AEW has added another seasoned voice to its ever-growing collection of “We’ve Got People Who’ve Seen Things”—this time in the form of Josh Mathews, the former WWE announcer, TNA commentator, producer, and occasional guy-who-got-beat-up-on-TV.
According to Wrestling Observer, Mathews is now working backstage in AEW, although no one’s quite sure in what capacity. He could be producing matches, calling time cues, or politely reminding wrestlers that they can’t all have 25-minute entrances. The man’s versatile.
This move isn’t entirely out of left field. Mathews’ wife, Madison Rayne, is already on AEW’s producer roster, meaning they’ve officially become wrestling’s most stable power couple not named Taker and Michelle. Reports say Josh was spotted backstage at a recent Dynamite taping, blending in like a dad at Comic-Con who just wants to support the kids.
Mathews had a solid 11-year run with TNA Wrestling, doing everything from commentary to backstage production to the occasional “Why is he in the ring?” moment. His run ended in February 2025 as part of TNA’s mass restructuring—which is wrestling-speak for “we fired half the roster but made it sound like an IKEA project.”
Long before that, Mathews got his start in WWE in the early 2000s as a backstage interviewer who somehow never aged. He eventually became a full-time commentator, and if you watched SmackDown between 2010 and 2013, chances are you heard his voice trying to make sense of Michael Cole’s heel turn and Mark Henry’s Hall of Pain in the same hour.
The move to AEW is a smart one. With veteran producers like Jerry Lynn, Dean Malenko, Chris Hero, Sarah Stock, and Scotty 2 Hotty already on the roster, Mathews adds even more experience—and possibly a well-organized spreadsheet or two.
While there’s no official confirmation of his exact role just yet, we can only assume he’s either producing matches, calling camera shots… or perhaps just politely reminding Tony Khan that not everyone on Dark needs 12 minutes.