WWE have announced that they have “mutually agreed to part ways” with Monday Night RAW play-by-play announcer Adnan Virk.
Virk landed the lead role at the RAW announce booth on April 12th, saying that he was “elated” to join the company.
However, while Virk has an extensive sports background having worked for ESPN and the MLB Network, the Canadian had faced criticism for his performances with WWE.
Now, in the wake of his criticism, WWE announced they have parted ways with the announcer.
A statement on WWE.com read:
“WWE and Adnan Virk have mutually agreed to part ways. WWE thanks Adnan for his work”
Virk previously hosted The Score before working for ESPN. After nine years of service, Virk departed ESPN in 2019 when he was fired for allegedly leaking ESPN information to the media. Virk told The Washington Post that he felt like ESPN was making an example out of him.
The Canadian sports caster had faced extensive criticism online since debuting on RAW for his perceived poor performance. In response, former WWE announcer Renee Paquette stuck up for Virk in a recent interview, adding that he needed time.
“I don’t want to do a disservice to a story that is being told on television. Everyone’s putting in so much hard work. So everyone just wants to do a good job, and everyone’s just really mean to everyone on commentary. Give the guy a break. He’s figuring it out. It just sucks. There’s no way around it. Also, everyone just lives in that mind frame of ‘oh, we just JR. We just want Jerry The King Lawler.’ People want what they’re familiar with. As much as we crave change and we’re looking for change, we also are freaked out by change.”
At time of writing it is unclear who will be replacing Virk on RAW.
Inside The Ropes will continue to update this story as it develops.