Jimmy Smith reveals his reaction to WWE release

Former Monday Night RAW commentator Jimmy Smith recently opened up about his reaction to being released by WWE.

Smith, who has a background covering MMA and other combat sports, became a play-by-play commentator for the red brand in October 2022. After a year of partnering with Corey Graves and Byron Saxton on the RAW announce desk, he was replaced by Kevin Patrick earlier this month. He has since been released by the company.

Jimmy recently opened up about his reaction to being released by WWE on his show Unlocking the Cage on Sirius XM. He revealed that he did not expect to get the job in the first place.

“When people say, ‘Are you okay? Is everything alright?’ I didn’t expect to do this at all. At all, I had no idea that I would be doing professional wrestling at all. The call came out of the blue, the audition came out of the blue, getting on Raw came out of the blue," he said. "And me leaving is out of the blue. So I didn’t expect any of this. So to then lose it, everyone is asking me — I’m fine." [h/t SE Scoops]

The former Bellator and UFC commentator went on to reflect on his time in WWE.

“It all feels almost like a dream when you look back on it. Like, ‘Dude, I called WrestleMania? That’s weird,’" he said [h/t SE Scoops]

Jimmy Smith will be a constant presence in combat sports circles. Be it as a commentator, or his various shows and podcasts.

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WWE overhaled their announce teams earlier this month

Ahead of SmackDown's 'Season Premiere' episode on October 6, WWE announced a complete overhaul of the announce teams on all three brands.

As the news broke of Jimmy Smith's exit from the company, it was announced that Kevin Patrick will be joining Corey Graves on the RAW commentary desk, with Byron Saxton moving into a backstage interviewer role. Cathy Kelly signed back with the company and will join Saxton. Mike Rome is now the brand's ring announcer.

As for the blue brand, Michael Cole has been paired up with former NXT commentator and Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett in the absence of Pat McAfee. While Samantha Irwin is the ring announcer on SmackDown, Kayla Braxton and Megan Morant serve as the brand's backstage interviewers.

WWE Hall of Famer Booker T replaced Wade and joined Vic Joseph on the NXT commentary booth. McKenzie Mitchell and Alicia Taylor continue their backstage interviewer and backstage announcer roles respectively.

While it is still early days for these new announce teams, the response to these changes have been mostly positive till now.