Tom Phillips 'Surprised' By WWE Departure

Tom Phillips has admitted to being surprised by his release by WWE.

Phillips was let go by WWE last month, having spent nine years with the promotion in a variety of roles. Most recently, Phillips had been the lead announcer on WWE Monday Night Raw, only to be replaced by Adnan Virk following WrestleMania 37.

Virk himself would depart WWE last week, with former UFC commentator Jimmy Smith taking his place.

Phillips understood why someone with Virk's stature could potentially take his place as lead announcer for Raw, but was surprised to completely leave the company.

Speaking to the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch, he said: "I can honestly say I was surprised. Adnan Virk was somebody that I had known, not to date him in any way, but he had a run on [ESPN show] SportsCenter when I was in college and then just right out of college, so I watched him for years.

"So when I hear, ‘Hey, Adnan Virk’s coming in to be lead announcer for Monday Night RAW,’ I was like, ‘Woah, that is a shift.’ But at the same time, I was like, ‘Man, I have all the respect in the world for this guy’s [Adnan Virk's] ability.

"In terms of what the job for RAW and SmackDown requires, what everybody refers to commonly in play-by-play as traffic, getting from graphics to B-roll to an interview, etcetera, I was like, ‘Well, this guy did SportsCenter,’ which is just one-way traffic, and then he did college football half-time shows, so it’s like, ‘Yeah, this guy’s probably got the skill set to do this.’

"So I was definitely surprised [to be released] but, at the same time, to hear the name of somebody like Adnan Virk, I was like, ‘Okay, I get it.’"

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