Entertainment
WWE’s Tom Phillips and Samoa Joe removed from Raw commentary team as Adnan Virk takes the lead
WWE has confirmed Adnan Virk will lead its new-look Raw commentary team with Tom Phillips and Samoa Joe removed from their positions.
Following rumours over WrestleMania Weekend, the company has revealed the MLB Network host – who previously covered college football and baseball for ESPN – will make his debut tonight as the play-by-play voice of the red brand.
In a statement, he said: ‘I’m elated to be joining the premier sports-entertainment company in my new role with WWE.
‘As a kid who grew up idolizing WWE Hall of Famers like Bret Hart and Ric Flair, the opportunity to call modern legends like Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, Randy Orton, Charlotte Flair and so many others alongside Corey Graves and Byron Saxton is truly humbling.’
In a press release, WWE added: ‘Previously, Adnan worked at ESPN where he primarily covered college football and baseball.
‘He was also a studio host for ESPN’s college football coverage and a play-by-play announcer and studio host for the network’s coverage of Major League Baseball.
‘He has guest hosted SportsCenter, Outside the Lines, Olbermann, ESPN’s coverage of the College World Series, and Mike & Mike. Virk also hosted backstage Oscar’s coverage for ABC’s The Oscars: All Access.’
Analyst Byron Saxton – hailed as ‘a veteran with more than a decade of experience behind the microphone’ – will retain his spot on Raw, while SmackDown’s Corey Graves makes the jump back to the red brand’s announce team.
There’s no word on what that means for the blue brand, where Graves has been sat alongside Michael Cole.
Meanwhile, Tom Phillips will shift his focus to hosting 205 Live and overseeing ‘special projects for WWE’s programming on Peacock’ – which presumably includes the WWE Network outside the US – as well as working at the Performance Center in Orlando.
He will also keep busy and continue his role as Senior Manager, On Air Talent.
For Samoa Joe, it seems the Samoan Submission Machine could be on track for a return to in-ring action after a long spell out due to injury.
In the press release, WWE notes that he ‘remains part of the WWE talent roster’.
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