WWE Announces New Commentary Teams for Raw, SmackDown, NXT

Changes to the commentary teams were announced by the company.

Kevin Patrick will be the play-by-play man on Raw, and he will be joined on the show by Booker T.

They will replace the previous announce teams of Graves, Jimmy Smith and Byron Saxton on Raw.

Additionally, Saxton is being moved into a backstage interviewer role on Raw, and he will be joined byCathy Kelley, who is coming back to the company after working primarily in NXT from 2016 to 2020.

The backstage interviewers will remain on the show.

Cole and Graves will call the action when it comes to premium live events.

While the popular commentary team of Cole and McAfee has been put on hold, they will be back on the air once the college football season ends.

Smith, who was an MMA commentator for UFC and Invicta FC before being named the play-by-play voice of Raw, confirmed Thursday that he is no longer with the company.

Patrick has limited play-by-play experience and has primarily served as a backstage interviewer, but he did recently fill in at the announce table on Raw and held his own.

The biggest news is the return of Barrett to the main roster for the first time in two years.

From 2010 to 2016 he was a wrestler in the World Wrestling Entertainment. He became a five-time intercontinental champion and a one-time King of the Ring during that time.

He received rave reviews for his work when he was part of the announce team with Joseph and Beth Phoenix.

Booker T, who is an all-time great wrestler and former world champion with no shortage of announcing experience, will join Joseph in the announcement booth.

Booker is known for having controversial wrestling opinions so he should bring a lot of energy to the brand.

All of the commentary changes will be in effect for the season premiere of the three flagship shows. This Friday is the season premiere of the show, followed by Raw on Monday and the show on Tuesday.

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