Michael Cole is truly the voice of WWE and the company continues to place him wherever they believe he’ll have the greatest impact. SmackDown commentator Michael Cole was a recent guest on WFAN with Sal Licata.

In the interview, which was recorded on October 12, Cole said that he was leaving for a ten-day family vacation in Mexico. Cole missed the October 18th episode of WWE SmackDown, just his fourth missed show since joining the company in 1997, with Graves saying that Cole was on "special assignment."

Michael Cole was missing from WWE SmackDown this week and a replacement for the night had to step up. The reason for his absence wasn't given on the show either.

Michael Cole has confirmed that he’s signed a new contract with WWE. During a recent interview with WFAN, Cole confirmed some reports earlier this year stating that he had signed a new long-term deal with the company. He said,

Michael Cole missed WWE SmackDown. On this week’s SmackDown, Corey Graves announced that Cole was on ‘special assignment’ and as a result, wouldn’t be doing commentary. Wade Barrett instead called the action alongside Graves.

Wade Barrett filled in for Michael Cole on the October 18th episode of WWE SmackDown. Graves noted that Cole was on "special assignment." Graves took the lead on play-by-play commentary while Barrett provided color commentary. Barrett is typically on WWE Raw where he joins Joe Tessitore.

Michael Cole was absent from the October 18 episode of WWE SmackDown, which marked a rare miss for him. Cole moved back to WWE SmackDown in September when Joe Tessitore joined WWE RAW. He and Corey Graves have been handling commentary duties on SmackDown.