WWE’s Corey Graves on Marrying Carmella Days After ‘WrestleMania’
Q&A
Are those wedding bells we hear? Did you see Carmella walk down the aisle during WrestleMania 38 and WWE Raw in white wedding dress-inspired gear?
Although it was very Madonna at the MTV VMAs, it wasn’t just a gimmick. Carmella and commentator Corey Graves, who were engaged last October, are gearing up to walk down the aisle for their nuptials just days after the grand WWE event. Before they tie the knot, we caught up with the groom-to-be over WrestleMania weekend.
When you were on Total Divas you didn’t seem quite as comfortable putting yourself out there as you are on your YouTube series Corey & Carmella. What do you think changed?
Corey Graves: I got personally happy. What you saw with Total Divas at the very end was all in real-time. I was going through the worst time of my life. I had just been freshly divorced and all sorts of negativity were swirling. I was trying to get my personal life right. Fast forward a few years. Now I have a wonderful woman by my side, and I got myself in a great place. Carmella was integral in helping me realize this. Sometimes you need to relax and take yourself out of the situation. I now don’t dread waking up in the morning. Life is pretty good.
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There are some intimate things shared in the show between you and Carmella.
If you’re trying to be yourself and be realistic, you can’t fail. Granted, it’s unscripted television, but there are certain aspects of it that are produced. Otherwise, nobody wants to sit and watch Corey and Carmella on the couch just hanging out all day, which is what we normally do. You turn the volume up a little bit like anything else. If you’re being you, you can’t mess it up. And if people are upset, then so be it.
Even when we launched our podcast the goal was to normalize the fact that if you’re in a relationship, no matter who it’s with, you’re going to have ups and downs. For us, communication is the most important part. Rather than letting things fester and holding things inside. We have the same issues as everybody else. We just work at a really cool place. Through our podcast, we have a lot of interaction with fans through emails where they tell us, “Hey, I tried this with my significant other. We communicated about this issue. And it solved the problem. I’m like, “Wow, maybe I should have been a psychiatrist or a psychologist.”
How is it to work off each other on WWE TV?
It’s really fun. There are very few moments nowadays where I can be completely over-the-top and egregious. That’s when I get to have fun. There is so much happening, especially during a three-hour Raw. Every once in a blue moon where she makes her entrance and I get to just be ridiculously over-the-top. It helps that she is a bad guy because nobody wants to hear that. I’m aware of that. To me, it enhances which she is portrayed as the most beautiful woman in all of WWE. To have her significant other in real life screaming at the top of my lungs, I like to think it helps her cause and annoys people at home. All by design.
You got great news when you were cleared to wrestle. When wrestlers were cleared in the past, it’s almost a given they return to the ring. You’ve taken a different approach.
It has taken me a long time to get to that point. I remember when Daniel Bryan came back. That hurt. It was like a gut punch to me. Nothing against Bryan. He is just trying to live his life and succeed in his career. To me, it was if he can do it why can’t I? Then Edge came back. I said, “Okay, I know Edge’s injury was way more serious than mine.” What truly solidified it was when Christian came back in the Royal Rumble because he and I became really close going through the same thing. We had the same doctors in Tampa that shut us both down where we unceremoniously ended our careers. The itch never goes away, especially when you spent as much time as I did to get to the top of the mountain.
I’ve gotten to a point now personally and professionally where I’m able to take a step back to wonder if it’s worth it. Then I have to ask if I want to get back into a ring shape. Do I want to compete for a roster spot with someone who puts in the work? I don’t want to be that guy. If I can step into the ring like an almost Jerry Lawler role like he used to from time to time. To do that once in a blue moon, that’s still attractive. I like to have that option on the table. At the end of the day, I have to look out for myself and my family and our financial well-being, and our future. I’m not in a real bad spot because hopefully, I can still run my mouth for the next 15 or 20 years.
You have your wedding coming up. What can you tell us about that?
My beautiful bride-to-be is insane. She thought it was a good idea to get married five days after WrestleMania. Tuesday morning we hop on a flight to Florida. Wednesday is the rehearsal. Thursday is the wedding. It is like out of the frying pan and into the fire. No rest for the weary. I’m looking forward to getting on a plane to Hawaii for our honeymoon where we can actually decompress and enjoy and put my phone down for about six days. It’s very exciting for me. It’s going to be good for me to step away and remember why I love this. Everyone should do this from time to time.
Man, you are a good therapist.
I’m trying! I’m putting in the work. It’s not easy. I was a trainwreck. Now I’m just a car crash.
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Corey & Carmella, WWE’s YouTube
