Michael Buffer

Michael Buffer (November 2, 1944) is an American ring announcer for boxing and professional wrestling matches. He is known for his trademarked catchphrase, "Let's get ready to rumble!" and for pioneering a distinct announcing style in which he rolls certain letters and adds other inflections to a fighter's name. His half-brother is UFC announcer Bruce Buffer.

Early life
Buffer was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to an enlisted man in the United States Navy and his wife during World War II. His parents divorced when he was 11 months of age, and Buffer was then raised by foster parents, a school bus driver and housewife, in the Philadelphia suburb of Roslyn. He enlisted in the United States Army during the Vietnam War at age 20 and served until age 23. He held various jobs including a car salesman, then began a modeling career at age 32 before becoming a ring announcer at age 38.

Wrestling
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. The 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. WWE wrestler Triple H created the phrase "Let's get ready to suck it!" as part of his D-Generation X act to mock Buffer while he was on WWF Raw's rival show WCW Monday Nitro during the Monday Night Wars.

On the August 18, 2007 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, 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.

Personal life
Buffer first wed at age 21. The marriage, which ended in divorce after seven years, produced two sons. More than 25 years passed before he remarried in 1999. He and his second wife divorced in 2003.

On September 13, 2007, while making an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, he proposed to his current (third) wife, Christine. Buffer currently resides in Southern California. His half-brother Bruce is the announcer for leading mixed martial arts promotion, Ultimate Fighting Championship. Both Michael and Bruce are grandsons of late boxer Johnny Buff.

In 2008 Buffer was treated for throat cancer.

Filmography

 * Grudge Match (2013) – Himself/Ring announcer
 * Progressive Commercial (2013) – Himself
 * America's Next Top Model, Cycle 18 (2012) – Himself
 * The Bold and the Beautiful (2010) – Himself
 * 2012 (2009) – Himself/Ring announcer
 * Phineas and Ferb ("Raging Bully") (2008)- Event announcer
 * You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008) – Grant Walbridge
 * Rocky Balboa (2006) – Himself/Ring announcer
 * Against the Ropes (2004) – Ring announcer
 * Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003) – Himself
 * The Extreme Adventures of Super Dave (2003) – Himself/Sports commentator
 * Game Over (2003) – Ring announcer
 * More Than Famous (2003) – Himself
 * Play It to the Bone (2003) – Himself
 * Ready To Rumble (2000) – Himself
 * South Park ("Damien") (1996)- Himself
 * The Simpsons ("The Homer They Fall") (1996)- Himself/Ring announcer
 * ClayFighter 63⅓ (1997) – Announcer
 * Virtuosity (1995) – Ring announcer
 * Prize Fighter (1993) – Ring announcer
 * Rocky V (1990) – Ring announcer
 * Harlem Nights (1989) – Ring announcer
 * Homeboy (1988) – Ring announcer