Report: Young, Phillips & English to call tonight’s WWE SmackDown

The travel delays after Crown Jewel will also force a change to SmackDown’s commentary team for tonight.

The Wrap has reported that Renee Young, Tom Phillips & Aiden English will be the commentary team for tonight’s show. Michael Cole & Corey Graves are the usual SmackDown commentary team but were in Saudi Arabia for Crown Jewel.

WWE announced earlier today that: “More than 175 Superstars, production crew and employees boarded a 747 charter flight back to the United States on Thursday. After the door closed, due to several aircraft problems including mechanical issues, all passengers sat on the tarmac for more than six hours. With SmackDown set to emanate live from Buffalo, N.Y., several Superstars felt so strongly that they arranged for their own separate charter in order to make it back to the U.S. for the show. Due to unforeseen issues, that charter will not land until after the live broadcast on FOX.”

After formerly being part of the Raw commentary team, Young is hosting WWE’s Backstage studio show on FS1 with Booker T. The show makes its official weekly premiere at 11 p.m. Eastern time next Tuesday (November 5).

Phillips was formerly on the SmackDown commentary team and now calls NXT UK and 205 Live. English is a color commentator for 205 Live.

A SmackDown Women’s Championship match is set for tonight, with Bayley defending her title against Nikki Cross. WWE has also announced that Brock Lesnar will appear on the show.

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Joseph Currier
Joseph Currier

Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.

In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.