Joe Tessitore Joins WWE As Raw Announcer, Michael Cole Moving To SmackDown

Though it was announced nearly a month ago that veteran broadcaster Joe Tessitore would be joining WWE, details of his employment weren't made clear. Saturday, on the "Countdown to SummerSlam" kickoff show, Michael Cole introduced Tessitore and made it clear that he would be joining the "WWE Raw" announce team, while Cole would be moving to "WWE SmackDown."

Upon his introduction, Tessitore commented on how cool it was to walk out in front of the sold out SummerSlam crowd alongside Cole. "You haven't lived," Tessitore said, "until you've come out through the entryway with Michael Cole at SummerSlam.The place goes crazy already. You are a living legend," he added, complimenting Cole. 

WWE's initial press release stated that Tessitore would be joining Corey Graves and Wade Barrett on "SmackDown," but it's now been made clear that he'd be debuting on "Raw" come September 2, as Cole moves over to Friday nights just ahead of "SmackDown's" move to USA September 13th. However, Pro Wrestling Insider reports that, while it wasn't mentioned in the announcement, Cole and Pat McAfee are both expected to be broadcasting "Raw" when it moves to Netflix in 2025.

Tessitore, 53, is a college football analyst for ESPN and ABC, which he'll continue to do in addition to his WWE duties. No stranger to combat sports, Tessitore has also called boxing matches for ESPN, NFL games on Monday Night Football, and has been a play-by-play voice for "Holey Moley," a competitive golf reality show.