WWE tries something different with the announce team during Smackdown commercial break

It looks like WWE is trying a new experiment to increase fan engagement during commercial breaks at televised events.

Twitter user @JP121469 passed along a video from the May 6th 2022 edition of WWE Smackdown. Sasha Banks had a match against Shayna Baszler and during the break, Michael Cole and Pat McAfee’s commentary was heard in the arena. McAfee said “we’re back on FOX in ten seconds” and then once the break ended, the announcers could no longer be heard by fans.

They did it where we can hear the announcing now? @TheRajGiri @view_raw @NewsXero @WWEGareth @Fightful @aaronrift @WrestlingInc @GlennRubenstein @PatMcAfeeShow #Smackdown pic.twitter.com/MkcZRHcAqX

— Jennifer P (@JP121469) May 7, 2022

Here is another video…

This is pretty awesome – during commercial break you can hear the commentary from the crowd but when back on TV it goes silent again. #SMACKDOWN #SashaBanks

📹: My friend @WrestleFact1 pic.twitter.com/xOjZnXAwsV

— Female Locker Room (@femalelroom) May 7, 2022