Raw play-by-play commentator Jimmy Smith was given some advice by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon that he hasn’t forgotten.
Back in May 2021, WWE announced Smith as Raw’s PBP ace. He replaced Adnan Virk and has already lasted longer than the former ESPN anchor. Many believe that Smith has outperformed Virk in a short period of time, although that bar was low.
Advice From The Boss
Jimmy Smith appeared on an episode of The MMA Hour. During the interview, he revealed the advice he was given by Vince McMahon.
“It was crazy because he’s still so much — and you hear all these rumors when you’re going into the WWE about how much Vince is in it and all this stuff and who these people [are]. Vince is still very, very much — at least with Raw because obviously, I don’t do SmackDown, with Raw he’s very much [involved in] every single match.
“He has an opinion, he has his philosophy and the way he wants to go. He’s very much a pillar of Monday Night Raw, which I really wasn’t sure if that was the case anymore. I had no idea and yeah, he is.
“One of the things he told me that honestly really helped, and it’s not a crazy story or anything, he goes, ‘Don’t worry, you’re the audience. If you don’t know it, they don’t know it. If you’re confused, they’re confused. So, use that.’
“I was a little worried cause I hadn’t watched wrestling since I was a kid and he said, ‘No, if you don’t know what something is or why something is happening or why this person is taking on this person or why this angle’s happening, say that and Corey and Byron get to educate people. So, you not knowing is awesome because not all of our fans are what they call marks. They’re not all like huge wrestling fanatics. They might not know, so use that.'”
Smith is joined on the Raw commentary team by Corey Graves and Byron Saxton. Smith has admitted that he had to adjust to Graves roasting him on TV since he’s the heel color commentator.
Once he understood that aspect of the job, Smith said he began to have fun with the banter.
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