One of the key jobs that Tom Phillips has in WWE, is that he is always the host in the Social Media Lounge on all WWE’s kick-off shows. This changed Sunday night at Fastlane when Charley Caruso was the one who was in the Social Media Lounge and it seemed that WWE was trying to brush over the fact that Phillips had been replaced after recent text messages were leaked showing that the NXT commentator was having an affair.
WWE officials obviously didn’t want the WWE Universe tweeting inappropriate things to Phillips during the Fastlane broadcast so they decided to switch him and allow Charley to take centre stage. Many fans wouldn’t have even noticed the change if Booker T, who was joining Renee Young as part of the kick-off panel, hadn’t asked the backstage announcer where the “Dirty Bird” was, referring to Phillips and the recent scandal.
Charley remained professional and stated that Tom had graciously stepped aside and allowed her to take over his hosting duties, something that she managed to continue throughout the night without any problems.
It is thought that Tom Phillips will return to the commentary desk on SmackDown Live on Tuesday night, but his absence from Fastlane and the fact that WWE drafted in another less qualified announcer to replace him, shows that WWE is taking the whole scandal seriously. But much like the Seth Rollins scandal a few years ago, WWE will hope that the whole thing is forgotten about in a matter of weeks.
