Byron Saxton Bryan Jesus Kelly ( August 20 , 1981 ) is an American professional wrestler , manager , color commentator and former journalist . He is currently signed to WWE , where he works as a color commentator on the Raw brand as Byron Saxton . He was a competitor in the fourth season of " NXT " and was competing in the show ' s fifth season , " NXT Redemption " , until his elimination on May 31 , 2011 . Early life . Kelly was born in Burke , Virginia . He was raised in Burke and Orlando , Florida . He studied at the University of Florida , where he worked as a producer and a reporter for WRUF - AM , WUFT - FM , and WUFT - TV . He graduated in 2003 . Kelly worked as an associate producer for WJXT Channel 4 News in Jacksonville , and was then promoted to work on camera as a traffic reporter . Career . Florida Championship Wrestling . Kelly signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment and was assigned to Florida Championship Wrestling ( FCW ) . Kelly , at first using his real name , made his FCW debut on October 13 , 2007 , losing to Hade Vansen . His next appearance was just over a week later on October 23 , when he lost to " The Carnival Freak " Sinn Bowdee . Kelly competed sporadically in FCW over the next few months , winning a six - man tag team match against Vansen , Sheamus O ' Shaunessy and Bowdee with Rycklon Stephens and Chet Douglas as his partners , but losing a singles match to Afa Jr . a few weeks later . He finished off 2007 with a win against Tommy Taylor on December 18 . Kelly started off 2008 with a win , defeating Steve Lewington on FCW ' s first show of the year on January 8 . His next match against Afa Jr . , however , was ruled a no contest after TJ Wilson interfered . Kelly then began teaming with Rycklon , losing to the teams of Nick Nemeth and Big Rob , Jake Hager and Shawn Osborne , and Heath Miller and Steve Lewington . Another match on April 15 , when Kelly and Rycklon faced Johnny Curtis and Gabe Tuft ended in a double countout . On June 3 , Kelly became a manager , cutting a promo for Black Pain . Kelly managed Black Pain regularly , accompanying him for matches , and also teaming occasionally with him . On September 30 , Kelly debuted a new ring name , Byron Saxton . With Black Pain , and the rest of his faction , known as the Saxton Conglomerate or simply the Conglomerate , composed of Stu Sanders ( later Lawrence Knight ) and Tyson Tarver , Saxton began a feud with Kafu , having the members of the Conglomerate face off against him in matches . After this feud ended , the Conglomerate quickly began another one with Johnny Prime . In the course of this feud Kaleb O ' Neal began teaming with Prime in order to help him out , however , O ' Neal later turned on Prime and joined the Conglomerate . In January 2009 , Black Pain broke away from the Conglomerate , and changed his ring name to Sweet Papi Sanchez , prompting a feud with the remaining Conglomerate members . Since then , Saxton has associated himself with Abraham Saddam Washington . When Josh Mathews left FCW to commentate on " ECW " full - time , Saxton began working as a commentator alongside first Dusty Rhodes and then Abraham Washington . In November 2010 Saxton turned on Washington and began feuding with him . ECW ( 2009 – 2010 ) . In October 2009 , the " SmackDown " color commentator , Jim Ross , suffered a Bell ' s palsy attack , resulting in a shuffle of the other commentators . Matt Striker was moved from " ECW " to " SmackDown " , and Saxton was called up to " ECW " as a commentator , working alongside Josh Matthews . He debuted on the October 27 episode . He continued commentating until February 2010 , when Vince McMahon announced that " ECW " was to be replaced with " NXT " . Saxton then returned to FCW . NXT ( 2010 - 2011 ) . On the third season finale of " NXT " on November 30 it was announced that Saxton would be competitor on season four , with Chris Masters as his mentor . He made his in - ring debut on the December 14 episode of " NXT " , teaming with Masters in a loss to Brodus Clay and his mentor , Ted DiBiase . Earlier that night , Saxton won the karaoke challenge , earning a point towards immunity from elimination . He earned his first win on the following episode when he teamed with Masters and WWE Diva Natalya to defeat Clay , DiBiase , and Maryse in a six - person mixed tag team match . On January 4 , 2011 episode of " NXT " , Dolph Ziggler became Saxton ' s new Pro , after Ziggler won a Battle royal to earn the right to choose a new rookie and he chose Saxton . On the February 8 episode of " NXT " , Saxton was eliminated . In March 2011 , Saxton was selected as one of the six former " NXT " contestants to return to the show in its fifth season , " NXT Redemption " . During this season , Saxton was mentored by Yoshi Tatsu . On the April 26 Edition of NXT , Saxton attacked Tatsu after he cost him the match against Lucky Cannon . Going into late May 2011 , he began referring to himself as " Big League " Byron Saxton , believing that he is bigger than the NXT Rookies and / or the WWE Pros , turning heel . On the following week ( the last day of May ) , Saxton was voted off of NXT Redemption . Return to FCW ( 2011 - 2012 ) . Kelly returned to FCW as an announcer and wore an arm sling until the March 4th , 2012 episode , when he hit Kenneth Cameron with a Coin roll , a week later it was scheduled a Match between Kelly and Kenneth Cameron , but Kelly came out and said he wasn´t cleared to compete . He was replaced by Colin Cassady who won and ended the five month winning streak of Kenneth Cameron . Return to NXT and NXT Commentator ( 2012 - 2013 ) . Byron Saxton made his return as the NXT play - by - play commentator on the May 17th taping at Full Sail University . Recently he took up a position behind the cameras as NXT Creative Assistant and is the current NXT Ring Announcer . Between late 2013 and the start of 2014 , Saxton became a regular commentator for WWE Main Event . Color commentator ( 2013 – present ) . On January 15 , 2015 , Saxton was joined into the announce table of SmackDown until June 18 , 2015 . Saxton also replaced Michael Cole on Raw over the next two weeks until April 6 , 2015 . He also making his return at the announce table of Raw on June 8 , 2015 , along with Cole and John Bradshaw Layfield , the announce table of SmackDown on January 7 , 2016 , along with Mauro Ranallo and Jerry Lawler , and at the announce table of NXT along with Rich Brennan and Corey Graves on April 29 , 2015 until he has been removed from the commentary team on December 23 , 2015 . Saxton was took time off from the announce table of SmackDown to predict the WrestleMania matches with Renee Young during WrestleMania week . Saxton was released from SmackDown commentary team after the broadcast on July 19 , 2016 .