Cole and Graves to call SmackDown for next few months

Michael Cole and Corey Graves will serve as WWE SmackDown's on‑air commentary team for the coming months, the company announced Friday during the September 5 episode at the Allstate Arena in Chicago. Cole made the on‑air announcement alongside Graves at the top of the show, saying the two would call SmackDown together "for the next couple of months," a change that represents a significant reshuffle of WWE's broadcast teams.

WWE has attributed the immediate shuffle to college football scheduling that has pulled regular announcers away from the product. Joe Tessitore, who had been scheduled to call SmackDown, was unavailable because of college football commitments, prompting Cole to fill in on the blue brand. At the same time, Pat McAfee's ongoing absence from Monday Night Raw this year to participate in ESPN's College GameDay and other football duties has previously led Graves to fill in on the red brand. Reports differ on which absence was the decisive factor for this particular move, but both Tessitore's and McAfee's commitments to the college football season have been cited as drivers of the wider rearrangement.

The announced pairing reunites Cole with Graves after the two...