Corey Graves and Kevin Patrick (r.) will only talk privately in the future / Photo: (c) WWE
The SmackDown experiment with Kevin Patrick has come to an end.
Kevin Patrick has no future on the announce table on WWE SmackDown!
In the last few days, WWE made an internal decision to no longer use the Irish native (real name: Kevin Patrick Egan) as a commentator on Friday’s show.
The result: Color commentator Corey Graves gets a new partner. As “PWInsider” reports, WWE perennial favorite Michael Cole will take over the job this Friday.
The verdict of WWE officials: “It just wasn’t right”
The reason for the 38-year-old’s dismissal: those responsible were not satisfied with Patrick’s overall performance. “It just didn’t work,” was said to be a common opinion behind the scenes.
Patrick started as a Raw commentator in October 2022 and moved to SmackDown in August 2023. In addition to Corey Graves, Michael Cole was also present at times as the third man at the microphone. In the past few weeks they had relied on Patrick and Graves as a duo, but the hoped-for increase did not materialize.
Will Michael Cole be a permanent replacement – or is WWE still considering the options?
In the meantime, it remains to be seen whether Cole will return to SmackDown permanently (which would mean he would return to commentating on the two big weekly shows) or whether another solution will be sought.
In general, WWE has few options when it comes to an internal solution. In addition to Cole, NXT commentator Vic Joseph would probably be considered for the job.
Maybe you also want to orientate yourself outside of wrestling and, for example, use a sports commentator from another field. However, this project had little success in 2021 with Adnan Virk (baseball commentator) and Jimmy Smith (MMA specialist). Virk was cut off after a few weeks, Smith after just over a year.
Kevin Patrick continues to work as a commentator elsewhere…
As for Kevin Patrick, despite this career hiccup, he could have a future in WWE and take on other TV broadcasting roles. In any case, he has been able to leave a much better impression in backstage interviews or pre-show discussions in the past.
And if you don’t want to miss Kevin Patrick’s voice, you can still hear him elsewhere. In addition to his work for WWE, the father of two comments on games for the American soccer league MLS on Apple TV+.
Apparently this role as a sports reporter suits him much better…
MORE – John Cena gets specific about wrestling retirement:
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2024-01-24 15:32:00
#WWE #commentator #removed #replacement #announced..
