Michael Cole replaces WWE name on RAW; joined by Corey Graves

Michael Cole and Corey Graves have been the voices for WWE SmackDown in recent months ever since the veteran announcer moved to the blue brand following Pat McAfee's temporary departure. Cole and Graves, however, played a vital part on WWE RAW this week.

While the current announcers for RAW are Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett, neither of them were present for this week's taping of the show in Saudi Arabia. Instead, they were replaced by the two veterans.

Michael Cole has become known as the voice of WWE for his long-tenured consistent role as the announcer. In recent years, he has also been appreciated for his announcing, something that was not always the case over his long career.

Now, for this episode of RAW, Michael Cole and Corey Graves were the ones calling the show. This change was likely due to travel and availability reasons, although that has not been confirmed by the report by PWInsider.

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The taping for RAW took place the night after Crown Jewel and the proximity to the event and the traveling that was necessitated by the live events elsewhere as well, likely led to the change in the commentary team. It's expected that the team will be back to normal for next week's show.

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