Tom Hannifan Comments On WWE Commentary Shake-Up

In the aftermath of WWE shifting its commentary lineup across all three major shows, former commentator Tom Hannifan, known during his WWE tenure as Tom Phillips, shared his thoughts on the matter. Appearing on Sirius XM's "Busted Open," Hannifan spoke about the probable reasoning behind the changes.

"It's a byproduct, I imagine, of Pat McAfee's obligations with ESPN's 'College GameDay,' I assume through January," Hannifan said. "Congratulations to everybody that is getting a new opportunity. Some people are in the same places, some people moved around, it looked like."

The current Impact Wrestling commentator also took the time to speak about the unfortunate release of Nigel McGuinness from the WWE roster.

"My best goes to Nigel," Hannifan said. "Hopefully, in the end, whatever he's doing is great for him."

Another commentator that Hannifan had positive things to say about is Wade Barrett.

"[I'm] really happy for Wade Barrett, especially," Hannifan said. "Wade Barrett is somebody who, in my opinion, can call any show WWE has to offer. ... This opportunity on 'SmackDown' makes a ton of sense in my mind." Hannifan went on to share that he and former commentator and wrestler JBL had jointly praised Barrett's abilities in the past before he got behind the commentary desk. "I think Wade Barrett is going to show the world that he is one of the best professional wrestling commentators alive, not that he wasn't already doing that on 'NXT.,'" he said.

Hannifan put over the talent of former "Raw Talk" host Kevin Patrick, as well, stating that he's confident the newcomer will fit right in on "WWE Raw" alongside Corey Graves.