SI

ESPN’s Joe Tessitore Hired by WWE Years After Raving About Company

Years ago, the college football play-by-play analyst said he dream job was to call WWE matches.

Jimmy Traina

Oct 14, 2023; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA; Sportscaster Joe Tessitore, left, talks with sportscaster Jesse Palmer before a game between the LSU Tigers and the Auburn Tigers at Tiger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 14, 2023; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA; Sportscaster Joe Tessitore, left, talks with sportscaster Jesse Palmer before a game between the LSU Tigers and the Auburn Tigers at Tiger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-USA TODAY Sports / Matthew Hinton-USA TODAY Sports

1. The WWE announced on Tuesday that it has hired ESPN play-by-play broadcaster Joe Tessitore.

The company says that Tessitore, best known as one of ESPN’s top college football voices, will work alongside analysts Corey Graves and Wade Barrett. The WWE, however, did not say which show will feature Tessitore.

You would assume Michael Cole and Pat McAfee would remain on Monday Night Raw with Tessitore calling SmackDown.

(Quick prediction: With SmackDown moving from Fox to USA Network in September and Tessitore having to call college football games on Saturday, I would expect SmackDown to move to Thursdays.)

My initial reaction when I heard that Tessitore was hired by WWE was that play-by-play people who come from traditional sports normally do not fare well in the WWE.

But then I remembered Tesstiore raving about the WWE during an appearance with me on the SI Media Podcast all the way back in 2018 when he was calling Monday Night Football for ESPN.

Not only was Tessitore extremely complimentary of the company, but he said calling a WWE match was his dream gig.

I asked Tessitore, “What sport have you not called that you would most want to call?”

After explaining that he has no desire to call Major League Baseball and that he doesn’t feel he has the skill set to call the NHL, Tessitore lit up when I brought up the WWE.

“Now you hit on something,” said Tessitore. “Are you considering that a sport, because that would be on top of my list. I love pro wrestling. If that’s qualifying, then yes.”

Tessitore made it very clear he’s far from just a casual wrestling fan.

“I think Vince McMahon and their operation, pound for pound, does as great a job from production to marketing to understanding what the fan and the viewer wants to delivering to the fan,” Tessitore said.

Tessitore even pitched himself to call a specific match.

“The McMahon family, Stephanie, Triple H… that’s what I want. How about the Monday Night Football crew gets to call one match, Hell in a Cell?”

“You wanna talk about something that aligns with my style of broadcasting—oh I would love doing that.”

Tessitore later added, “If you’re saying this is a dream scenario, what’s the one sporting event you haven’t covered: WrestleMania or SummerSlam.”

Who knows if Tessitore will eventually call either of those events, but the fact that he has a chance after saying it was his dream scenario is pretty damn cool.

And Tessitore wasn’t lying when he said his broadcast style aligns with the WWE. One thing wrestling fans will never be able to do is accuse Tessitore of being boring.

2. Before I left you for some time off over the holiday, I posted a brand new SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast featuring an interview with Jason McCourty, who won’t be part of the Good Morning Football cast with the show moving from New York to Los Angeles.

McCourty explained why he won’t be staying with the show, how shocked he was by the NFL Network's decision to move the show, what he'll miss most about being on GMFB, the end of his “Fit List” segment, and if he plans on watching when the show returns from its hiatus.

McCourty, who won a Super Bowl with the Patriots during his playing career, also shared this thoughts on the Tom Brady Roast, how Brady will do this season as an analyst and what the Patriots groups chats are saying about Bill Belichick’s dating life.

Following McCourty, Sal Licata from WFAN and SNY joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week’s topics included the NFL losing an anti-trust lawsuit against Sunday Ticket subscribers, a book recommendation and Jimmy’s hatred of fireworks and the hot-dog eating contest.

You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina below or on Apple and Spotify.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated‘s YouTube channel.

3. We love it when broadcasters say things that we’re thinking at home, so props to Guardians play-by-play guy Matt Underwood for not holding back Tuesday night after the Tigers’ Javy Baez, hitting .182, got upset when he was hit by a pitch.

4. I’m always fascinated by what athletes will use as motivation. It appears that Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams will use a lighthearted and lame social media post to get him even more fired up to play the Chargers this season. Adams made it clear to Kay Adams on Tuesday that he was not happy about Los Angeles’s social media team comparing him to garbage-flavored Pop Tarts.

Adams explained that he thought about responding, but  figured “it’d be better to just beat their head in in real life.”

5. Joe Burrow knows exactly how the NFL schedule should go.

6. During a recent late-night TikTok scroll session, I came across this video of a prankster at a golf course honking a horn while people were mid-swing and I could not stop laughing. I ended up spending 30 minutes watching all the videos from Mulligan Masters and enjoyed every single one.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: On this date, July 10, in 2011, Larry and Cheryl got divorced, which led to Susie sending a message to Jeff.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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