Wade Barrett and WWE commentators were not informed of Pat McAfee’s return last month.
In an exclusive interview with Sporf, Barrett stated that Joe Tessitore and his reaction to McAfee’s involvement in Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton’s feud was legitimate. He revealed that there were blank pages on the sheet with the show’s rundown.
“Well, I was very surprised when Pat McAfee came out with the Randy Orton stuff on SmackDown. Sometimes there are blank pages on the sheet that I get as a commentator. That was blank. I had no idea Pat McAfee was coming out, I didn’t know what he was gonna say, so it was a shock to me, and it was a shock to Joe Tess on commentary, too. We were caught just as cold as the entire audience, and I was scratching my head. I didn’t really understand why Pat was saying certain things. He was taking shots at people who didn’t deserve to have a shot taken at them. He was also coming up with some references to 40-minute Ironman matches, and I don’t know what show he was watching there. So, yeah, I was caught cold by it. I enjoyed Cody when he came out and issued his immediate retort. And then I was laughing so hard when I watched CM Punk on Raw last Monday, one of the funniest promos and retorts that I think I’ve seen in a long time.”
Barrett complimented the brilliance of McAfee’s addition leaving everyone pondering on his association with the feud and the sentiment around it.
“I think the brilliance of this whole situation, it’s gone from an initial head scratcher to now the lines have been completely blurred, and I don’t know what is storyline, what is real life. Are they angry? I think when you get to that point, it just creates buzz, and I think the three of those guys you just mentioned have created some serious buzz going into WrestleMania. I think some people are up in arms about it. Other people are angry that CM Punk said some things that he perhaps shouldn’t have said, and went off-script, as people like to call it. I’ve been watching this game a long time, I’ve been behind the curtain for over 20 years at this point. I don’t know where the reality ends and the story begins at this point, so they’ve got me too. So I think it’s exactly what you need this time of year, heading into WrestleMania. You want buzz, you want people talking, you want eyeballs on it. Whether this is by design or by accident, whatever it is, it’s worked.”
On the April 3 edition of SmackDown, McAfee was revealed to be Orton’s mystery caller, being his backup for his WrestleMania match against Rhodes. The segment garnered much backlash from fans given McAfee’s disassociation with the storyline.
CM Punk called out McAfee’s interference labeling him a ‘tourist in the wrestling business’ which further led to a back and forth between the two.
A part of WWE for several years now, commentator Wade Barrett recently opened up about the “significant change” in the promotion’s management from his Nexus era to the current era.
Former Intercontinental Champion Barrett has experienced and witnessed the management change from Vince McMahon running things to Triple H’s current leadership. Speaking on NotSam Wrestling, Barrett opened up and claimed that the current management is better at handling Superstar momentum.
“I think management today are a lot better than they were back in my day (at that). And I think when a certain Superstar, whoever it may be, has some momentum, I think the emphasis from management and creative these days is to continue to build upon that momentum,” he said.
“Whereas, that was not the attitude back in the era that we are referring to when I was in Nexus. So I think there is a significant change there. So I’m not going up to the young guys, ‘Hey guys, trust me, you think your dreams are getting made? No, they’re gonna get ruined. This business will break your heart, kid, trust me on that.’ I’m not doing that,” Barrett concluded.
Barrett was one of the most talked-about WWE talents during the 2010s, during his work as the Nexus’ leader. However, despite all the momentum, WWE failed to convert that, and his rise soon got halted.
WWE is shaking up its announce teams beginning in 2026.
According to a report from PWInsider on Tuesday, Michael Cole and Corey Graves will be the Raw commentary team beginning with the January 5 show. On SmackDown, it will be Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett for what will again be a three-hour show beginning January 2.
Graves being announced as on the Raw commentary team for the Netflix one-year anniversary show comes nearly a year after he was moved to the NXT brand and Pat McAfee joined Cole on Raw. Later that month, Graves posted his frustration at the situation to social media and briefly was absent from his NXT commentary role as well.
This is the second change to the commentary assignments the company has made in recent months. Cole and Graves were announced as the new SmackDown team in September as Joe Tessitore moved to Raw to allow him to also cover College football.
🚨| Per PWInsider, Michael Cole and Corey Graves are set to return as RAW’s commentary team beginning January 5, 2026.
SmackDown will be called by Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett starting January 2, 2026. pic.twitter.com/Do38ktIgl4
Wade Barrett has issued a statement that he has been given a couple of weeks off from his commentary role and will return after that:
“I usually ignore BS reports like this, but it’s causing needless hate to be spewed towards people I work with. WWE have kindly given me a couple of weeks off for personal time (booked nine months ago), and then I’m back to business as usual. A complete non-story. The end.”
Original:
According to a recent report, Wade Barrett is no longer part of the WWE SmackDown commentary team and is not currently part of the WWE Raw team either.
On Friday, WWE revealed that Michael Cole and Corey Graves will handle the SmackDown broadcasting duties for the coming months as Joe Tessitore leaves to cover college football. PWInsider is reporting that Graves and Cole will be the commentary team for Raw as well, leaving Barrett without a role. The report states that it’s not clear if Barrett’s recent comments regarding Nikki Bella played a role in this decision.
Earlier this year, it was Graves who was left without a main roster commentary role after a commentary shakeup. Upon Pat McAfee’s return to the company for the Netflix debut, Graves was moved to NXT while Barrett remained in his role on SmackDown. Graves returned to Raw broadcasting duties after McAfee left this summer.
I usually ignore BS reports like this, but it’s causing needless hate to be spewed towards people I work with.
WWE have kindly given me a couple of weeks off for personal time (booked nine months ago), and then I’m back to business as usual. A complete non-story. The end. https://t.co/ZPcBQatnCK
Michael Cole and Corey Graves opened Friday’s WWE SmackDown and welcomed us to the program. Cole informed viewers that they would be the announce team going forward in the coming months as Joe Tessitore covers college football, which just started.
The announce teams for both Raw and SmackDown have shifted in the last year. When Tessitore came on board with WWE, he and Wade Barrett were made the SmackDown announce team while Michael Cole and Pat McAfee served as the voices for Raw. However, earlier this summer McAfee announced that he would be taking a break from doing WWE commentary, with Graves being called back up from NXT as a fill-in.
Graves was initally moved from the main roster to NXT as a result of Tessitore joining the broadcast team last year. He voiced his frustrations with the move online and was briefly removed from NXT commentary before eventually returning.
Barrett did commentary with Cole for the Clash in Paris PLE and this past Monday’s Raw in Lyon, France.
The short-lived issues between Wade Barrett and Nikki Bella are now over following a conversation between the two sides.
On The Nikki & Brie Show this week, Nikki expressed that she would like to have a conversation with Barrett regarding comments he made about her on the WWE Clash in Paris pre-show. Bella thought that Barrett was avoiding her at Raw this Monday following the PLE, but Barrett responded by saying he didn’t know what Bella was talking about and didn’t know she was unhappy with his comments.
The two have now spoken, with Barrett saying they smoothed things over.
Great news, fight fans.. @NikkiAndBrie and I have spoken, we’ve smoothed things over, and I’ve graciously been allowed back into the Bella Army. Fully paid-up member since FCW 2008 🤝🏻🍷
A difference of perspective – to which we are all entitled – but to be clear, some of the…
“Great news, fight fans..[Nikki] and I have spoken, we’ve smoothed things over, and I’ve graciously been allowed back into the Bella Army. Fully paid-up member since FCW 2008,” Barrett tweeted.
“A difference of perspective – to which we are all entitled – but to be clear, some of the personal abuse that gets sent to Nikki on here is reprehensible and completely out of line, so let’s cut that out immediately.”
During Sunday’s Clash in Paris pre-show, Barrett — in his heel commentator role — praised Bella as the best of her era but claimed that she was now trying to recapture former glory. He said Bella was “desperate” to prove that she could still compete with a new generation that has changed the game.
Though she took exception to his comments, Bella did say on The Nikki & Brie Show that she understood Barrett was trying to be a heel with what he said.
Clash in Paris saw Becky Lynch defeat Bella to retain the Women’s Intercontinental Championship. Bella reflected on the match on her podcast, saying she feels so proud of herself despite a couple of spots that did not go according to plan. Bella stated that she did get hate from some fans on X/Twitter for the match but is choosing to instead focus on the love she received and how much fun she had.
“This is a part of life and coming back,” she said. “Things don’t happen overnight. And if you look at other comebacks, like, I’m not here to do a one-off and go to the [Performance Center] and train the same match for five hours every day to perform that 15 minutes that I just put 30 hours in.
“I’m doing it as I have so much passion and love for this business. And that’s why I was like, I’m not going to let people take away of how much fun I had out there and how I loved every second. I was like in heaven. Like, I truly love wrestling. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I’m traveling every week.”
Commentator Wade Barrett has responded to Nikki Bella’s comment that he avoided her at WWE Raw after making negative comments about her last weekend.
On The Nikki & Brie Show podcast this week, Bella spoke regarding Barrett’s commentary on Sunday’s Clash in Paris PLE pre-show, where in his role as a heel, Barrett suggested that WWE’s women’s division may have passed Bella by in the years since she last regularly competed in the ring.
Bella said:
“I would love to have a conversation with Wade Barrett, and he avoided me on Monday [at WWE Raw] which was shocking because he always comes up and says hi to me, and he tried to avoid making eye contact with me in the hallway.”
Bella went on to note that she understands that as a heel, Barrett has a certain role to play, but implied that his comments on the pre-show crossed a line:
“I understand when you want to be a heel commentator and stuff, but then there’s one thing of like…Michael Cole does this beautifully, and this is why Michael Cole is one of the greatest commentators. He knows how to take a life story and put it into what we do, because that is real. We don’t go out there as robots or superheroes. We’re actually professional athletes and we go through real things and we have to make that part of it.”
“Honestly, that stuff doesn’t bother me because I get it. Like, I was watching the pre-show and I saw what Wade was saying about me in the pre-show, and I was sitting there getting ready in the locker room like, oh, okay. That’s fine.“
Barrett responded to Bella in a social media post on X and denied that he avoided Bella at Raw, and wished that she had told him about the situation privately rather than on her show. Barrett posted:
I had no idea Nicole felt this way, and I’m happy to have this ‘conversation’ any time she likes. I wish she’d brought it up when we said hello to each other at Raw, rather than via her podcast. I don’t understand the avoiding claim at all, simply not true.
I had no idea Nicole felt this way, and I’m happy to have this ‘conversation’ any time she likes. I wish she’d brought it up when we said hello to each other at Raw, rather than via her podcast. I don’t understand the avoiding claim at all, simply not true. https://t.co/H7lkgKxkp0
In an interview with Metro, Carmelo Hayes praised Baron Corbin for his help following the news that his contract wasn’t renewed by WWE: “Listen, Baron was one of the people that actually took a liking to me, and took me under his wing. He did so much for me, he helped me so much, he gave me so much advice. Not just wrestling, life advice, money advice, so many things. I’m forever indebted to Baron Corbin – super talented, and I hate to see him go. That was one of those ones that really kinda hurt, seeing that, because believe it or not, me and Baron were pretty close, pretty tight. Everybody loved Baron!”
Wade Barrett told PWMania that there is a small chance that an in-ring return could happen, naming Drew McIntyre as a possible opponent: “If the opportunity arises, obviously it’s something I would consider and think about and think, could I deliver something here but similarly, I’m absolutely thrilled with my role on commentary. It’s not something I’m looking to step away from. I don’t have some itch to scratch like a lot of the older guys have when they talk about comebacks. I’m really, really satisfied with what I’m doing right now. I love contributing in any way I can on the desk. But like I say, if the magic is there and it happens and it’s the perfect storm, maybe those tights will be pulled out of storage, have to make sure the moths haven’t eaten them or I may have to pay for a new pair, we’ll see. There’s always a tiny, tiny chance, but don’t hold your breath.”
Following a backstage altercation at Power Struggle between Kenny Omega and Gabe Kidd, NJPW announced that Kidd has been “issued with a formal warning and a fine as a result” from president Hiroshi Tanahashi.
Masha Slamovich vs. Lei Ying Lee (Xia Li) has been added to Bloodsport XII.
Atlantis Sr. talked to Fightful and said he had no plans to become a rudo.
– Garrett and I are doing our weekly look at the news and boy is there a ton of it for today’s Observer show. It’s a giant news week with AEW media rights, Raw Netflix news, SmackDown to USA, UFC’s biggest show and more. Our weekend show will be Saturday night after the UFC show.
Update on AEW rights negotiations and what new things we know about both the deal that is done and the one being worked on
Analysis of AEW, what ratings it would do on FOX, the value structure, why it won’t happen, FS1 coverage and value
The problems AEW faces even if it turns profitable with the new deals
A look at All In
The Jon Moxley angle
A look back at the original angle with Terry Funk, why that backfired and how cultural changes mean this one won’t face the same issues
Early PPV number estimates for All Out and the reaction to the show
Notes on the next AEW PPV show
The life of Kuniaki Kobayashi
A look at the heyday of New Japan on television and Tiger Mask vs. Kobayashi
The jump to All Japan
Kobayashi winning match of the year
His biggest career bouts
His role in making two Hall of Famers by putting them over in their gimmick debuts
Life after pro wrestling and battles with cancer
His run during a boom period in Mexico
The end of Smackdown on FOX and a look back
Analyzing why FOX didn’t bid to keep the show
The retirement of Demetrious Johnson
The business of UFC Noche
CMLL’s 91st anniversary show preview
Details on a major story in European wrestling
The most detailed look at the ratings this past week
International TV ratings
Advance ticket sales for WWE & AEW shows
Arena Mexico notes
JBL angle in Mexico
New stars in Dragon Gate
NOAH goes to Europe
New Japan’s big matches of the past week
David Taylor the Magic Man comes out of retirement for World Team Trials
One of the 80s greatest technical stars to retire next month
Andy Quildan talks European business
Wrestler to host new television show
UFC TV contract news
Why WWE is cutting back on house shows
How the style of work in wrestling is going to change in the U.S. because of the decline of house shows
Lots of notes on Raw with its move to Netflix
Notes on the next few PPV shows
Change with NXT with the move to CW
– This is a big night with the SmackDown move to the USA Network, CMLL anniversary show and a TNA special as well as Rampage.
– Tonight at Arena Mexico is the CMLL 91st anniversary show:
Futuro & Hombre Bala Jr. & Max Star vs. Magnus & Rugido & Magia Blanca
Neon & Star Jr. & Templario vs. Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja & Soberano Jr.
Titan vs. Mascara Dorada for the Copa Independencia finals
Willow Nightingale vs. Zeuxis for the CMLL women’s title
Atlantis Jr. & Volador Jr. & Ultimo Guerrero vs. Orange Cassidy & Rocky Romero & Satoshi Kojima
Euforia vs. Esfinge vs. Valiente vs. Hechicero – loser loses his mask
Mistico vs. Chris Jericho
– Tonight’s SmackDown on the USA Network from Seattle:
Cody Rhodes vs. Solo Sikoa cage match for WWE title opens the show
Carmelo Hayes vs. Andrade – winner faces LA Knight for U.S. title
Kevin Owens & ? vs. Austin Theory & Grayson Waller
Return of Roman Reigns
There were 13,200 tickets out as of yesterday and this will be a sellout of near 14,000. PWInsider reported Rob Van Dam, Booker T, Teddy Long and Ron Simmons as possibly being on the show.
– Rampage tonight
Mark Briscoe & Kyle O’Reilly & Orange Cassidy vs. John Silver & Alex Reynolds & Evil Uno
Roderick Strong vs. Beef
Kamille vs. Robyn Renegade
Marti Belle & Allysin Kay vs. Saraya & Harley Cameron
Action Andretti vs. Konosuke Takeshita
– We don’t have a number, but the first day of ticket sales for the Grand Slam Australia show were not strong.
– Wade Barrett said in an interview with AceOdds in July that if he could have one match, it would be with Drew McIntyre at Wembley Stadium. He said if that’s offered, he ‘s absolutely coming back. He noted he’s 43 and is not interested in coming back full-time.
– TNA Victory Road tonight on TNA+ from San Antonio
Kushida vs. Leon Slater
Steve Maclin & Eric Young vs. Hammerstone & Jake Something
PCO & Rhino vs. Matt Cardona & Steph De Lander
Matt & Jeff Hardy vs. AJ Francis & KC Navarro
Chris Bey & Ace Austin vs. Eddie Edwards & Brian Myers for TNA tag titles
Zachary Wentz vs Mike Bailey for X Division title
Masha Slamovich & Tasha Steelz vs. Dani Luna & Jody Threat
Jordynne Grace vs. Wendy Choo for Knockouts title
Joe Hendry vs. Josh Alexander
Nic Nemeth vs. Moose for TNA title
– We’re looking for reports from these shows:
SmackDown tonight in Seattle (dark matches only)
NXT tonight in Lakeland, FL
TNA TV tapings tomorrow night in San Antonio
MLW Fightland from Atlanta
We’re looking for results, finishes and highlights to [email protected]
– We’re also doing a weekend poll for tonight’s CMLL show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
– UFC Noche for tomorrow at The Sphere in Las Vegas has the biggest production budget for a show in history.
7:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN News and ESPN+
Raul Rosas Jr. (135) vs. Aoriqileng (136)
Edgar Chairez (125.5) vs. Joshua Van (125.5)
Yazmin Jauregui (115) vs. Ketlan Souza (115)
Ignacio Bahomondes (156) vs. Manuel Torres (156)
Irene Aldana (136) vs. Norma Dumont (136)
PPV at 10 p.m.
Ronaldo Rodriguez (125) vs. Ode Osbourne (125)
Daniel Zellhuber (155) vs. Esteban Ribovics (155)
Brian Ortega (146) vs. Diego Lopes (146)
Alexa Grasso (124) vs. Valentina Shevchenko (125) for women’s flyweight title
Sean O’Malley (135) vs. Merab Dvalishvili (134) for bantamweight title
The show has already set the all-time UFC gate record.
– Bellator is on MAX tomorrow at 1 p.m. Eastern from the OVO Wembley Arena in London:
Tim Wilde (155.3) vs. Marc Diakiese (155.7)
Luke Trainer (204.2) vs. Laurynas Urbonavicius (205.0)
Simeon Powell (205.9) vs. Rafael Xavier (204.6)
Leah McCourt (145.9) vs. Sara Collins (145.8)
– Mika Iwata beat Saori Anou today in Sendai to win the Sendai Girls world title.
– Germaine De Randamie is out of the 9/28 UFC show in Paris due to a broken finger and broken foot suffered in practice. She was to face Nora Cornolle. Cornolle will now face Jacqueline Cavalcanti.
– MLW Fightland will be live from Atlanta’s Center Stage on YouTube at 9 p.m. Eastern with Satoshi Kojima vs. Mads Krule Krugger for the MLW title the semifinals and finals of the Opera Cup with KENTA vs. TJP and Mistico vs. Bad Dude Tito.
– MCW presents Bruiser Strong tomorrow night at the RJ Meyer Arena in Joppa, MD.
– Hooligan Championship Wrestling tomorrow night in Evansville, IN, has Alex Zayne vs. Shane Mercer, Billie Starkz vs. Alicia Demis vs. Madi Monarch and more.
– Sandman will be on tomorrow’s Memphis Wrestling TV show.
Starting this coming Monday, WWE Raw will have a new commentary team.
ESPN/ABC announcer Joe Tessitore will make his WWE play-by-play debut on the Monday, September 2 episode of Raw. Sports Business Journal has confirmed that Wade Barrett will be Tessitore’s broadcast partner. Barrett had previously called SmackDown with Corey Graves.
Michael Cole and Graves will be the SmackDown team when the show moves back to USA Network starting on Friday, September 13. However, WWE plans to shuffle the announce teams again when Raw moves to Netflix in January 2025. Cole and Pat McAfee will be back as the Raw commentary team on Netflix.
McAfee is currently on hiatus from WWE due to his role on ESPN’s College GameDay but will return to WWE when college football season ends.
It was announced this July that Tessitore — who is a pro wrestling fan — had been hired to do WWE commentary. He will remain with ESPN and ABC in his roles calling college football and boxing. Tessitore was previously an announcer for Monday Night Football.
Monday’s Raw is taking place from Ball Arena in Denver and will feature the fallout from Bash in Berlin.
The life and times of Sika Anoa’i, from moving to San Francisco, being a fan at the Cow Palace watching Peter Maivia, to running through territories, going all over the world, to being one of the most legendary tag team champions in WWF history, along with his role in the most famous modern pro wrestling family today as the father of Roman Reigns and uncle of the Usos, Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu. We look at the legends, realities and more.
A look at WWE’s deal in Indiana and the news behind the scenes on it.
We look at the life and career of Jamie Kellner and the death of WCW, including the last two months of WCW and the strange questions that to this day haven’t been answered.
A detailed look at Forbidden Door, the unique match on the undercard, business notes, stories behind the matches and an update on how Double or Nothing ended up doing.
A look at the final episode of Who Killed WCW, why it ultimately was such a major disappointment and a timeline of faulty memories
An updated look at WWE coming to Toronto for Money in the Bank and NXT Heatwave, lineups and business.
A look at the biggest Fantastica Mania show to date, last week’s show at Arena Mexico
A look at the life and career of Taylor Wily, also known as Teila Tuli, the first man to walk the aisle at the first UFC PPV, and the fight that remains etched in history. We look at a life that includes sumo, and being a regular on Hawaii Five-O.
The continued drop in homes that air WWE, AEW, and all pro wrestling and MMA programming.
The most detailed look at the ratings over the past week, including how wrestling shows did in the weekly standings, how each show did and its placing, comparisons to last year, competition and audience makeup.
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Hechicero and why it’s a must-see match.
A look at one of the biggest weeks of the year in CMLL
Notes on the last TripleMania show of the year
Breakup of a legendary Stardom faction
G1 qualifying tournament and who will miss G1 for the first time since 2007
Former WCW wrestler and Japanese Lucha star about to retire
One year celebration of the death of Terry Funk talked about for August
Death of Louie Tillet, a well known wrestler and booker
Very detailed look at the arrest of 2 Cold Scorpio
Nick Bollea sentenced for drunk driving arrest last year
MLW hiring new name people for production
Tony Khan press conference and keys things he talked about
Khan again discusses media rights talks
Khan talks Shane McMahon
Death of German announcer Gunter Zapf, the voice of WWE for a generation, AEW, Lucha Underground and the NFL with notes from those who worked with him.
AEW’s first TV taping outside North America
Details on AEW expenses broken down for a PPV as well as the percentage of revenue that the talent makes and how it compares with WWE, UFC and other sports.
International TV ratings and streaming numbers
Advanced ticket sales for WWE & AEW events
Update on the Cung Le lawsuit
Update on Conor McGregor’s fighting again
Why UFC is only running one show and never again at The Sphere and why WWE & AEW are unlikely to ever run it.
ONE financial breakdown
A look at a number of people leaving WWE for different reasons
New head writer for SmackDown
Daughter of major WWE star trying to make the Olympic team this year
WWE house show reports
This Week’s Wresting Observer Newsletter Back Issue
Wade Barrett spoke to The Ring Report about how WWE has changed under Triple H’s leadership: “Well, I’ve noticed that and I’ll compare my time as a commentator to my time in the ring. And I think there are a lot more surprises these days. And we’ll call it the Triple H era, the Paul Levesque era, whatever it’s being called now. I think something we’re really good at and it reminds me of being a fan back in the late 90s in the attitude era, you can’t miss a show at the moment. It feels as a fan and even as a commentator when I’m at home watching the other shows, I feel like I cannot miss it because something big is going to happen every week.”
Humberto Carrillo on X announced that he and Angel Garza won’t be in Monterrey as part of WWE’s upcoming events in Mexico. “But it’s understandable, card is tight and the Mexican crowd wants to see other superstars as well!,” he said. It’s just a little sad that so far we’re not contemplated for it. But we’ll see.”
The new WWE SmackDown commentary team has reportedly been revealed.
Corey Graves and Wade Barrett will serve as the show’s announcers moving forward, according to a report from PWInsider. Graves is expected to move into the lead announcer/play-by-play role and Barrett will work the color commentary position.
The shakeup comes just five days after WWE released Kevin Patrick, who had been part of a three-man booth with Cole and Graves since August on SmackDown. The hope at the time was that Patrick would benefit from working with Cole.
Barrett had been working with Cole on Raw since August 2023. Prior to that, Cole and Barrett had been the SmackDown commentary team since October 2022.
Graves has bounced between Raw and SmackDown dating back to 2016 but this will be his first time working the lead announcing position.
On Raw last night, it was announced that Pat McAfee is returning to a WWE commentary role and will work with Cole on Monday nights.
WWE is making changes to its broadcast teams for Raw and SmackDown.
It was announced via Variety today that, going forward, Michael Cole will now call both Raw and SmackDown. On Raw, he’ll be joined by Wade Barrett. On SmackDown, there will be a three-man commentary team of Cole, Corey Graves. and Kevin Patrick.
Patrick and Graves were previously the Raw commentary team. Cole and Barrett were the SmackDown team.
The new commentary teams will go into effect starting with Raw this coming Monday (August 7) and SmackDown next Friday (August 11). They’re the first episodes of Raw and SmackDown after SummerSlam.
Variety reported that WWE believes putting Cole with Patrick will help Patrick grow as a broadcaster.
“According to an individual with knowledge of the situation, WWE remains high on Patrick and think that pairing him with Cole will only benefit his growth as a broadcaster,” Variety wrote. “Cole has been with WWE for more than 25 years. Per WWE, he has only missed two shows in that time.”
Wade Barrett says he will be at the SmackDown commentary table for the foreseeable future.
The 42-year-old told The Daily Star recently that his role on Friday nights is “as permanent as you can ever be in a role in WWE.”
Barrett was moved from the NXT broadcast team to SmackDown last October after Pat McAfee left for ESPN College GameDay. WWE stated at the time that McAfee would return to the position once the college football season was over. McAfee made a surprise return to the commentary desk at the Royal Rumble but has not resumed his previous duties on SmackDown.
Barrett says that it will be him and Michael Cole at the SmackDown commentary position going forward.
Barrett said:
It’s as permanent as you can ever be in a role in WWE!
Historically things have always been switched around and teams have been moved from here to there, and I’m not saying I’m going to be in the SmackDown hot seat for the next ten years or anything like that.
But in terms of the foreseeable, it’s going to be me and Cole going forward.
Pat McAfee is always going to be a friend of WWE. He’s an incredibly talented guy and we’re all fans of his, too, but he has a lot on his plate.
A social media post by McAfee in February cast doubt on the 35-year-old’s WWE future.
McAfee wrote:
Baby girl on the way… what’s that mean for my future with @WWE? I LOVE it but, they’re allegedly gonna be sold, who’s buying them? Do I want to work/make money for those people?
Man… brain’s been COOKIN
Excited to get back but I love this annual think sesh at the beach with my bride..
The future of #PMSLive has been a lot of fun to think about..
Going thru all of the numbers.. facts are facts.. We’ve really been quite a fucking disruptor in this… pic.twitter.com/GoFUtwTLRc
Barrett was under contract to WWE as an in-ring performer from 2006 until 2015. He is a former King of the Ring winner and five-time Intercontinental Champion. Barrett joined the NXT broadcast team in 2020.
Wade Barrett has signed a new contract to remain part of the NXT commentary team.
In an interview with BT Sport, Barrett revealed that he just signed a contract extension with WWE. Barrett does color commentary for NXT every week alongside play-by-play announcer Vic Joseph.
After departing WWE in 2016, Barrett made his return to the company in August 2020, doing commentary at an NXT television taping. It was confirmed in September 2020 that Barrett had officially signed a contract to become a full-time member of the NXT commentary team.
“I’m about to hit my two-year anniversary. Just signed a new extension to my contract, actually,” Barrett said. “Last week agreed to the new deal. Very, very happy to be staying around with WWE and continuing in my role with NXT. Thrilled to be in that environment. Loving it.”
Barrett was a five-time WWE Intercontinental Champion during his in-ring career. He hasn’t wrestled since 2016.
In his interview with BT Sport, Barrett said he loves doing commentary for NXT and it’s the happiest he’s ever been. Barrett said he’s not chasing an in-ring return but would be open to getting back into the ring at some point if the right opportunity presented itself at the right time.
"If the right opportunity presents itself at my door, we might see a Wade Barrett return
I love my gig in NXT, it's the happiest I've ever been, I don't have an itch I'm trying to scratch, BUT with that being said…"
