The commentary desk is an integral part of a brand in the WWE and every sport. You are used to listening to the same voices every week. There was a time when Jim Ross and Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler were the voice of Monday Night Raw, which has changed over the years. SmackDown has seen changes too, and it looks like there’s another change on the horizon in the SmackDown commentary desk.
Source believes for the mean time Corey Graves will end up doing smackdown as well as Raw.
— Xero News (@NewsXero) September 7, 2022
Pat McAfee is stepping away from his color commentator duties due to ESPN’s College GameDay coverage. The talented commentator and in-ring performer is a fan favorite. His interactions with Michael Cole on SmackDown make way for a pleasurable experience for the viewers. Pat is one individual who dances to Shinsuke Nakamura’s theme song and even sent out an autographed NFL ball to the crowd.
SmackDAHN will be on hold for a little bit while I do College GameDay.. I'm still VERY much in the WWE family & will still be doing things with WWE#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/bhSpOYg3wW
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) September 7, 2022
The talented performer spoke about his willingness to do double duty. He wanted to attend both shows, but the team didn’t think it was good for him, his health, and his family. Pat has an excellent relationship with both regimes in the WWE. He talked about his discussion behind the curtain on his show. It’s interesting to know that there’s affection, care, and empathy being shown to Pat because he deserves it. He said:
“So the original thought for me was, I could do SmackDown and GameDay. I can do it. The folks at the WWE, who I have nothing but love, respect, and appreciation for, I’m talking old regime, new regime, whoever you think is in charge over there, I have nothing but great feelings towards. I reach out to them and chit chat with them, they were the ones who said, ‘ Hey man, if you’re going to do GameDay, which is a great opportunity, congratulations… you cannot be traveling overnight for the entirety of the season. It’s not good for your health, your family, it’s not good for anything. Whenever the time is right, we’ll have you, definitely be back in our family,”
The winner of his match against Happy Corbin at SummerSlam will be replaced by a familiar face, Corey Graves. Graves currently works on Raw with Jimmy Smith and Byron Saxton. He would join his former SmackDown commentary desk colleague and call the action for the fans. Xero News reported this, but fans may have some other names on their mind that could be a fit.
With @PatMcAfeeShow taking a leave of absence from smack down 😔😠@TripleH please get @McGuinnessNigel on the announce desk.
— Sarah Golding (@execution84) September 7, 2022
Whether WWE does go with the fans’ ideas in the future is unknown at this time, but Pat getting the support and the assurance that he will be welcomed to the WWE family upon return is an excellent idea.
Pat needs a pat on the back for offering his services of doing double duty. WWE has changed, and so has its presentation. We would have to see if Graves can bring a change to Pat’s style of commentary and make the fans interested in his style.
