Tag: Jimmy Smith

Jimmy Smith says he learned he was being fired from WWE before Monday’s edition of Raw. 

On Thursday, WWE announced a shakeup of its commentary teams and it was revealed that Smith would be replaced by Kevin Patrick at the Raw commentary booth. Smith had been working as the play-by-play commentator for the show since May 26, 2021. 

On an episode of his Unlocking the Cage podcast released Thursday, Smith noted that Triple H accidentally let him know on Monday that he was going to be let go. 

“I might as well tell this story, why not? Triple H accidentally told me before the show Monday,” he said. “He screwed up and told me, he didn’t mean to.”. 

“What happened was, I was doing my prep for the show and we had a production meeting and on-air Seth Rollins had cut a promo saying DC [Daniel Cormier] hates Riddle just as much as I do. So, everybody in the production meeting turns to me and goes, ‘What did he mean? Do they have some kind of personal problems?’ I’m the MMA guy, right? I said, “Well, Riddle’s been critical of fighter pay in the UFC, and Daniel Cormier is considered kind of a company guy. So, I go, ‘That could be what he was talking about.’ It was the only thing I could think of.”

“Before the show, I go up to Riddle and I go, ‘Do you and DC have any kind of beef or problem? And he goes, ‘No, no, we’re cool. He might be upset that I outwrestled Jon Jones and he couldn’t.” 

“He beat Jon Jones wrestling twice in New York, whatever,” Smith continued. “So, he goes, ‘He may be mad that I outwrestled Jon Jones twice.’ I said, ‘Oh man, that’s a good line, we gotta use that.’ So, I go to Triple H who was standing there, I go, ‘I just talked to Riddle and he gave me this line about how he outwrestled Jon Jones twice.’ And Triple H goes, ‘Okay cool, give that note to [Michael] Cole.’ And I went, ‘Why would I have to give that note to Cole if I’m calling the match on Saturday? Oh, I’m not calling the match on Saturday. Oh, I’m probably fired.'” 

“I knew basically the whole show Monday night that I was not coming back. So, when I got the call Tuesday, I was not particularly surprised.” 

With the departure of Adnan Virk announced Tuesday, the new WWE Raw announcing team, will consist of former UFC and Bellator commentator Jimmy Smith, working with Corey Graves (Matt Polinksy) and Byron Saxton (Bryan Kelly).

Their first show together will be on Monday, May 31st. 

Smith, 43, best known for his 2010 to 2017 run with Bellator, has been working with Michael Cole and WWE staff of late to train for a possible announcing role. According to sources within the company, Cole has praised him heavily and found him to be very versatile.

It’s notable that Smith will be slated to be the lead play-by-play announcer, while in those aforementioned MMA roles with Bellator and UFC, he was in the analyst role.

Smith has been on WWE broadcasts of late, debuting as part of the pre-show panel at NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver. Last week, he was a talking head analyst in the Karrion Kross vs. Finn Balor segment on the NXT show.

He is also the host of SiriusXM’s Unlocking the Cage (weekdays from 2-5 PM Eastern) in addition to ESPN International’s UFC Fight Camp show.

Smith was well regarded in the MMA world and placed in the Wrestling Observer Awards for best announcer in 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014. However, this new role will be completely different from what he’s done in the past.

His background includes a run as a professional MMA fighter, compiling a 5-1 record as a welterweight on smaller shows in California between 2003 and 2006, training with Tito Ortiz’s Team Punishment crew. He is also a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt.

His fighting career ended when he was hired to host the television show Fight Quest in 2007 on the Discovery Channel. His first MMA announcing job came with the Russian M-1 Global promotion and he was hired by Bellator in 2010 when the promotion was airing on Fox Sports Net.  He also hosted two seasons of American Ninja Warriors and has done commentary for pro boxing.

After Bellator decided against renewing his deal, putting John McCarthy in the spot instead, Smith moved to UFC but only did a few events in 2018 and his contract wasn’t renewed. He was later part of the Invicta announce team.