Michelle McCool Was Once Called Out For An Unexpected Reason

Michelle McCool is one of the most memorable wrestlers from WWE's Divas era, having worked for the company from 2004, when she competed in the WWE Diva Search, until 2011, when she officially hung up her boots following a memorable championship run alongside her partner, Layla. Since then, McCool has made sporadic appearances in WWE, whether it be in documentaries involving her husband, the Undertaker, or inside the ring as a surprise Royal Rumble competitor.

Throughout her career in the business, McCool was able to capture the Women's Championship twice, while also being a two-time Divas Champion, proving that WWE believed in her enough to be positioned at the top of the card throughout her run. Typically playing a heel, McCool had no problem leaning into that aspect with her promos, while inside the ring, she thrived in bullying talent, and delivering great matches. But her skills weren't always considered a benefit — indeed, at times the actively worked against her.

McCool was reprimanded for being 'too good'

Whenever wrestlers step into the ring, the expectation among the fans is that they will see them try their best, as audiences want to be entertained to the highest extent possible. But as the Undertaker revealed in a March 2022 interview with Inside The Ropes, that wasn't always how management saw things, particularly for the women's division, and even more particularly for McCool.

"She was one working in an era where women didn't get nearly the opportunities that they do now, and she fought so hard for the women to kind of get more of a spotlight put on them," Undertaker recalled. "She was actually reprimanded once for having too good of a match with Melina. That's a true story."

The Undertaker — who is a WWE Hall Of Famer in his own right — is well aware of what McCool was able to achieve in the business "in the time period where they weren't given a lot of opportunity." While that time period may not have had the main event matches and gimmick bouts, McCool was nonetheless able to create a legacy that fans recall fondly to this day, making her one of the preeminent female talents in WWE history.