared some of his experiences from working under Michael Cole, in response to the story that came out about Pat McAfee's WrestleMania 35 incident with Cole.

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As noted, Cole yelled at McAfee backstage in front of the McMahon family and others, over the tuxedo shorts he was wearing. McAfee almost walked out, but things worked out after Vince McMahon gave his approval to the look. You can read McAfee's full comments on what happened with Cole at this link.

Reyes was hired by WWE in November 2015, starting out as a NXT live event host and backstage interviewer. He worked for the Reality of Wrestling promotion owned by WWE Hall of Famer Booker T before that. Reyes was released in May 2016, and he reportedly felt like he was cut because of his love and passion for the business. It was reported Reyes believed at the time that he, Kyle Edwards (Arda Ocal) and Rich Brennan were hired because of their love for the business, and that something changed in 2016 when their roles were reduced, and he thought their lifelong fandom for pro wrestling was the reason for that.

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Reyes gave Cole props as a straight shooter, but claimed he has a pretty bad temper. Reyes went on to recalled when he was yelled at for taking a selfie at a WrestleMania Axxess set, and for being scruffy looking on a flight to WrestleMania one year.

"Cole is a straight shooter, but he has a ridiculous and irrationally nonsensical temper," Reyes wrote. "I got yelled at for taking a selfie at the Axxess set (which was the same live event set for house shows) I got yelled at for being scruffy on the plane to Mania.. Even though other announcers flew on the same plane in shorts and a t-shirt when I was in a suit and tie (and I shaved when I got to the hotel before rehearsals)"

Reyes also recalled being yelled at during an announcer training session for saying "skinning the cat" because it was considered to be an insider term. He continued to tweet about times he was yelled at while working as an announcer for WWE.

"I was yelled at in an announcing training session for saying 'skinning the cat' because it was an 'insider term'," Reyes wrote. "And we don't use those on broadcasts... we do.. and it's gymnastics terminology used in wrestling.... I was yelled at for buying a Whataburger after a show at #nxtjacksonville.... I was yelled at for not doing my new NXT pre-show music contest even though I was told by production (Berkley) that he wanted to wait until the following week until he had more music in the computer, but I was yelled at for not doing it."

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Reyes then revealed that he was yelled at by other announcers during the examples listed, and that Cole only yelled at him once.

"I was only yelled at by Cole once," Reyes revealed. "These were by other announcers who had it filtered down to them because the culture created. They look for the smallest things to criticize, berate and bully. If they like you, they look the other way. If they don't they find ways to get you in trouble and cause this stigma about you within the company until you're ultimately gone."

Reyes continued to blast Cole, and the working environment he's created while overseeing WWE's announcers, and said the McAfee story doesn't surprise him at all.

He wrote, "Cole I would argue has hired good talent, is underrated as a PXP guy when the reigns are taken off and when he wants to be an EXCELLENT teacher... but he also has a stupid temper, is fake when it comes to building a real culture of 'team' and fosters a culture of not trusting. Anyone and being constantly afraid of losing your gig at every turn. There are several other stories from other folks in his circle that have more direct interaction with his temper. This McAfee story doesn't surprise me AT ALL."

One person wrote, "every time I've ever heard him criticized he instantly goes into this long fussy rant about how he's rich and successful and it's like 'goddamn pal I just want you to say veteran instead of vennern and cavalry instead of Calvary'"

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Reyes responded, "LOL! He's the most defensive person ever... until he's on headset.... I was on headset at the Rumble and hearing him call Vince 'sir' was surreal considering the way he carries himself"

Reyes came back to the thread and apparently wrapped the discussion up for now.

"I want to add one more thing here that I think is important... I'm usually pretty good at dealing with 'yelling' I was an athlete in HS, not a good one, but i didn't mind the yelling if it was supported by coaching and honest criticism in order to help me improve," he wrote. "So I don't want it to come off like I was sulking in the corner every time someone said or did something to me. Not like that at all, I'm just someone that speaks my mind and will always stand up for myself, especially if you're just being a jerk for no reason."

"Lol at all the people who think my thread is a knock on Cole. The dude is the hardest working guy at WWE outside of Hunter... my point is that his temper is part of the larger corporate culture. People get fired for non sensical s–t at every level and dept. there"

"So anyone in management there feels obligated to act that way. They want you to walk on eggshells there. That all filters down. That leads to backstabbing and people making s–t up about you to get you in trouble."

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You can see all of the related tweets from Reyes below:

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