WWE commentator Wade Barrett has responded to a recent report about his status with the company following the announcement of a commentary team shakeup. In a post on X, Barrett stated that he has been given pre-planned time off and refuted any speculation that he has been removed from his duties, calling the situation a “complete non-story”.
“I usually ignore BS reports like this, but it’s causing needless hate to be spewed towards people I work with,” Barrett wrote. “WWE have kindly given me a couple of weeks off for personal time (booked nine months ago), and then I’m back to business as usual. A complete non-story. The end”.
The Original Report and Speculation
Barrett’s statement is in direct response to a PWInsider report (later aggregated by the Wrestle Ops X account) that surfaced earlier today. The report claimed that following the announcement that Michael Cole and Corey Graves would be the new SmackDown commentary team, Barrett was set to be “off the road going forward”.
That report also addressed online speculation that a change in Barrett’s role was connected to comments he made about Nikki Bella on the Clash in Paris pre-show, though the report stated they had not confirmed that to be the case. The speculation arose after Bella mentioned on her podcast that she was not thrilled with Barrett’s comments, and Barrett later stated on social media that the two had spoken and “squashed” the issue. Barrett’s new tweet, referencing “BS reports,” appears to address this speculation as well.
WWE Commentary Shakeup
The situation began on Friday Night SmackDown when Michael Cole announced that he and Corey Graves would be the new announce team for the blue brand for the next couple of months. This move left Barrett’s role as the show’s lead analyst in question. A separate PWInsider report also indicated that the current plan is for Cole and Graves to call both Raw and SmackDown. As Barrett indicated below, it sounds like he will be back soon.
I usually ignore BS reports like this, but it’s causing needless hate to be spewed towards people I work with.
WWE have kindly given me a couple of weeks off for personal time (booked nine months ago), and then I’m back to business as usual. A complete non-story. The end. https://t.co/ZPcBQatnCK
— Stu Bennett 🏴🇺🇸 (@StuBennett) September 6, 2025
