WWE Making Temporary Change to Monday Night Raw, SmackDown Broadcast Teams

WWE Making Temporary Change to Monday Night Raw, SmackDown Broadcast Teams

As a long-time WWE fan with decades of wrestling fandom under my belt, I must say that these latest commentary changes have me both intrigued and a little nostalgic. The revolving door of announcers has been a staple of the WWE experience for as long as I can remember, but it’s always exciting to see new voices call the action.


The commentary setup for WWE shows has been constantly changing over the past five years, with various teams taking turns for Monday Night Raw, SmackDown, and NXT. Broadcasters like Vic Joseph, Adnan Virk, Jimmy Smith, Michael Cole, Corey Graves, and others have taken turns providing play-by-play commentary, while analysts such as Graves, Booker T, Byron Saxton, Dio Maddin, Jerry Lawler, Wade Barrett, among others, have offered insightful analysis on storylines. As WWE prepares to usher in a new era on Netflix, they are making one final adjustment to their commentary teams before settling on the final lineup in January.

WWE’s Commentary Changes Ahead of Netflix Premiere

WWE Making Temporary Change to Monday Night Raw, SmackDown Broadcast Teams

WWE’s flagship broadcasts will sound a little different over the next couple of months.

According to WWE’s announcement, Joe Tessitore is set to start his official WWE journey on Monday, September 2nd as he takes over commentary duties for WWE Monday Night Raw, working alongside Wade Barrett as the color commentator. Meanwhile, Michael Cole will move to WWE SmackDown and call the action there alongside Corey Graves, who will switch roles, taking up the color commentator position after a period on play-by-play.

During this interim period, the switch is being made to allow for color commentator Pat McAfee’s seasonal commitments with ESPN College Gameday in the autumn. Similar to the arrangement in Fall 2023, McAfee will be taking a four-month break from WWE to focus fully on his work with ESPN College Gameday and is set to return to WWE in January 2025 before the premiere of WWE Monday Night Raw on Netflix. Upon his return, Cole and McAfee will once again team up as the commentary duo for the red brand, while Tessitore is likely to transition to WWE SmackDown and head a three-person booth consisting of himself, Barrett, and Graves.

At present, the WWE NXT desk remains unaltered by these recent developments. On Tuesday evenings, the commentary team of Vic Joseph and Booker T takes charge. Although Vic Joseph has been seen as a potential successor to Cole, he himself has made it clear that he’s in no hurry to step into those footsteps.

Joseph recently expressed his admiration for Michael Cole in an interview, stating “Michael Cole is simply unmatched, a true GOAT. Let me repeat, he’s a GOAT. I have learned so much from him.” He further added that just as other quarterbacks study Tom Brady’s techniques or Patrick Mahomes’ footwork, it would be foolish not to learn from the best. Joseph aims to absorb as much knowledge as possible from Michael Cole and Corey Graves, intending to integrate their skills into his own in an effort to reach their level of excellence.

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2024-08-28 18:09