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Joe Tessitore, best known for broadcasting college football and boxing, is adding WWE to his ABC and ESPN duties. On Tuesday, WWE announced via X that Tessitore will join Corey Graves and Wade Barrett as the play-by-play man in a three-person booth later this summer. "WWE is the most unique TV show there is," Tessitore told ESPN. "It's live theatrical-level entertainment while being a network-level sports event. And that takes a unique skill set to call. "There's no down and distance, there's no scoreboard. You have to have the eye to build anticipation." Tessitore will lean on his extensive boxing broadcasting work -- a role he's held with ESPN since 2002 -- and his lifelong wrestling fandom. He led coverage of WrestleMania on "SportsCenter" for the past three years and is a constant fixture ringside at WWE's premium live events. He first attended wrestling events in the 1970s when growing up in upstate New York, where he watched WWE Hall of Famers Bob Backlund and Chief Jay Strongbow. "This was an irresistible move for me to add this to my ABC and ESPN work," Tessitore said. "The reason why is because of what Triple H and Nick Khan have accomplished and continue to do week after week with their style of leadership. "As a lifelong fan, what I've noticed is a newfound freedom where they've empowered the superstars in the ring, the creative team and the broadcasters to be the best version of themselves on their terms. There's no doubt in the success when you see how the fans and the media are reacting to that." WWE has enjoyed record-setting business over the past six months between the return of The Rock at WrestleMania XL and flourishing storylines, highlighted by Cody Rhodes and The Bloodline. The organization delivers "Raw" weekly on Mondays, the longest episodic show in TV history, along with "SmackDown" every Friday. "The broadcasts are so strong," Tessitore said. "I think Corey and Wade are absolute stars in the making. I've watched Michael Cole throughout his career and he deserves to be mentioned in the same class as all the great mainstream network broadcasters of our generation. And I'm truly honored to be by their side."
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