Did you know since Monday Night Raw launched all the way back in 1993 that the weekly show has used more than seventy-five different commentary teams? Some of those were, of course, random one-offs because of announcers getting sick or whatever, but even so, that number still speaks for itself. With a few notable exceptions, it’s too often felt like a science experiment being constantly tinkered with, and now, it seems WWE fans want to tinker again.
Last night on Monday Night Raw, former superstar and WWE Global Ambassador Titus O’Neil stopped by the commentary booth to add a little flair to the Alpha Academy and Viking Raiders match, and on the whole, he was pretty good. He injected a lot of energy, came across like an invested fan and mostly bounced well off Corey Graves especially. Fans responded very positively on social media, and soon, there were a bunch of tweets talking about how he should be a regular part of the Raw commentary team. Here’s an example tweet with almost 5,000 likes…
Titus O'Neil should be on the Raw commentary table permanently. pic.twitter.com/uruzBbJOFOJuly 18, 2023
The current Raw commentary team features Corey Graves, who has been a longtime fixture on WWE programming as an analyst and Kevin Patrick, who was promoted from interviewer and PPV pre-show talking head to play-by-play guy back in October. Most fans really like what Graves brings to the table (and so do I), but the response to Kevin Patrick has been, for the most part, less than enthusiastic.
He hasn’t developed a good rhythm of when to narrate the action and when to be quiet, and he often speaks in vague generalities that are wrong, like last night when he said Kevin Owens is never perturbed, despite his entire current character being about not controlling his emotions. By all accounts, he’s a really nice guy, and sometimes he’s able to bring a fun and genuine energy to the booth, but he needs a lot more seasoning. It’s just not there yet.
So, on the one hand, I get where the WWE Universe is coming from in wanting Titus O’Neil to join the team. A change is definitely needed, and like most people, I root for Titus in whatever he’s doing. His enthusiasm makes whatever I'm watching pop a bit more, and my knee jerk reaction was also that he could bring something new as a third chair.
But on the other hand, no. The more I think about this idea, the more I’m convinced it’s actually bad. First, Titus O’Neil is not an experienced commentator, and the last thing the inexperienced Kevin Patrick needs is another inexperienced person added to the team. For example, at the beginning of The Viking Raiders and Alpha Academy match, Graves tried to set O’Neil up by saying he must be an expert in Vikings Rules Matches, having competed against The Viking Raiders and instead of just going with it and taking the lead, O’Neil said he’s not an expert because his match against tag team was under normal rules, which was followed by awkward dead air.
Obviously everyone has weird and uncomfortable moments in the announcing booth. That’s just part of the job, but if you go back and actually listen closely to the entire commentary last night, there’s not much smoothness at all. There’s also not much helping to tell the story. It’s just a lot of reacting with energy, which is fine for a ten minute mid-card match, but is not what is missing from the Raw commentary booth as a whole.
Raw's problems are all the more striking when compared against WWE's other primary weekly show Smackdown. You would have thought the FOX staple would have been the one in disarray after Pat McAfee stepped away, but Wade Barrett has stepped in and done a damn good job in a throwback heel commentator type of way. He's gelled well with Michael Cole, who has continued to build on the career resurgence he's had over the past few years since the initial pairing with McAfee.
So, really, it's all about fixing Raw. I’m glad Triple H and company have given Kevin Patrick time to actually develop. Poor Adnan Virk got like six weeks before they let him go back in 2021, but it’s been nine months. I think it’s time for a change. If they want to stick with Patrick, they need to bring in a third chair, but if they do that, it needs to be someone who is an experienced broadcaster that can help overcome those shortcomings. Titus O’Neil is not that guy and he’s not the right fit here. That being said, would I love to see him added to one match a month on Raw indefinitely? Yes. Sign me up for that.
