The reason behind WWE’s latest presentation change has been revealed.
Following Kevin Dunn’s departure as Head of Production after more than 30 years, fans have noticed many subtle changes in the way that weekly TV looks. In particular, many sports-centric elements have been introduced such as regular updates on how long certain Superstars were in each of their respective Royal Rumble matches.
The latest change took place on January 29th as Pat McAfee made another surprise entrance on Raw. As McAfee made his way to the desk, Michael Cole informed the fans at home that the band was back together once again. The announcement was met with mixed responses as many were enjoying the work that Wade Barrett was doing on Monday nights and his chemistry with Cole.
While not confirmed by WWE, reports have surfaced that Barrett will join Corey Graves on SmackDown, expected to start on the February 2nd broadcast.
As stated in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Graves has experience in being a play-by-play commentator when dealing with inexperienced announcers but will have to make some subtle adjustments over the weeks as he has taken the side of heels in his announcing. Additionally, multiple changes were made due to McAfee’s inclusion and needing someone like Cole to be effective in his role:
With Kevin Patrick being gone, and Pat McAfee being brought in, the announcing teams are now Michael Cole & McAfee on Raw and Wade Barrett & Corey Graves on Smackdown. The idea is that Graves will be the play-by-play guy, and he’s never technically been that but has in actuality had to carry that for a few announcers they’ve brought in. Traditionally the play-by-play guy is the voice of the babyfaces and the color guy can be the voice of the heels or straight.
Barrett & Graves have always been heel side announcers so it will be interesting because if the announcers both continually put over the heels, they become the faces, so Graves will likely have to adjust somewhat. Essentially the changes were because McAfee agreed to come back. He must really love wrestling because with the money he makes ($17 million per year) and having a family, and having a daily studio show means he has to do a show and then fly out to wherever Raw is late every week. Look, if you’re WWE and he’s up for doing it, you absolutely use him. He’s super enthusiastic and his name value is huge right now.
But he can’t be the play-by-play guy and Cole or a Vic Joseph would have to be with him. Barrett did a great job with Cole and they didn’t want to get rid of him and Patrick was the weakest link. The one thing is it would be far tougher for McAfee continuing on that schedule during football season, particularly since for his talk show he would have to be watching Monday Night Football for his Tuesday show and his schedule is much tighter doing the added college football related programming like GameDay that he’s on. But that’s eight months away.
WWE Change Will Benefit International Fans
As the promotion continues to alter the presentation of the product, the biggest show of the year is also set for a change. Anticipating a massive audience from around the world, WWE is implementing a major alteration that will affect both nights of WrestleMania 40.