WWE announcer Kevin Patrick has been officially released by WWE, PWInsider.com can confirm.

As we reported earlier this week, Patrick was removed from his role as the lead announcer on Friday Night Smackdown.

Patrick had been with WWE from March 2021 on. He was promoted to lead Raw announcer in October 2022 before shifting to the Smackdown brand.

While Patrick was liked personally, there had been a feeling for some time that he was not the right person for the role. WWE initially put Michael Cole back on the team with the internal hope that he would be able to steer Patrick in the right direction.

PWInsiderElite.com reported the following on 1/10: “There are some in the company watching to see how Kevin Patrick does on Smackdown without Michael Cole steering the ship. There’s a feeling in some circles that Patrick really needs to step up as an announcer in the months ahead if he wants to maintain that position.”

PWInsider.com is told that Patrick had been set to travel to Smackdown this week in Florida, so it was obviously a last minute decision.