Corey Graves defends Michael Cole after Mania main event botch

During the latest episode of After The Bell, host Corey Graves defended Michael Cole for the main event call botch during night one of WrestleMania.

After Bianca Belair pinned Sasha Banks for the Smackdown Women’s title, Cole thought Banks kicked out, only to correct himself afterward.

“Cole felt bad,” Graves said. “He felt terrible but I can relate. I almost thought the same thing, from our vantage point, it was not crystal clear.”

Ringside commentators have monitors to see what fans at home are watching and are supposed to call the action from that. “It was a very genuine real reaction. Take into consideration, yes we have the monitor, yes we have audio in our headphones, but we’re also in a stadium full of 20,000 people,” Graves continued, adding that the sound travels differently in a stadium and takes longer to register.

Graves said that at WrestleMania, different wrestlers kick out of their opponent’s finishers multiple times and while he’s not making any excuses, Cole’s botch did not take anything away from the moment.

“It was a genuine shock after that, so everyone, leave Michael Cole alone,” Graves concluded.