WWE’s commentary team will only have the winning combination of Michael Cole and Corey Graves moving forward.
SmackDown had Wade Barrett (real name Stu Bennet) and Joe Tessitore on commentary, while Michael Cole and Corey Graves covered RAW. However, going forward, at least for the next few months, Cole and Graves will reportedly work the Friday night show as well.
Stu Bennett has been known for his time in WWE for 15 years. He started as an in-ring performer, making a splashing debut as the leader of the Nexus in 2010. He was plunged into a program with John Cena that went on for a whole year. An argument can be made that this rivalry hurt him or helped him, depending on an individual’s perspective.
Nevertheless, Bennett continued to wrestle until 2016, when he was released from his contract. He has not performed in the ring ever since, donning the role of color commentator in NXT since 2020, before moving to WWE’s main roster shows.
Stu Bennett (AKA Wade Barrett) Is No Longer On The Road For WWE
According to a new report by PWInsider, Stu Bennett is off the road. His time as a commentator on the main roster has seemingly come to an end. His regular commentary partner, Joe Tessitore, was also not present on SmackDown last night; however, we have no updates on his status yet.
The current plan seemingly is for Michael Cole and Corey Graves to be the commentary team for both RAW and SmackDown going forward. Last year, fans felt WWE was hinting at the former Intercontinental Champion’s in-ring return due to his interactions with Drew McIntyre. However, things obviously did not pan out that way.
Meanwhile, Bennett revealed in a post on X/Twitter that this was not a permanent move. Instead, WWE had just given him some time off.
I usually ignore BS reports like this, but it’s causing needless hate to be spewed towards people I work with. WWE have kindly given me a couple of weeks off for personal time (booked nine months ago), and then I’m back to business as usual. A complete non-story. The end,” Stu Bennett wrote.
Whether the Cole and Corey combination handles both shows for the next few months bears watching, as the company can always look to change things up here and there.