Corey Graves admits that he was a little upset by a move that WWE made back in 2021.
Graves was moved from the SmackDown commentary team to the Raw commentary team, and was replaced by Pat McAfee. During an interview on the Kurt Angle Show Graves admits that he took it personally that WWE made the move.
Believe it or not, I’m blowing up my own stuff here. I think the world of Pat. He is such a strong persona, it is easy for me to play off of, rib him, and get under his skin. I was a little upset, professionally, that I found out, you’re going from Friday Night SmackDown on FOX, the network show that you’ve kicked off with Michael Cole, I took it a little personally.
Graves later explains that he wasn’t angry with McAfee, but more with WWE because he felt like he’s paid his dues for the company. Fortunately, Graves says that Michael Cole was instrumental in helping him get over it.
Not because Pat, but I’ve paid my dues here. I’m the guy who shows up week after week, I’m the guy who did both Raw and SmackDown for two years straight, never complained, and this is how you do me. I remember talking to my wife and going, ‘this isn’t right, I have to do something about this, this isn’t fair.’ I really took it hard. It had nothing to do with Pat being Pat, it was just the professional issue. She talked me off the ledge, I had a few conversations with Cole. Michael Cole is my boss/therapist, he talked me off a ledge as well. Looking back, it’s business. Sometimes you have to do the stuff you don’t want to do so you can do the stuff you do.
Graves and his wife, WWE superstar Carmella, recently welcomed their child into the world. You can read about that here.