Earlier this week, WWE announced major changes to the commentary teams of each Raw, Smackdown and NXT. When the smoke cleared, Jimmy Smith would lose his Raw play-by-play role, as well as be fired from the promotion altogether.
After the news broke, Jimmy Smith went on Twitter to release a short statement about the matter, confirming that his time was over in the company, and he also showed appreciation to the WWE Universe.
“Just wanted to say, now that the story is officially out, that my time with the WWE is officially done. Had a lot of fun and met some great people. Really and truly blown away by the acceptance from the WWE fans! You folks make it work every week and your enthusiasm was amazing!”
Just wanted to say, now that the story is officially out, that my time with the WWE is officially done. Had a lot of fun and met some great people. Really and truly blown away by the acceptance from the WWE fans! You folks make it work every week and your enthusiasm was amazing!
— Jimmy Smith (@jimmysmithmma) October 6, 2022
Variety first reported the news on Thursday.
Pat McAfee went on a temporary hiatus last month from his Smackdown role to join the commentary team of ESPN’s “College Gameday.” In response, WWE completely revamped all of their announcer tables.
WWE has updated all of their broadcast teams for their programming as such:
- Raw: Kevin Patrick and Corey Graves
- Smackdown: Michael Cole and Wade Barrett
- NXT: Vic Joseph and Booker T
- “Major Live Events”: Michael Cole and Corey Graves
A former mixed martial artist, Jimmy Smith has had other hosting and commentary gigs outside of WWE Raw in the past. With hosting, he was the lead man for “American Ninja Warrior,” and had co-hosting duties with Discovery Channel’s “Fight Quest.” In the commentary chair, Smith has done UFC, Bellator and Premier Boxing Champions, and of course, Raw.