Todd Grisham Todd Grisham ( January 9 , 1976 ) is an American presenter / announcer who is best known for his time in the WWE as a backstage interviewer , play - by - play commentator and occasional ring announcer . He is currently employed by ESPN making him the third former WWE employee to join the sports network ( the other two being Jonathan Coachman and Max Bretos ) . Early life . Grisham attended Wingate University on a soccer scholarship , later transferring to University of West Georgia where he received his degree in communications . His first professional job in the television industry was with KTVO of Ottumwa , Iowa where he worked for a year and a half . He then went on to work as a sportscaster for KOLD - TV Tucson for approximately five years before signing a two - year contract with WWE as an announcer , officially joining them on January 14 , 2004 . World Wrestling Entertainment ( 2004 - present ) . Voice of Heat , Byte This and Bottom Line ( 2004 - 2008 ) . Grisham debuted in WWE in 2004 , becoming the voice of " WWE Heat " , doing play - by - play alongside Jonathan Coachman , Josh Mathews , and others over a near four year period . Grisham also formerly co - hosted " The WWE Experience " with Ivory , but after her release , he hosted it alone until mid - 2006 , when Josh Mathews started hosting the show . He also hosted WWE ' s premier web show , " WWE Byte This ! " , which was canceled in 2006 . In addition , he did backstage interviews for the Raw brand . In 2005 he also began hosting Raw ' s catch - up program " WWE Bottom Line " after Marc Lloyd was released from the company , until September 2007 when Jack Korpela started hosting the show . Grisham also hosted " WWE Unlimited " segments , a web - only broadcast that allows viewers to witness events during commercial breaks of " Raw " . On May 1 , 2006 Grisham called the main event on " Raw " , alongside Jerry " The King " Lawler , filling in for Joey Styles , who had just quit , in storyline . During an episode of WWE . com ' s " Byte This ! " , he responded to a letter sent in by controversial superstar The Ultimate Warrior where Warrior declined an invitation to come on the show to talk about his DVD " The Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior " . During the letter Warrior insulted recovering cancer patient Bobby Heenan and called Todd Grisham " gay " . Grisham responded in good humor by saying he may have experimented in college , but that was no reason to call him that . Grisham also participated in a series of conversations on " Byte This ! " with fans of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( TNA ) who interrupted the show to both proclaim TNA a superior product , or to insult Grisham directly when he chose to sugarcoat and dodge TNA related questions , Grisham retaliated with his own retorts , some humorous , and some hostile ( once calling one TNA fan a " retard " ) . He some times did respond to the questions however citing that TNA was not at the level that WWE was . ECW ( 2008 - 2009 ) . Grisham became the new play - by - play commentator for the ECW brand on the July 29 , 2008 episode of " ECW " . He replaced play - by - play commentator Mike Adamle , who had become the Raw brand General Manager , and was paired with Tazz , who was the color commentator . This announce team was short - lived , however , as Tazz moved over to SmackDown to fill in for Mick Foley ( who was injured by Edge and then left the company ) and Matt Striker moved back to ECW to take over Tazz ' s duties as color commentator . Since then , their commentating had been highly praised by fans and Grisham and Striker even won the 2008 Slammy Award for Announce Team of the Year . During his run as ECW commentator he still conducted interviews on Raw and also became the new regular interviewer for " SmackDown " as Eve Torres took a more in ring role . On April 4 , 2009 Grisham would host the 2009 Hall of Fame induction ceremony . Friday Night SmackDown , WWE NXT and departure from WWE ( 2009 - 2011 ) . On April 7 , 2009 episode of " ECW " Grisham and Striker ' s near 8 month commentary partnership came to an end as Josh Matthews became the new play - by - play commentator for " ECW " . This was due to Tazz leaving the company . Play - by - play commentator Jim Ross would now switch to color , thus replacing Tazz , and Grisham became the new play - by - play man . Grisham made his " SmackDown " debut as play - by - play commentator on April 10 , 2009 . On October 30 , 2009 , he was reunited with his ECW broadcasting partner Matt Striker , who was moved to SmackDown to replace Jim Ross . During the December 7 tapings of " Friday Night SmackDown " , which aired on December 10 , Grisham was replaced as SmackDown ' s play - by - play commentator by Josh Mathews , thus again ending his commentary partnership with Matt Striker . After becoming the lead play - by - play announcer for WWE NXT for five months , it was announced on the August 23 , 2011 edition that Grisham would be leaving WWE to pursue new interests . Sportscasting . In 2007 , Grisham was named the host for Fox Soccer Channel ' s Major League Soccer broadcasts , working alongside Christopher Sullivan for pre - game and post - game coverage of the network ' s Saturday night broadcasts . On August 24 , 2011 , a day after serving as NXT play - by - play commentator for the final time on the 23rd , it was announced that Grisham would be joining ESPN . Personal life . Grisham was raised at Bay Minette , Alabama , and attended Baldwin County High School for his freshman year , where he played on the school ' s soccer team as a forward . His family relocated several times after his freshman year , and Grisham eventually graduated from Orange Park High School in Orange Park , Florida . Grisham has an older brother named Jeff . Grisham is married to Alyson DeRenzis . They got engaged in June 2009 .