Backstage Details On Upcoming WWE Commentary Changes

This week, WWE announced a major change to the commentary tables for "WWE Raw," "WWE SmackDown," and "WWE NXT." Kevin Patrick and Corey Graves will lead the charge at the announce desk for the red brand, Michael Cole and Wade Barrett will call "SmackDown" matches, while Vic Joseph and Booker T will provide commentary for "NXT." Byron Saxton, who was a color commentator on "Raw," has transitioned to a backstage role, while Jimmy Smith has been let go by the company. Perhaps the biggest overall change appeared to be a company-wide transition back to a two-person announce booth, after years of a three-person commentary being the standard, and a new Fightful report confirms that decision.

Fightful also reports that with Pat McAfee signing on for ESPN's "College Gameday," WWE was already looking for a "permanent replacement" as the "SmackDown" color commentator, though McAfee is well-liked within the promotion and will almost certainly be working with them again in some capacity. As for Smith, who mentioned publicly that he didn't know he'd be released until Monday, Fightful notes that WWE decided to release him rather than let his contract expire.

Another interesting tidbit is that WWE went through some reels of commentators from outside the company before ultimately deciding on almost entirely in-house options — the only exception is Cathy Kelley, who is making her return as a backstage interviewer on "WWE Raw" after her first stint with WWE ended back in February 2020,and who was reportedly highly sought after by the new regime. 

The new commentary teams aren't guaranteed to last, as it's been said that WWE doesn't want to force chemistry between the participants, and is open to adjusting the teams if need be as time goes on.