Mick Foley And Others Praise Tom Phillips Following WWE Release Report
WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley took to Twitter today and reacted to the news of WWE releasing longtime employee Tom Phillips (Tom Hannifan).
As noted, it was reported earlier today that Tom has been released after 9 years with the company. WWE has not confirmed the departure as of this writing, but Foley responded to a report on Twitter and praised Phillips.
"I'm surprised to see that WWE let Tom Phillips let go. I always enjoyed his announcing, and thought his chemistry with his fellow commentators was professional, informative and entertaining. Announcing in @WWE is not easy, and he did it very well," Foley wrote.
Tom also received major praise from two former WWE Superstars – Aiden English (Matt Rehwoldt), who worked with Tom on WWE Main Event and 205 Live, and AEW's Dax Harwood.
"For my money, @TomHannifan was the best commentator I had the pleasure of working with. He worked so hard w/ us to get our story across. He put the words to our music. Maybe his biggest "downfall" was he enjoyed calling actual professional wrestling... I'm sure I'll see you soon," wrote Dax.
English added, "I'll always be grateful for @TomHannifan for taking a chance on me and also offering me a chance to rediscover what a loved about wrestling at a time when I was starting to question it. What a damn pro who will be doing great stuff going forward I'm sure [love you gesture emoji]"
Tom has not commented on the reports as of this writing. We noted before how he recently changed his social media handles to show his real name, Tom Hannifan. His bio lists him as a "WWE Broadcaster & Producer."
Phillips signed with WWE in 2012, and has done work on just about every WWE TV show, including WWE NXT, 205 Live, Main Event, RAW and SmackDown. He also hosted WWE YouTube and WWE Network shows, and has done behind-the-scenes work for the company. Tom was replaced by Adnan Virk as the lead RAW announcer on April 12, but Virk left the company this week and is being replaced by Jimmy Smith.
Stay tuned for updates on Tom's WWE status. You can see the tweets from Foley, Harwood and English below:
I'm surprised to see that WWE let Tom Phillips let go.
I always enjoyed his announcing, and thought his chemistry with his fellow commentators was professional, informative and entertaining. Announcing in @WWE is not easy, and he did it very well. https://t.co/BkE3EBRwdf
— Mick Foley (@RealMickFoley) May 27, 2021
For my money, @TomHannifan was the best commentator I had the pleasure of working with. He worked so hard w/ us to get our story across. He put the words to our music. Maybe his biggest "downfall" was he enjoyed calling actual professional wrestling...
I'm sure I'll see you soon
— Uncle Dax FTR (@DaxFTR) May 27, 2021
I'll always be grateful for @TomHannifan for taking a chance on me and also offering me a chance to rediscover what a loved about wrestling at a time when I was starting to question it.
What a damn pro who will be doing great stuff going forward I'm sure 🤟 pic.twitter.com/SQtsmX25Pl
— Matthew Rehwoldt (@DramaKingMatt) May 27, 2021