Michael Cole is currently scheduled to be Kevin's temporary replacement on SmackDown.

 Kevin Patrick, who had recently taken on the role of lead announcer on SmackDown after working with Michael Cole on RAW, was removed from that position this week.

This change comes after WWE had high hopes for Patrick's growth in the role and had been monitoring his performance.

WWE executives decided to remove Kevin from the SmackDown commentary team on January 22. Despite being well-liked personally within WWE, there was a consensus among executives that he might not have been the best fit for the commentary role.

In an update on this situation, PWInsider is reporting that WWE has now released Patrick from his contract.