Report: Original Plan For Triple H On WWE SmackDown Revealed

Last week's episode of Friday Night SmackDown was broadcast from the WWE Performance Center because of the coronavirus outbreak. There were numerous changes made to the show due to travel restrictions across the United States, as Paige's return was cancelled and Corey Graves was absent from commentary.

Graves was ultimately replaced by The Cerebral Assassin himself, Triple H, and his announcing throughout the show delighted fans watching around the world, as The Game appeared to be genuinely having a lot of fun. At one point he quipped about how Bayley, Sasha Banks, Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross were working to the absent audience, and he took the time to colour in Michael Cole's soul patch. 

Sean Ross Sapp at Fightful reported that Triple H's stint on commentary wasn't meant to last as long as it did, however. WWE planned to introduce guest announcers throughout the show, but after they noticed the positive reception the 14-time world champion was getting on social media, the company called an audible and kept him at the announcers desk for the whole episode.