The reason why Michael Cole was absent from WWE RAW on October 16th 2023

Michael Cole was absence from the October 16th 2023 “Season Premiere” edition of WWE RAW. Kevin Patrick replaced Cole and did commentary with Wade Barrett. In regards to Cole not being on RAW, Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com noted the following…

“In asking around, we are told that Cole had requested for this week off some time ago due to a personal commitment, and it just happened to land on what was later scheduled to be the Raw season premiere. It is not an illness or anything similar.”

It was also noted that Patrick had been scheduled for several weeks to fill in for Cole and Cole is expected to be back for next week’s edition of RAW. This was the 3rd time that Cole missed a night of WWE commentary in his 25+ year career.