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WWE Surprisingly Takes Veteran Performer Off The Road

By John Canton • Published Sep 06, 2025 15:10 EDT
WWE logo over Wade Barrett Tyson Kidd

A veteran WWE superstar will be taken off the road in a move that may surprise a lot of fans.

After this story went live, there was a comment made that clarified the situation. That’s at the bottom of the post. The original story remains.

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There was a commentary change on WWE SmackDown in Chicago. Michael Cole and Corey Graves took over commentary on the blue brand, with Cole noting they’ll be there for a “couple of months” without offering a specific timeline.

The assumption was that Joe Tessitore was off SmackDown because he does college football games on ESPN from September through December, so being on the road at SmackDown would likely be difficult for him.

As for Wade Barrett, he has been the main PLE announcer with Michael Cole this year, so most people probably thought he’d be on Raw with Joe Tessitore.

It has been reported by PWInsider Elite that Wade Barrett will be taken off the road moving forward.

WWE Planning To Use Michael Cole And Corey Graves

The plan, according to PWI Elite, is for Michael Cole and Corey Graves to call Raw together, in addition to SmackDown, for however long that will last.

Wade Barrett was in the news recently for critical comments about Nikki Bella at Clash in Paris, but many people felt it was just Wade being a heel announcer. According to Wade, he “squashed the beef” with Nikki, and there are no longer issues between the two friends who have known each other for nearly 20 years.

While Michael Cole is in year 28 with WWE and is entrenched as the voice of the company, Corey Graves has had an up and down.

To start 2025, Corey Graves was demoted by being moved to NXT with Vic Joseph and Booker T, and Graves apparently wasn’t happy about it.

When Pat McAfee walked away from the WWE Raw commentary job with Michael Cole in June, Graves stepped up and has been with Cole on Raw ever since.

For now, the Raw and SmackDown commentary team will be Michael Cole with Corey Graves, and they will likely be on the call for the September 20th Wrestlepalooza show featuring Brock Lesnar’s return match against John Cena.

Update: Wade Barrett wrote on X that it is planned time off and then he’ll be back on commentary.