Full Details On Huge Changes To WWE Commentary Teams

All three WWE brands will undergo major commentary shake-ups.

by Andrew Pollard
Kevin Patrick
WWE

With rumblings of new commentary line-ups for the SmackDown and Raw brands ahead of their respective 'season premieres' tomorrow and the following Monday, we now know who'll be on the call for WWE's two main roster offerings.

As revealed by Variety, the company's blue brand will see Wade Barrett receive a promotion from NXT to sit alongside Michael Cole at the announce desk. Samantha Irvin will serve as ring announcer, with Kayla Braxton and Megan Morant covering backstage interview duties for the brand.

Over on Raw, Kevin Patrick will now operate opposite Corey Graves as part of a two-man commentary team. Previously, Graves had Byron Saxton and Jimmy Smith with him as part of a three-man booth. While Saxton was utilised on NXT this week, he will be used to conduct onscreen interviews on Raw from here on out. Interestingly, Cathy Kelley is returning to the company to pick-up backstage interview duties on Raw. Where all of this leaves Jimmy Smith, that remains to be seen.

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For the NXT brand, two-time WWE Hall of Famer Booker T will be joining Vic Joseph to call the action of the organisation's third brand. Alicia Taylor will continue on as ring announcer, and McKenzie Mitchell will likewise remain as NXT's backstage interviewer.

In terms of Premium Live Events, it will be Michael Cole and Corey Graves at the desk for those shows.

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At present, Pat McAfee is on a hiatus from WWE to focus on ESPN's College Gameday, but the current belief is that McAfee will definitely be returning to the company once college football season is over.

Senior Writer
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.