8 WWE Commentators Vince McMahon Soured On
5. Rich Brennan
Rich Brennan started out every bit as generic as your typical WWE announcer (see: Tom Phillips and Vic Joseph), but at least he was passionate about the product based off his tenure as a commentator in Booker T's Reality of Wrestling promotion. He debuted on NXT in late 2014 and grew into the role of the voice of NXT quite nicely.
After thriving there throughout 2015, he was eventually promoted to SmackDown as its lead play-by-play guy that August, essentially switching roles with Phillips. He did solid work on the blue brand in the months that followed, and he likely would have continued to do well, but WWE signing world-renowned commentator Mauro Ranallo at the onset of 2016 spelled the end of Brennan's stint on SmackDown.
Instead of being brought back down to NXT, Brennan remained on the main roster, just serving as an interviewer on Raw and SmackDown. The writing was on the wall for him even then, and by April 2016, he was gone from the company. Here's hoping he returns down the road because he did show promise before having the rug ripped right from underneath him.