WWE President Nick Khan is apparently responsible for the hiring of Monday Night Raw’s new lead announcer Adnan Virk according to new reports.
Virk has taken over from Tom Phillips as the lead announcer on the red brand. He now heads up a revamped three-man announce team including Byron Saxton and Corey Graves. Graves replaces Samoa Joe at the announce desk with Joe also receiving his release from the company.
Prior to joining WWE, Adnan Virk worked for ESPN before moving on to covering baseball DAZN and appearing on the MLB Network. Virk made his WWE debut on the Raw after WrestleMania edition of the flagship show.
According to a new report by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, the acquisition of Virk was down to WWE President, Nick Khan. Khan joined WWE as President in August 2020. He previously stated that everything on the WWE Network was for sale prior to the company signing a billion-dollar deal with NBC Universal’s streaming service, Peacock.
The report also discussed Virk’s inexperience as this was his first opportunity to call live wrestling. Virk himself noted that during his first appearance on Raw and said his colleagues Saxton and Graves would be “carrying” him for the broadcast.
Adnan Virk discussed the task he has ahead at winning over the WWE audience in an interview with The Athletic. Virk noted that that preparation and hard work will be the keys to his success in the role.
Virk stated:
“This fan base is so knowledgeable and so passionate. If I walk in there and start spouting misinformation, they’re going to spot them from a mile away. They’re going to be upset, rightfully so. They’ll be saying who is this interloper coming from mainstream television to try to tell us what our product is when we know better than anyone else. So the key is preparation, head down, ask questions, listen to what people have to say, and utilize the resources around you.”