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Earlier today it was announced that Kevin Patrick was released from WWE after working as a commentator for the company for just over a year.
Over the years, multiple stand-out names have called the action ringside, including the likes of Gorilla Monsoon, Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole.
However, there have been several commentators in the past who were fired by WWE, in addition to those who parted ways at their behest. Join us as we take a look at 3 announcers who WWE abruptly released or decided to leave themselves:
#3. MMA announcer Jimmy Smith
After working as a commentator for Bellator and the UFC, Jimmy Smith joined WWE in May 2021, with many fans excited about a legitimate sports announcer joining the company.
Smith became the play-by-play commentator on RAW, with him working alongside Byron Saxton and Corey Graves.
While the trio seemed to have good on-air chemistry, Smith's lack of knowledge of the business due to him predominantly being an MMA expert was quite visible.
Smith was let go and replaced by Kevin Patrick in October 2022. Speaking on Unlocking the Cage, Smith recounted the exact moment he realized that he had been fired during an awkward interaction with Triple H backstage.
"Triple H goes, ‘Okay, cool. Give that note to Cole!’ and I went, 'why would I have to give that note to Cole if I’m calling the match on Saturday?Oh. I’m not calling the match on Saturday. Oh, I’m probably fired.' In about two seconds, my brain went, that’s so — okay… and I was like, all right. So I knew basically the whole show on Monday night that I wasn’t coming back so when I got the call Tuesday, I was not particularly surprised," said Jimmy Smith.
#2 - The Coach and WWE can't see eye-to-eye
One person who has certainly established himself as a memorable voice of WWE in the 21st century is Jonathan Coachman. The Coach worked as a backstage interviewer in the early 2000s before becoming a heal character on screen.
After working as the color commentator on SmackDown in 2008, Coach left the Stamford-based promotion. He would then make his return to the RAW commentary team in 2018. However, Coachman's time on the red brand proved to be short-lived as he was eventually replaced by Renee Young.
The Coach would go on to work on the pre-shows for the company until 2020 when he began to have issues with repeated delays in his pay cheque, despite him working for both WWE and the newly revamped XFL football league, a sports venture then owned by Vince McMahon.
During a recent interview on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Coach stated that the way he and WWE left things with one another makes it incredibly unlikely that he would ever return to the company.
"I think back now, I'm kind of in that reflective point of my life. Because I know, for a fact, that my wrestling career is over. There is nothing that can make me go back and do that so now you get into a reflective state. I was 100% loyal to that company and to Vince [McMahon] so when things happen, sometimes you've got to draw the line in the sand and say 'I can't be treated that way and still go back and be loyal to the company."' said Jonathan Coachman.
#1 - The voice of NXT's hellish time on the main roster
If anyone has come close to replacing Michael Cole as the voice of WWE in recent years, it is arguably Mauro Ranallo.
The well-known boxing commentator signed with WWE in 2015, where he would work as the lead announcer for SmackDown. After a stint on the blue brand, Ranallo became the voice of NXT for the next three years.
In 2020, Ranallo announced that he and the company had mutually agreed to part ways. Speaking to POST Wrestling, Ranallo spoke about the many hardships he had while working for World Wrestling Entertainment:
"There were many times I was like, ‘what is going on here?’ Four-man booth, an eight-man booth. I get it, but that’s not what I want as a commentator. I get the stressful situations and the changes on the fly and the system, but for my mental health. I just felt, for my own mental health, even doing the show from home, it was to the point where I would have a panic attack in the morning of the recordings in the last few months. All respect, I didn’t like what was happening and who was involved."
With his famous catchphrase ''Mamma Mia!'' is etched in the minds of fans, Mauro Ranallo will certainly go down as one of the best WWE commentators in recent history.
Which former WWE commentator do you miss the most? Tell us in the comment section.
