Jerry "The King" Lawler Moves from Raw to Smackdown Broadcasts

Jerry “The King” Lawler will be moving from Raw to Smackdown as WWE switches the latter from Friday to Thursday night on Syfy next week. Michael Cole and JBL will be joined on Raw by Booker T, who’s been filling in for Lawler the past couple weeks after King was hospitalized for diverticulitis. Cole and Lawler will be joined on Smackdown by Byron Saxton, and King will keep his spot on PPVs alongside Cole and JBL.

WWE needed to do something to shake up Raw’s announcing crew, which goes through long stretches of the program seeming disinterested (though, to be fair, WWE doesn’t have the requisite roster depth to compellingly fill those three hours each week), and is hit or miss in big spots. Cole is vanilla most of the time, which might be a function of what Vince McMahon wants from him as much as anything. JBL waffles illogically between face and heel depending on the spot or evening, and you can just tell when Lawler gets bored. All things considered, I’d’ve probably voted JBL off the island, but perhaps King will be revitalized by working the shorter program.

Ideally, Booker T excels in his new role.