5 WWE commentators who could replace Corey Graves when SmackDown moves to FOX

WWE’s weekly television schedule is set to change when NXT moves to the USA Network on September 18 and SmackDown moves to FOX on October 4.

There will now be a total of seven hours of live programming every week – Raw on Mondays (three hours), NXT on Wednesdays (two hours), and SmackDown on Fridays (two hours) – as well as 205 Live and NXT UK on the WWE Network.

It was reported earlier this week by POST Wrestling’s John Pollock that WWE will separate its rosters again by holding a draft on the October 11 episode of SmackDown and the October 14 episode of Raw.

Now, in an update from the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer, the upcoming roster changes will also take announcers into account, which means Corey Graves will no longer be a commentator on both Raw and SmackDown.

Instead, he will only commentate on one of WWE’s weekly shows, allowing a spot to open up for a new or returning commentator to take his place.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at five people who could realistically replace Graves on either Raw or SmackDown.

Disclaimer: The NXT commentary team is expected to remain the same when the show moves to the USA Network, so Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness and Beth Phoenix are not included in this list.

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#5 Vic Joseph

Casual WWE fans may be unfamiliar with Vic Joseph, but he has proven himself to be a very capable announcer whenever he has been given the opportunity to show what he can do.

Much like SmackDown’s Tom Phillips in the early stages of his WWE career, Joseph has various different on-screen and off-screen roles for the company.

As well as his regular gigs as a commentator for 205 Live and NXT UK, the Cleveland native can also be heard as the voice of the ‘WWE List This!’ series on WWE’s YouTube channel.

In August 2019, Joseph surprisingly joined Michael Cole and Renee Young on the Raw announce team for one episode after Jerry Lawler – Corey Graves’ replacement for the night – was attacked by The Fiend.

Despite receiving praise for his work on Raw, it would be somewhat surprising if Joseph permanently replaced Graves on a weekly basis, simply because he is known more as a lead announcer than a colour commentator.

That being said, WWE used him alongside Cole and Young once before, so might they go down that route again?

#4 Paige

Paige took a break from WWE programming in December 2018 to promote a film based on her wrestling career, “Fighting With My Family”, before returning in April 2019 as a manager for newly formed tag team Asuka & Kairi Sane, aka The Kabuki Warriors.

Sadly, she has not been given enough opportunities to showcase her skills as a manager for the Japanese duo, and their alliance has recently been put on hold due to the former Divas Champion undergoing another surgery on her neck.

If WWE decides to go in a different direction with Paige upon her return, they could do a lot worse than include her as part of the announce team on Raw or SmackDown in Corey Graves’ place.

NXT’s Beth Phoenix and Raw’s Renee Young have paved the way for more female commentators in WWE, and Paige proved during her time as SmackDown General Manager that she is reliable on the microphone and she can help elevate Superstars around her.

Speaking on her Regular Girls podcast earlier in 2019, Young even name-checked Paige as somebody who could be good at commentary, adding that she planned to “bug her” to take up an announcing role one day.

#3 David Otunga

When the original WWE Draft took place in July 2016, it was announced that David Otunga would join Mauro Ranallo and JBL as a member of the SmackDown Live commentary team.

In November 2016, Tom Phillips was added to the announce desk in an analyst role, while Otunga took a six-week break in April 2017 due to acting commitments outside of WWE.

For reasons that have not been fully explained, the former Nexus member never returned to his position as a commentator on SmackDown. Instead, Byron Saxton took his place and has remained a permanent announcer on the blue brand for the last two-and-a-half years.

Otunga, meanwhile, has featured sporadically on WWE television since being replaced as a full-time commentator, with the majority of his appearances coming on PPV kickoff shows.

His most recent commentary role came on the August 20 episode of SmackDown Live when he was chosen to fill in for Corey Graves, who was on vacation at the time, alongside Phillips and Saxton.

Moving forward, it would not be a surprise if WWE decided to make that one-off arrangement a permanent role for Otunga again when SmackDown moves to FOX.

#2 Jerry Lawler

The two leading commentators in the Attitude Era, Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone, signed with AEW this year after proving in 2018 that they are still capable of calling in-ring action at the highest level.

WWE has taken a different approach with additions to their announce teams in recent years, with the likes of Corey Graves, Renee Young and Byron Saxton becoming commentators on Raw and SmackDown after originally receiving opportunities to perform the same role in NXT.

At the age of 69, Jerry “The King” Lawler has not been a permanent commentator in WWE since July 2016, but he still has three separate contracts with the company – one of which is an announcing deal – and he recently signed a new two-year contract.

It was reported earlier in 2019 by Wrestle Votes that FOX has floated the idea of having Lawler as part of a SmackDown studio show due to his “familiar image and voice”.

The man himself also told Wrestling Inc. recently that he expects to do more WWE work when SmackDown moves to the new network.

"I haven't wrestled for them anymore but I still do - especially with the FOX Sports thing coming up, SmackDown, I'm probably going to be doing some more stuff."

#1 Aiden English

Aiden English established himself as a prominent Superstar on SmackDown Live after aligning with Rusev to form the Rusev Day tag team, managed by Lana, in October 2017.

The former Vaudevillian went on to be a liability to his tag team partner, especially when he inadvertently cost him the WWE Championship against AJ Styles at Extreme Rules 2018, and they eventually split up in September 2018 after English lied about Lana making advances towards him.

The storyline came to an abrupt end the following month when Rusev defeated English on an episode of SmackDown Live, and the former NXT Tag Team Champion has since gone on to become a commentator on 205 Live.

Interestingly, English’s only televised match in the last 11 months came on the WWE Network special ‘Worlds Collide’ in April 2019 – he lost to Kassius Ohno – and the rest of his on-screen appearances have been from behind an announce desk.

If WWE wants to continue their usual system of giving younger commentators a chance, perhaps English could be the one who steps up to replace Corey Graves on Raw or SmackDown.

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