Jimmy Smith will no longer be calling the action on Monday Night Raw, something that the former commentator learned by complete accident.
Yesterday, WWE changed the commentary teams across Raw, SmackDown, and NXT, as part of the season premieres for each show.
Not long after news broke, Smith confirmed that he has left WWE.
Triple H’s Accident
Fans were surprised to see the changes be announced, first by Variety and later confirmed by WWE, but Smith wasn’t taken aback.
Speaking on Unlocking the Cage, Smith said how a comment by Triple H earlier this week was all it took to learn of his fate (via ComicBook.)
“Triple H accidentally told me before the show Monday. He screwed up and told me [about the commentary changes]. He didn’t mean to.”
After speaking with Riddle and coming up with a good line for the Fight Pit at this weekend’s Extreme Rules event, Smith wanted to get it checked by Triple H.
“I go to Triple H. Triple H standing there, I go, ‘Hey, I just talked to Riddle and he gave me this line about how he out-wrestled Jon Jones twice’ and Triple H goes, ‘Okay, cool. Give that note to Cole.’
“Triple H accidentally told me before the show Monday. He screwed up and told me.”
Jimmy Smith
“I went, why would I have to give that note to Cole if I’m calling the match on Saturday? Oh. I’m not calling the match on Saturday. Oh, I’m probably fired. In about two seconds, my brain went, that’s so – okay… and I was like, all right. So I knew basically the whole show on Monday night that I wasn’t coming back.”
Changes
With Smith gone, the new commentary team on Raw will see Corey Graves team with Kevin Patrick.
On SmackDown, Michael Cole will call the action with Wade Barrett, who is joining from NXT.
WWE NXT will be called by Vic Joseph and Booker T, who has done commentary for SmackDown and Raw in the past.
