By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE named Adnan Virk as the new play-by-play voice of Monday Night Raw. “I’m elated to be joining the premier sports-entertainment company in my new role with WWE,” Virk told the WWE website. “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.” Read the official announcement at WWE.com.
Powell’s POV: Virk, who previously worked for ESPN, will make his Raw debut tonight. In case you missed it in the quote, the new broadcast team is Virk, Graves, and Saxton. There’s no official word yet as to what the Smackdown broadcast team will be. The story lists Tom Phillips as the new voice of WWE 205 Live and special projects for Peacock, so Michael Cole is likely to remain the Smackdown play-by-play voice, though it remains to be seen whether Graves will return to double duty by working both shows. The website story also has an interesting one sentence line regarding Samoa Joe, who has been working on the Raw broadcast team. “Samoa Joe remains part of the WWE talent roster,” reads the WWE website story. Hopefully that’s an indication that Joe is on the verge of returning to the ring.
Ignore the haters, I think Mike Adamle did a great job last night!