Wade Barrett breaks silence after replacing Michael Cole on SmackDown this week

This week's WWE SmackDown featured the return of Wade Barrett, as he replaced Michael Cole on the commentary team. Cole missed the show due to a 'special assignment'. Barrett has now reacted to his appearance on the blue brand.

Michael Cole has rarely missed shows in his WWE career. However, the veteran was absent from this week's episode of the blue brand, leading to Wade Barrett taking his place alongside Corey Graves on the commentary team.

In a recent post on X/Twitter, Barrett commented on his return to the blue brand, mentioning that he had a lot of fun. Moreover, the former Intercontinental Champion wrote that he wanted to know the details of Michael Cole's 'special assignment' that forced him to miss the show.

"Despite my male resting b**ch-face, I had a lot of fun being back on #SmackDown last night. PS @WWEGraves, I would love to know more about this “Special Assignment” @MichaelCole was on [emoji]," Barrett posted.

Michael Cole provided a major update regarding his WWE contract

In a taped interview with WFAN, Cole revealed that he was off to a 10-day vacation in Cozumel, Mexico, which forced him to miss the latest episode of SmackDown. With Cole being the voice of WWE for nearly two decades now, this was a well-deserved vacation.

Cole also made a number of headlines with a massive announcement during the interview. The veteran revealed that he had recently signed a long-term contract with WWE, saying that he had a lot to offer to the company.

The 55-year-old added that with WWE RAW's move to Netflix in January 2025, he would make his return to the red brand. Cole has called many memorable matches in the Monday night program's history. Hence, fans will be thrilled to see him rejoin RAW's commentary team next year.