News: WWE Announces They Have Parted Ways with Raw Announcer Adnan Virk
It was a short run for Adnan Virk with WWE. The MLB Network announcer that formerly worked for ESPN has been let go by WWE. Here’s the official statement from WWE:
WWE and Adnan Virk have mutually agreed to part ways. WWE thanks Adnan for his work.
Virk tweeted about it:
Thanks to @WWE for a wonderful opportunity. The weekly travel along with my other jobs was a grind for me and my family. Am grateful to everyone with the company especially @WWEGraves and @ByronSaxton for being such fantastic teammates. https://t.co/lrP0fCAMXz
— Adnan Virk (@adnansvirk) May 25, 2021
Since Virk phrased his tweet like that, it seems like he is okay with the departure. Some people just cut out for being a pro wrestling play-by-play guy just because they work in pro sports. It’s a different world.
Virk started as an announcer WWE Monday Night Raw on April 12, so that means he lasted for seven episodes of Raw and the WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view.
Virk had a tryout several weeks earlier, he used to be represented by current WWE President Nick Khan when Khan was a sports agent with CAA, but obviously, WWE’s bosses weren’t thrilled with the work that Virk did.
Virk replaced Tom Phillips as the lead play-by-play guy on Raw on the Raw after WrestleMania. Corey Graves was also moved from Smackdown to Raw to join Byron Saxton. Meanwhile, Pat McAfee was hired on Smackdown to join Michael Cole. Of the two outside hires, it is clear that McAfee fit in better than Virk.
It’s not known who WWE might go with to fill in for Virk. They could go back to Tom Phillips, who has been shuffled around a lot between WWE’s main television shows in his career. Michael Cole is another option since he’s only on Smackdown, but I don’t think it’s smart to have a guy on both shows. Vic Joseph seems secure in his role as the play-by-play guy on NXT.
TJR Thoughts: The move doesn’t surprise me because any WWE fan knows that Vince McMahon is very tough on his announcers and likes things a certain way. Virk had trouble calling moves, which led to Graves or Saxton saying the names of the moves. Virk also lacked the enthusiasm that WWE wants in their lead play-by-play guys. With that said, the guy was only in the job for less than two months, so it just shows that he was on a short leash. My guess is they will go back to Tom Phillips, who really does a solid job.