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.

A WWE personality isn’t present for the special July 4 episode of Monday Night Raw.

The Independence Day edition of Raw is being held inside Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California. This is the post-Money in the Bank episode of Raw.

The WWE Universe is fresh off witnessing the MITB premium live event. Fans saw two Money in the Bank winners crowned and a SmackDown Women’s Championship change when Liv Morgan cashed in her contract to defeat Ronda Rousey.

When the show got started, however, one notable name was absent.

Jimmy Smith Not on Raw

When WWE Raw got started, Corey Graves revealed that Jimmy Smith is on vacation. He was replaced by Kevin Patrick as the play-by-play commentator this week.

Smith has been the lead PBP person on Raw since the company dropped Adnan Virk. Smith has been praised for holding his own in the booth despite not having much knowledge about the current WWE product going into the role.

This week’s episode of Raw features The Judgment Day vs. The Mysterios. There will also be a six-man tag team match with Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits vs. Theory and Alpha Academy.

Keep it locked on the SEScoops homepage for ongoing coverage of WWE Raw.

WWE Raw commentator Jimmy Smith has come to the defense of his broadcast colleagues for the backlash some have received over Sasha Banks and Naomi’s walkout.

Last week, Banks and Naomi walked out during a Raw taping, forcing WWE to scrap plans for the advertised six-pack challenge main event.

The pair’s walkout has also forced WWE to change plans for the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championships, which both Banks and Naomi were scheduled to compete for.

After the walkout, Corey Graves said the pair had acted “unprofessionally” while Michael Cole said the Superstars “let us all down” when announcing their suspension on last Friday’s SmackDown.

Speaking on his Unlocking The Cage with Jimmy Smith Podcast, Smith said that the two are just doing the job asked of them.

“Michael Cole and Corey Graves aren’t making this stuff up. People are getting mad at them like they’re freestyling stuff, they’re not. They’re broadcasters, if Vince [McMahon] had said, ‘Here, read this,’ I would’ve done exactly what Michael Cole did. Vince could’ve said, ‘Hey, Jimmy, I want you to read that,’ and I would’ve went, ‘Ah, okay! Sasha Banks and Naomi let us all down.’ I would’ve read the same thing.

“It’s this weird thing where like, in my sense, on Monday Night Raw, Corey Graves is getting all this sh*t. Corey Graves didn’t make up that statement, he’s a broadcaster and he was told to read it and he read it. So, I understand maybe the ire of the fans but the misdirection of that ire is weird. People getting upset at me or Corey Graves, you’re just getting mad at the wrong people. I don’t get that. Graves was told to say what he said and he said it.”

“People are getting mad at them like they’re freestyling stuff, they’re not. They’re broadcasters.”

Jimmy Smith, responding to criticism of Michael Cole and Corey Graves.

Both Banks and Naomi have been indefinitely suspended and had their merchandise pulled from WWEShop.com.

The contracts of both women are expected to expire later this year, though there is the possibility WWE could freeze their current deals.

• Sasha Banks and Naomi Situation Expected to get Worse (May 2022)

Thanks to WrestlingInc for the transcription.

Kevin Owens isn’t one to let things slide.

On the May 9 episode of Raw, Cody Rhodes challenged Theory for the WWE United States Championship. During the match, Jimmy Smith mentioned that Cody may have had ring rust since he hadn’t been in WWE in six years.

Corey Graves was quick to correct the comment and while he didn’t mention AEW, he did say that Cody has been active over the years.

KO wasn’t about to let Jimmy forget that line on the May 16 episode of Raw. Owens was a guest commentator during a match between Ezekiel and Chad Gable.

Owens had the following zinger for Jimmy:

“Just like you said Cody Rhodes hadn’t wrestled in six years. That was ridiculous, too. Thankfully, Corey was here to put you in your place.”

For the most part, Jimmy has settled in nicely with his role as the play-by-play commentator on Raw. If anything, he’s been far better than Adnan Virk but Jimmy was more of an MMA guy than a wrestling aficionado.

This likely caused the slip up unless he was told by someone in the “Gorilla Position” to say the line and he ended up getting roasted for it anyway.

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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