MINNEAPOLIS — Radio is woven into the fabric of sports. It doesn't just relay the action in the games, it gives audiences a sense of presence inside the stadiums — without needing visuals.
Sports have been broadcast on radio for roughly a century and is still around, mixing the nostalgic feeling with a modern approach. Baseball, basketball, football and more all still carry on the tradition.
Now joining the space? Wrestling.
WWE will produce a radio broadcast of SummerSlam 2026 on Aug. 1-2, marking the first time the wrestling company will do an audio simulcast of a premium live event. It comes as WWE launched “WWE Radio” on SiriusXM on July 27.
It’s a daring try. Wrestling has always been about witnessing iconic moments inside the ring. It gained
popularity through screens, not transistor radios.
The broadcasting team of NXT, Vic Joseph and WWE Hall of Famer Booker T, are tasked with the job, out to successfully dish out a one-of-a-kind experience.
“Vic and I (are) doing something groundbreaking,” Booker T told USA TODAY Sports.
Both commentators remember the days of listening to sporting events on the radio, and it helps that Joseph has lived it. Before coming to WWE, he was a radio anchor and reporter in the Cleveland area, covering the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers and more. Joseph is excited to tap back into it all again, even with this being a unique experience.
Joseph and Booker T expressed excitement when they learned about the opportunity, and each said they’ve been doing plenty of work preparing for the event, in step with executives to nail down the format.
“This is really a huge step for everybody,” Joseph said. “It again is something that is very exciting to me, with the background that I have, to be able to craft now something that there is no mold to. Booker and I are really going to be the foundation and put this all together – with our own little vision and be able to put our spin on it.”
Luckily, there may be no pair more suited to try this experiment.
After meeting at a random gas station years ago, Joseph and Booker T have been calling NXT together since October 2022, making them currently the longest paired team in WWE. Not bad for a partnership Joseph said was only supposed to last three months.
“We know where each of us is going, and that synergy is something that I think is going to come out even more now because we don't have the visual aspect of it,” Joseph said.
In addition to their rapport, no one may know most of the stars better than them. Being in NXT, they work with talent when they’re just trying to find their footing in the business, before they go on to become players on the main roster.
Some of them – like Oba Femi, Trick Williams and the group Fatal Influence – are on the SummerSlam card, and all are people synonymous with the voices of Joseph and Booker T. Knowing wrestlers on a deeper level is something Joseph said will enhance the storytelling, in addition to calling the action.
As for how it will work? Booker T has the plan laid out.
“I'm gonna let Vic toss it up and I'm gonna put the alley-oop and dunk it down,” Booker T said. “Just let Vic do what he does, and I go out and do what I do, and try to more importantly take the fans on an experience. Take them on that journey, and have some fun.”
Fun is certainly in store when the two have the headset on, but that will also come with the pressure of needing to succeed. Joseph mentioned there are plans to continue calling premium live events on radio ... but in order for that to continue, the first edition needs to succeed.
How will they achieve that?
“One viral moment,” Booker T said. “That's all we need.”
Besides, Joseph and Booker T are looking at this as history. The play-by-play man was reminded “there aren't many firsts that are left in this industry” and no one can take this achievement away from him and Booker T.
There are blueprints to succeed calling other sporting events on radio, but wrestling doesn’t have one. It allows Joseph and Booker T to craft their own game plan, one that makes wrestling just as good on radio.
“It's never been done before, and you're really going to be able to hear, visualize through your own mind. We're going to give you the movie. We're going to put the movie in your mind and let you play it,” Joseph said. “We're going to continue to build this thing from the ground up to where it isn't must see, it's must listen.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Wrestling on the radio? WWE set for 'groundbreaking' call of SummerSlam 2026
