Back in September, WWE made big changes to the commentary booth of both their premier brands – Monday Night RAW and Friday Night SmackDown.
Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler returned to WWE programming as the analyst for RAW where he joined Vic Joseph and Dio Maddin on the commentary booth of the show.
On the flip side, Michael Cole, who had been the voice of RAW, was moved to SmackDown for the play by play duties of the show while Corey Graves served as the color commentator.
Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the backstage feeling within WWE is Lawler has been better than expected and that his experience has helped Joseph get into the right rhythm.
It was noted the only direction Lawler has been given has been to avoid using dated cultural references. The reason for that is due to the company wanting RAW to appeal to a younger audience.
Jerry Lawler On How He Got Commentary Role On Raw Again
Regarding Madden being off of WWE television since earlier this month, He was pulled from TV when he was attacked by Lesnar. He is still part of the team and is just selling the attack from Lesnar.
Thus, that’s one aspect of the decision to have Samoa Joe fill in for Madden on commentary this past Monday night. Joe, who received rave reviews from fans, is being recognized backstage for how good he is in that role.
Joe was chosen for this role as he’s been out of action since September after suffering a thumb injury.
Regarding an update for his return to in-ring action, Joe stated on WWE Backstage last week that his recovery was a “day-to-day” thing and that he’ll be back in the ring in a few weeks.
