The changes to the RAW and SmackDown broadcast teams appears sudden, but the case of Jerry “The King” Lawler being moved from RAW to SmackDown, WWE officials have wanted to remove him from the broadcast booth at RAW for a long time.
“They wanted to get rid of Lawler on RAW for a long time, but after the heart, they figured they couldn’t,” stated Wrestling Observer editor Dave Meltzer on the F4WOnline.com message board Thursday night in a thread about the announce team changes. “This relaunch of SmackDown gave them the chance.”
Beginning this Monday, Michael Cole, JBL and Booker T will be the broadcast team for RAW. Then when SmackDown debuts next Thursday on Syfy, Cole, Lawler and Bryon Saxton will call the action – Tom Phillips is off the announce team. The broadcast team for the WWE pay-per-views will continue to be Cole, Lawler and JBL.
Source: WrestlingINC.com

