3 Ups & 12 Downs From WWE Raw (May 31)

Ups…

3. Instant Upgrade

If you’re not named Michael Cole, you’re job as a play-by-play announcer isn’t safe in WWE. That much was made clear recently, when Tom Phillips (who by all accounts was perfectly serviceable) was replaced by Adnan Virk, who lasted all of seven weeks before departing last week. And then Phillips was cut last week as well.

However, we got MMA commentator Jimmy Smith as a replacement on Monday night, and it was a breath of fresh air. Whereas Virk was a seasoned announcer – for baseball – Smith is a veteran of combat sports, which seemed to lend itself to being more comfortable calling the action in the ring. He also seemed to know what was happening (and move names), as well as added the right kind of energy to the program.

Now, this is just one week, and it all could change once Vince McMahon starts screaming in his headset and screws it all up. But we’d have to give Smith a thumbs-up for his debut turn as Raw lead announcer and hope he continues on that path.