When WWE made the call to replace Corey Graves as the color-commentator on WWE Raw with Pat McAfee in January of 2025, it immediately put a chip on his shoulder.
He was not where he wanted to be.
At the time, Graves vented his frustration about the situation via social media.
“Imagine chasing your dream,” Graves wrote in January of 2025. “Then being TOLD (not deciding) that you’re no longer physically able to pursue your dream. Then you dedicate your life to something ‘dream adjacent’ and being pretty f**king awesome at it.”
His old statement continued, “And then, when it’s time to enjoy the fruits of your labor, being told you’re not famous enough for your own job. Just in case you’ve wondered where I’ve been.”
Ouch.
As time went on, the grueling, grinding schedule that comes with being on the road with WWE began to take its’ affect on McAfee, ultimately culminating with the “burnt out” commentator and podcast host deciding to step away from WWE for the time being.
Graves was immediately inserted back into the picture, picking up where he left off in calling WWE Raw every Monday night alongside Michael Cole when McAfee left the spot in the summer of 2025.
During a recent interview with Scott Fishman of TV Insider, the Graves reflected on feeling like he had “a chip on his shoulder” over the situation, and admitting that he’s still not “quite back to where [he] wants to be.”
“Definitely,” Graves responded when asked by Fishman if the situation caused him to have a chip on his shoulder. “I’d be lying if I said it didn’t. If anything else, that whole period in my career I looked at it and thought, ‘This isn’t where I want to be. This isn’t what I want to be doing. I’m going to show them.’ This goes back to the outworked next guy. I will be the hardest worker in the room. I will say yes to stuff people don’t want to do. Sure, it gets me in trouble with my wife from time-to-time. I’ve missed a lot of events in life that I’m not super excited about. At the end of the day, this is what I have done with my life. This is my life’s work.”
Graves continued, “Yeah, when I got bounced so to speak, from that very first time, I intended to say, ‘I’m coming into NXT and will reinvent myself and show you guys I’m the best in the world at this.’ I kind of approached this with that mentality. It was very much a chip on my shoulder situation. I like to think I still have some of that chip on my shoulder because I’m still not quite back to where I want to be.”
Where he is currently is sitting next to Michael Cole at the desk for WWE Raw commentary every Monday night, live at 8/7c on Netflix.
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