Production Botch During Drew McIntyre's WWE Raw Ring Entrance?

If you're wondering why you could hear Michael Cole saying "16-time champion", here you go.

Drew McIntyre
WWE

What appears to be a production botch resulted in WWE accidentally playing quiet audio of Michael Cole saying "16-time champion!" during Drew McIntyre's ring entrance on last night's episode of Raw.

Understandably, given the noticeable sweetening of crowd reactions since live audiences returned to WWE shows, this led to immediate criticism that the company had failed to edit commentary out of piped-in audio for Drew's entrance. This doesn't seem to be the case.

The audio clip appears to have come from the Roman Reigns vs. John Cena SummerSlam 2021 video package that aired during last night's show. Here's the relevant clip:-

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Cena will look to claim his 17th world championship when he and Reigns meet for the latter's Universal Title at the 21 August pay-per-view.

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McIntyre continued his feud with Jinder Mahal last night, wrestling the former WWE Champion's sidekicks Veer and Shanky in a two-on-one handicap match. This ended when Mahal hit the ring and clobbered Drew with a steel chair, prompting the disqualification, before him and his crew lined up to attack McIntyre as revenge for Shanky's chair-assisted beatdown two weeks ago. Drew ended up chasing them off with his sword.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.