Michael Buffer - Biography & Images

Michael Buffer – born November 2, 1944 – is a ring announcer for boxing, professional wrestling, and National Football League events.

He is known for his trademarked catchphrase: “Let’s get ready to rumble!”

Buffer was formerly the exclusive ring announcer for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) main events featuring Hulk Hogan or other top WCW talent until 2001, when the organization folded.

WCW’s former parent company Time Warner owned through their pay-per-view subscription division HBO, which broadcast many matches from promoter Top Rank, of which Buffer is the lead ring announcer.

The exclusivity of his contract with WCW prevented Buffer from announcing for other wrestling-type organizations, forcing him to stop announcing for the UFC (his only UFC cards were UFC 6 and UFC 7).

However, when WCW ceased to exist, and Time Warner had no more affiliation with professional wrestling, Buffer was enabled to announce in other wrestling promotions.

During the Monday Night Wars, while Buffer was on WCW Monday Nitro, WWF wrestler Triple H created the phrase “Let’s get ready to suck it!” to mock him, as part of his D-Generation X gimmick.

On Saturday Night’s Main Event XXXV, for the first time in more than six years, Buffer returned to pro-wrestling ring announcing duties at Madison Square Garden in a boxing match between pro boxer Evander Holyfield (who was substituting for Montel Vontavious Porter) and pro wrestler Matt Hardy.

Buffer appears in the Royal Rumble 2008 commercial, in which he begins to say “Let’s get ready to rumble!” only to be superkicked by Shawn Michaels, causing him to fall over.

As well as being in the commercial for the event, he was the guest ring announcer during the Royal Rumble match itself.

His half-brother Bruce Buffer is an announcer for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

In 2008, Michael was treated for throat cancer.

Images of Michael Buffer