Arc Fatigue: Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole, which lasted ½-a-YEAR: the feud started when Cole cost Jerry his victory against The Miz in a TLC Match all the way back in November and more or less ended at Over The Limit.
Author's Saving Throw: Since the end with his feud with Lawler, he's doesn't bash the divas or go over board with shilling The Miz. Of course, he still doesn't miss an opportunity to take shots at Booker T, King, or JR.
The Bad Guy Wins: Was awarded the win at Wrestlemania, but only by DQ and was still put in an ankle lock and tapped out.
Brown Note: Not fear, but just annoyance. WWE seems to be deliberately invoking this to get Cole heat. At one point, he was doing commentary for all shows, and in general, his gimmick as of late is that he never shuts up. WWE is clearly trying to make Cole's voice as grating and annoying as possible.
Complete Monster: His recent feud with Jerry may have turned him into this. Among other actions, he's insulted the man's dead mother and father, beaten up his best friend, and generally made the man's life a living heck without showing any remorse.
As interesting as his current heel run may be, the fact WWE keep pushing him despite the X-Pac Heat he receives makes him this. Simultaneously, his segments with Jerry Lawler were also some of the most watched parts of the shows.
They seem to be making him a deliberate Creator's Pet in-universe as well. They're piling a bunch of different awards and things on him. Winning several matches in a row, one at Wrestlemania, giving him multiple Slammy Awards (possibly three in a row,) etc. If it is something he can win and crow about for months after, he'll get it.
Twice in a recent episode. Cole comments that Sheamus's kick was to R-Truth's gold teeth ... even though R-Truth rapped on his way to the ring, so we all know he doesn't have any and the replay shows his rows of white teeth(he did get golds in the future). Later in the show Cole calls one of John Morrison capoeira kicks a "parkour move" (which is understandable, since Morrison does also perform Le Parkour).
He has also referred to Dolph Ziggler's Leg Lariat/Legdrop Bulldog as the 'Zig Zag' on multiple occasions. Matt Striker even corrected him the second time during Ziggler's match against Kaval in Survivor Series. And yet he still does it.
Similarly, Cole has referred to multiple submission maneuvers that CM Punk uses (the Koji Clutch and the Leg Choke for examples) as the Anaconda Vise despite that being a completely different submission move. Whether he does this as part of his character or genuinely screws it up is unknown.
Has been milking this trope for all its worth in his feud with Lawler, to the point of commentating inside a plexiglas box so Jerry Lawler can't touch him. He even does this on Smackdown, where no one is there to threaten him.
Showed when Jack Swagger finally had enough and abandoned him. Michael goes from Smug Snake to pleading with Jerry to call off their upcoming match for the rest of the night.
His reason for hating Daniel Bryan? "He's a nerd! He's a vegan! He's never had a date in his life!" The last one especially is interesting as he is a fanboy of self professed chick magnet The Miz.
On the 11/18/11 episode of Smackdown, he claimed that even though Zack Ryder has pinned United States Champion Dolph Ziggler multiple times in recent weeks, he couldn't earn a U.S. title shot because, in his words, "None of those matches were for the title, so it doesn't matter." Um, what?
Cole has become more and more of a dick over time, but telling Jerry that he let his dead mother down as definitely the tipping point.
If that doesn't qualify, then siccing Jack Swagger on the much-loved Jim Ross and then putting an ankle lock on him while berating him all the while definitely would.
His Heel/Troll gimmic managed to win over Cole some fans.
On the other hand, some believe this is the point where he becameThe Scrappy.
It's generally considered to have been awesome until around the build up to TLC, where Cole's gimmick became less of him fanboying over the Heel and more fanboying over himself. This is where it got bad.
Since The Miz became champion, Cole has pushed this trope Up to Eleven. When the GM tried to interrupt The Rock's promo, Cole was practically reveling in how much the audience was pissed off.
He now likes to go on about his "undefeated streak", consisting at the moment of two very narrow and unfair victories.
Doubles with Hypocritical Humor, he's quick to call out the Double Standard when faces cheat to win. Of course he also makes a double standard because the heel usually did that beforehand with him loudly defending them.
During the Kane and Edge feud, where Edge abducted Paul Bearer and kept him strapped to a wheel chair for nearly a whole month, Cole saying that Edge had taken it too far is probably what a face commentator would say if Kane were a face.
After Christian won the WHC at Extreme Rules, Cole pointed out that the only reason why Christian was in the match in the first place was because of Edge's forced retirement. This was technically true, and the fact that Christian would go on to lose the title two days later makes it Harsher in Hindsight.
Called out Daniel Bryan as being a Hypocrite for cashing in his MITB briefcase on the most recent Smackdown against a KO'd Mark Henry, when Bryan made it clear from the outset of winning MITB that he would cash it in at WM 28. Some of the IWC, while they may despise Cole, agreed with him. It does make sense to test the waters with Bryan as a potential champion, but under the context of him waiting until WM 28, it paints him as a desperate opportunist to do what he did.
Cole turned out to be somewhat correct in a way. Not only did Bryan admit it (as well as explain that plans changed when Henry tried to take him out and make Wrestlemania a moot point), but he later went on to cash in on Henry again (successfully this time) and turn heel from the Acquired Situational Narcissism and the pressure of trying to keep the belt away from two hungry giants.
Unfortunate Implications: For all of his trolling, the only matches he actually buries/interrupts are Diva matches, making it seem as if he's telling the Divas to Stay in the Kitchen. Fortunately, this stopped after his storyline with King was done.
His Face Heel Turn coupled with his hatred of Jim Ross is Fridge Brilliance if you remember back to 1999 when J.R. was antagonizing Cole (which was an ultimately futile effort to make Jim Ross a heel).