Following last week’s announcement of JBL’s departure from the Smackdown Live commentary desk, WWE.com has revealed that Raw’s own Corey Graves will be taking over color commentary duties for the blue brand. The move will see the Savior of Misbehavior reconnect with his former NXT announce partner Tom Phillips, as well as Byron Saxton – with whom Graves shared the Raw booth until the Superstar Shakeup earlier this year.
BREAKING: @WWEGraves will take over for @JCLayfield on #SDLive starting tomorrow; @McGuinnessNigel will step in for #205Live and #MainEvent!
— WWE (@WWE) September 4, 2017
With Graves spreading his time between both main shows, his role as the voice of 205 Live and Main Event will fall to NXT standout Nigel McGuinness. In July, it was also announced that Graves would be a featured commentator on the forthcoming WWE 2K18 video game, marking his first time lending his unique, Jesse Ventura-esque witticisms to the popular game series.
After much consideration, I will be stepping back my weekly role as Smackdown Announcer to dedicate more (cont) https://t.co/An7zuYRFmV
— John Layfield (@JCLayfield) September 1, 2017
For his part, JBL has reported that he will be using his time to focus more on his charitable efforts, working with at-risk youths in his home of Bermuda. Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso claims that Layfield’s departure was nearly a year in the making, with the former WWE Champion telling officials that he would not be re-signing with the company when his contract was up.
What do you think about Graves’ move to Smackdown? Who was your favorite announce team in the WWE? Let us know in the comments!
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