WWE Announces Changes to 'Raw' Commentary Team
WWE has made some big changes to Monday Night Raw. On Monday afternoon, WWE announced that Adnan [...]
WWE has made some big changes to Monday Night Raw. On Monday afternoon, WWE announced that Adnan Virk will be the new play-by-play voice of Raw tonight at 8 p.m. ET on USA Network. Richard Deitsch of The Athletic was the first to report the news. It was also announced that SmackDown commentator Corey Graves would move back to Raw and Samoa Joe has been taken off the Raw commentary team altogether. However, it was noted that Samoa Joe hasn't left the company and remains on the talent roster.
"I'm elated to be joining the premier sports-entertainment company in my new role with WWE," said Adnan Virk. "As a kid who grew up idolizing WWE Hall of Famers like Bret Hart and Ric Flair, the opportunity to call modern legends like Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, Randy Orton, Charlotte Flair and so many others alongside Corey Graves and Byron Saxton is truly humbling."
Virk will replace Tom Phillips, who will become the new host of 205 Live and oversee special projects for WWE programming on Peacock and the WWE Performance Center in Orlando. He will still keep his current position of Senior Role Manager, On-Air Talent.
Along with his duties on Raw, Virk will continue his on-air host across MLB Network's programming this season. He also hosts The GM Shuffle podcast with Michael Lombardi and the movie podcast Cinephile. He previously worked at ESPN where he covered college football and baseball. He has guest-hosted SportsCenter, Outside the Lines Olbermann, ESPN's coverage of the College World Series, and Mike & Mike. On Raw, Virk will be teaming up with Graves and Byron Saxton.
This comes after Raw backstage interview Charly Caruso (Charly Arnolt) announced she is leaving WWE for a full-time job at ESPN. She was replaced by Kevin Patrick who has worked for CNN International and has covered Atlanta United matches for Fox Sports. The moves also come at a time where WWE just finished two nights of WrestleMania 37. Virk will be getting a first look at WWE Champion Bobby Lashley, who beat Drew McIntyre on Saturday. He will also cover AJ Styles and Omos, the new Raw Tag Team Champions as well as Rhea Ripley who beat Asuka for the Raw Women's Championship on Sunday. It's also possible that since it's the Raw after WrestleMania that big WWE Superstars could return to action.