Change To WWE SmackDown Confirmed

WWE

A change to WWE SmackDown going forward was confirmed to kick off tonight’s January 10, 2025 episode of the show.

One of the many changes to Raw for its debut on Netflix was the return of Michael Cole and Pat McAfee to the red brand as the commentary team.

Cole had previously been calling SmackDown with Corey Graves, while McAfee was absent due to his other jobs outside of WWE.

Meanwhile, the Raw commentary team had previously been Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett.

With Cole and McAfee taking over on Raw, that led to obvious question marks about where that would leave Graves, Tessitore and Barrett going forward.

To kick off tonight’s SmackDown, it was confirmed that the SmackDown commentary team going forward will be the previous Raw duo, Tessitore and Barrett.

They both acknowledged the switch by wearing blue suits, with Barrett stating they’re ready to bleed blue.

That leaves the odd man out as Corey Graves, who joined Vic Joseph and Booker T on NXT earlier this week, which it seems wasn’t a one-off.

So, at least for now, the WWE commentary teams are as follows:

Raw – Michael Cole & Pat McAfee

SmackDown – Joe Tessitore & Wade Barrett

NXT – Vic Joseph, Booker T & Corey Graves

There is of course a chance McAfee will be absent for a period of time at some point again due to his outside obligations, at which point it’s probably safe to assume Graves would move over to Raw.

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• Joe Tessitore
• wwe
• Smackdown
• Commentary
• Wade Barrett

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