Surprising Adnan Virk WWE Raw Replacement Revealed

WWE announced that Raw commentator Adnan Virk had been released from his contract yesterday, and we already know who is going to be replacing him behind the desk on Monday nights.

Wrestling Observer reports that former UFC and Bellator commentator Jimmy Smith will be the new lead commentator for Raw alongside Corey Graves and Byron Saxton.

The report notes that the trio will be working together for the first time on next week’s episode of Raw (Monday, May 31).

Smith is best known for his work as a commentator for Bellator, a position he held from 2010-2017. The report notes that Smith has been working with Michael Cole to train him for a potential announcing role.

Dave Meltzer notes that Michael Cole has “praised him heavily”, with the SmackDown commentator reportedly finding Jimmy Smith “to be very versatile”.

Jimmy Smith is believed to be directly replacing Adnan Virk as the lead play-by-play commentator for Raw. During his time in MMA, Smith served just as an analyst, so this will be a new role for him.

This won’t be Smith’s debut in WWE, as the former MMA announcer was part of the NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver kickoff show back in April. He was also a talking head during the Karrion Kross and Finn Balor package on NXT last week..

It’s worth noting that Smith has also hosted two seasons of American Ninja Warriors, and has served as a boxing commentator in the past.

WWE has yet to officially confirm the change, so stay tuned to WrestleTalk.com for any potential confirmation on the matter.

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• Adnan Virk
• Jimmy Smith
• RAW
• wwe

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