WWE Make Changes To On-Air Commentary Teams, Michael Cole To Do RAW & SmackDown

WWE are no strangers to shaking up their commentary teams, and Variety has learned that new changes are coming.

Joe Otterson of Variety reported that beginning on August 7, the first Monday Night Raw after tonight’s SummerSlam, Michael Cole and Wade Barrett will begin working as the commentary duo for WWE’s flagship show. This will mark Barrett’s first time doing Raw commentary. He initially returned to the company to call NXT before joining Cole on SmackDown in 2022 after Pat McAfee stepped away from a full-time commentary role to pursue other ventures. This will also mark Cole’s return to Raw, where he was the lead announcer from 2008 to 2019 before being moved to SmackDown upon the show’s debut on Fox.

Additionally, Kevin Patrick and Corey Graves will join Michael Cole on SmackDown, creating a three-man table, which WWE seemed to move away from in recent years. WWE management is reportedly still high on Patrick, who splits his time between play-by-play announcing for Major League Soccer and wrestling commentary. There is a belief that pairing him with Cole will benefit his growth in that role.

The news comes only a few hours before SummerSlam, emanating from Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns will defend his title against Jey Uso in Tribal Combat in their third world title match against one another. Elsewhere on the card, Asuka, Charlotte Flair, and Bianca Belair will clash over the WWE Women’s Championship, while Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar will end their trilogy.

As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on WWE’s shake-up of their broadcast team as soon as we hear more.