WWE Announces New Commentary Teams for Raw, SmackDown, NXT
WWE announced significant shake-ups to its Raw, SmackDown and NXT commentary teams Thursday.
On Raw, Kevin Patrick will provide play-by-play with Corey Graves as the color commentator; Michael Cole will call the action on SmackDown alongside Wade Barrett; and play-by-play man Vic Joseph will be joined by WWE Hall of Famer Booker T on NXT.
They will replace the previous announce teams of Graves, Jimmy Smith and Byron Saxton on Raw; Cole and Pat McAfee on SmackDown; and Joseph and Barrett on NXT.
Additionally, Saxton is being moved into a backstage interviewer role on Raw, and he will be joined by Cathy Kelley, who is returning to the company after working primarily in NXT from 2016 to 2020.
Kayla Braxton and Megan Morant will remain the backstage interviewers on SmackDown, as will McKenzie Mitchell on NXT.
When it comes to premium live events, the Raw and SmackDown commentary teams will meld to some degree, with Cole and Graves calling the action.
While the hugely popular SmackDown commentary team of Cole and McAfee has been put on hold while McAfee focuses on his role as part of ESPN College GameDay during the college football season, WWE announced Thursday that he will return to announcing once the college football season concludes.
Smith, who was an MMA commentator for UFC and Invicta FC before being named the play-by-play voice of Raw in May 2021, confirmed Thursday that he is gone from WWE entirely:
Smith's replacement, Patrick, has limited play-by-play experience and has primarily served as a backstage interviewer, but the Irishman did recently fill in at the announce table on Raw and held his own.
Barrett's promotion from NXT to SmackDown is perhaps the biggest news, as he makes his return to WWE's main roster for the first time since 2016.
The 42-year-old native of England had a highly successful run in WWE as a wrestler from 2010 to 2016. During that time, he was the leader of Nexus, and he also went on to become a five-time intercontinental champion and one-time King of the Ring.
Barrett returned to WWE in 2020 as part of the NXT announce team alongside Joseph and Beth Phoenix, and he received rave reviews for his work.
Joseph will remain a familiar voice in NXT, but he will be joined by Booker T, who is an all-time great wrestler and former world champion with no shortage of announcing experience.
Booker is also known for having some controversial wrestling opinions, so he should bring intrigue and energy to WWE's developmental brand.
All of the commentary changes are set to take effect for the season premieres of Raw, SmackDown and NXT. SmackDown's season premiere is this Friday night, followed by Raw on Monday and NXT on Tuesday.
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