WWE’s Corey Graves Talks CM Punk Falling Out, Wife Carmella & ‘WrestleMania’ 42

It was a decade ago Corey Graves was given the opportunity of a lifetime sitting opposite Michael Cole on WWE Raw. This came after making the transition from pro wrestler due to recurring concussion issues to broadcaster. Since then the road hasn’t been easy with Graves proving to be a utility player through various assignments working flagship programs like SmackDown and WrestleMania to NXT and kickoff shows. 

In January, he officially made it back to Monday nights to commentate alongside his mentor Cole. Pat McAfee held the post previously last year before stepping away. Graves also does play-by-play and has been promoted as the voice of Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide, which was acquired by WWE last year. 

Needless to say the 42-year-old’s plate is full when you also factor in being the father of five. Graves’ second with former WWE superstar Carmella was born just in October. If that wasn’t enough, he also teaches a Live Sports Production class at Point Park University in Pittsburgh. Business has picked up even more with WrestleMania 42 on the horizon April 18 and 19 in Las Vegas. 

Here Graves opens up about his rollercoaster WWE journey and provides hot takes ahead of the company’s biggest weekend of the year. 

Doing some research, you had an untelevised WWE match teaming with CM Punk almost 20 years ago. What do you remember about that? 

Corey Grave: He and I actually tag teamed against The Gymini. I had a tryout at OVW (Ohio Valley Wrestling) at the time. I did the dark match and ended up not getting signed off of it. Punk was already signed and under contract at that time. He has been one of my closest friends. I’ve known him for close to 20 years at this point. 

A taste of what was to come for both of you. How is it to see CM Punk back on top as WWE World Heavyweight Champion going into WrestleMania? 

It really is wild. Life in this business is so unusual. Everyone has a different story, but to have someone who I bond with so deeply when I was trying to get ahead of the business. He was always a step or two ahead of where I was. I looked up to him for that. I sort of tried to follow in his footsteps. I patterned myself after him, right, wrong, or indifferent. I’m sure I learned a few bad habits along the way, but he was sort of my wrestling big brother. That’s how I looked at it. Then life happens. There are the well-documented issues he had with WWE. He and I fell off for a while, but when he came back, I made it a point to talk to him. It’s one of those things where I believe time heals all wounds or at least most wounds. 

We had a heart-to-heart. Both of us apologized for a couple of different things and let it be water under the bridge. Since then, we’ve continued to grow close again. He is one of my favorites to this day, despite the fact he is my friend. As a talent, I’ve always been a fan of CM Punk. With all the headaches and issues and struggles he has had in his career, the relationship between him and WWE had soured so badly. Then to have it come full-circle and know, despite what he says in interviews about what is important to him, in Phil [Brooks’] (Punk) heart he wants to be the World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania. So, I’m happy for my friend in that respect. To know the fan in him, not just professionally speaking, he is in the top spot and that’s where he deserves to be. It truly is a dream come true for him. There is still part of  him that acknowledges that and realizes that, and I’m happy for him to get to live that. 

You’re also living the dream for what is coming up to be more than a decade now broadcasting. How do you look back on your experiences and the lessons you’ve learned along the way? What I love about you is you make the most of every opportunity, keep your head down, and do the work. 

It’s funny now because it feels like yesterday. We’re around the 10-year mark where I was called up to Raw. I remember I was living in Tampa at the time, but my first Raw was in Pittsburgh. So, to be able to do it in my hometown, I remember waking up and staying in the hotel looking out and seeing Mount Washington with a tear in my eye. Man, I’m on Raw. It wasn’t how I envisioned it. I wanted to be a wrestler for all those years, but I’m on Raw and doing it at home. To your point, I’m just a head-down, grind guy. I will outwork people who are more talented than I am. That has kind of been my MO. Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. That’s been my motto. I got it from my mom. My mom is one of the most tireless workers to this day I’ve ever known. My work ethic is second to none. I don’t say no to anything. I rarely did, if I ever have. It’s really been cool that the world has been able to watch and grow and develop. 

Oftentimes they notice things I don’t. To me, it’s just my job. I show up to do what I think I’m doing. When I do go back rarely and listen to what I’ve done in the past, even back to my NXT days. It’s entertaining, but for all the wrong reasons. I was pretty rotten. It’s just like anything else. The more repetitions you get, the more comfortable you get the more experience you get, the better you get. It has gotten to the point now where I’m as confident as I’ve ever been and had to occupy different roles throughout my career. I’d like to think I am more of the complete broadcaster on the team now. I can do color commentary and analysis. I can do play-by-play. I’m no Michael Cole, but I’ve been in the chair on SmackDown as the lead broadcaster. The company trusted me, and I didn’t crash the train. So, I take that as a positive. Everything from hosting to all these various events WWE has put on has given me the opportunity to sink my teeth into different aspects of being a broadcaster than I never in a million years have looked for. A million dollars wouldn’t have bought this experience. It’s really on-the-job training. It has been invaluable. 

You were reassigned to NXT at one point. You’re seeing Pat McAfee come onboard regularly. Do you feel that time gave you a chip on your shoulder? 

Definitely. 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. 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. 

It’s amazing how you have always been able to maintain this professionalism and show up for work after going through some difficult things at home. Carmella, your wife, is a great performer and accomplished so much in WWE, You two have been through so much including when the company decided not to renew her contract last year. What’s it like to compartmentalize work and personal life when it can all blend together?  

It kind of caught us both off guard at first, but I think it has been a blessing in disguise. She has been able to dive into other projects she has been wanting to work on for a while. Obviously, she has two baby boys keeping her busy all day, every day. She is an incredible mom. Her leaving WWE actually helped me in that I can come home and turn off work. That’s something I’ve always struggled with throughout work and life. I’m a workaholic. Now I come home and when I walk through the doors it’s no longer, “Hey, how was your day at TV. This happened. How was your day?” There were the constant comparisons with wrestling being nonstop. It’s sort of forced me to think that when I walk through the door, all that stuff stays in the truck. I’m going to come home and be a dad and a husband and focus on that. There are still nights where she gives me crap for sitting through wrestling on nights I’m not working. You can’t kill my passion for it. At the same time, it has been helpful in that respect where I have a little delineation between work life and home life where before it was a messy blur. 

Do you see her wrestling again? 

You’ll have to ask her. I can give you what I think, but I don’t want to speak for her. I think time will tell. 

You are also known as the voice of AAA. How has it been getting into getting to know the characters and storylines of a totally different promotion on top of what you do at WWE? 

First off, this whole growth that has been my addition to AAA came out of left field. I did that Worlds Collide event in Los Angeles last year before Money in the Bank and got a great response internally, the fans seemed to appreciate it. It was sort of my spot to lose. I take it very seriously. I’ve been a fan of lucha for a long time. I wouldn’t say I’m an expert by any means. I grew up in a household full of wrestling fans. We had Telemundo, which broadcasted AAA back in the day. Even though I didn’t understand what I was watching, I couldn’t stop watching. To have it come full-circle has been really cool. The most important aspect to me is to maintain the authenticity of lucha libre. As exciting as it is to have WWE and AAA be partners and have WWE’s production abilities added to the world of AAA, lucha libre at its core is a staple of Mexican culture. It is bigger than one company. It’s part of life there. 

It’s taken very seriously. I was aware of that. It has been mission since the outset to pay respect to it while simultaneously being able to educate fans who may not be familiar with it and generally are WWE fans and only watched American wrestling. There are several responsibilities, but I take it very seriously. At the end of the day, it’s about not betraying what makes lucha libre so special because it’s not WWE. There are elements that cross over both ways. You see WWE talent wrestling in AAA and vice-versa. Structurally, things might have been tweaked to make for a better television product. But as far as what makes AAA, the team has been cognizant of trying to be authentic and honor the culture and in doing so, I think we’ve created a little bit of magic. In my opinion, AAA is probably the most fun television product WWE is producing. I say that with full respect to Raw, SmackDown, or PLEs. To me, AAA is just fun. It’s action-packed and colorful. The storylines are relatively simple. There isn’t anything too long-term or if you hadn’t been paying attention you’re not going to understand it. Everything is easily digestible and a lot of fun. Its fast-paced, hour-long, action-packed show on Saturday nights. I’m having a blast. 

There has been some more physicality last year when took some bumps from Brock Lesnar. Is another match still in the cards? 

I got medically cleared a couple of years ago. I started to get back in shape. A lot of things changed within the company as far as everything. So, I don’t foresee that happening in the foreseeable future if at all. One major reason being is I don’t feel like staying in ring shape because it’s a lot of work. I have the luxury of wearing a suit on TV. I like not watching what I eat. Never say never. I think if the right opportunity presented itself, whether that be in WWE or AAA, I would probably jump at the chance. At the same time, it’s not something I’m actively pursuing at the moment. 

 

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You’re also wearing the professor hat these days. What has experience been like as you pass along your knowledge? 

It has been really cool. There is the old adage of one teaches and two  learn. That’s very much been the case with me as I build this class. I was very upfront with the students the first time, on the first day. I said, “I want this to be collaborative. I don’t come from the world of academia. I’m not an educator per say, but I have more real-word experience than anybody on staff as far as doing what I do. That’s what prompted them to invite me to teach there in the first place. It’s really cool to me to peel back my own brain and think of how I came to these skills I have or developed over the years. If it was an aha moment or something I had to work at. 

Working in WWE all the time and being under that umbrella, I’ve done so much and experienced so many aspects of broadcasting, but it has always been the WWE way. I found out that the WWE way sort of applies across many different broadcasts. Not all, but a lot of sporting events and different things where doing what I do works. So to pass little tips and tricks and suggestions on to these students who are all better educated than I am and probably more qualified on paper than I am to do what I do. I really try to focus on the stuff you’re not going to learn in a textbook. Stuff I picked up in real-life situations. It has been refreshing to me and reminding me what I am capable of and what I do know. I get stuck on autopilot from time-to-time, so it’s nice to force me out of my own comfort zone and relearn what I’ve learned over the last 10 years.

Lastly, WrestleMania is coming up. What are your thoughts on the card so far? 

As far as the main events go, and I know we joke how every match on WrestleMania is a main event, but the matches that will most likely go on last I would argue are two of the strongest since WrestleMania has become a two-night format. I think you can take Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes and put that on Saturday night or Sunday night. The same could be said for CM Punk and Roman Reigns. I think the same could be said for, and shouldn’t come to a surprise for nobody, Brock Lesnar and Oba Femi. I don’t know where it’s going to fall on the card. You can open each night with it or close each night with it. I think this is a special match in a sense you’ve got Brock Lesnar, who has been a staple of WWE and the most dominant force we’ve had for over a decade. Now you have Oba, who all signs point to being the future of this game. Is it going to be a passing of the torch moment? Maybe. Could Brock shut it down, and we have another year-long story ahead of us? Maybe, I don’t think people would be too upset about that because you’ve got a throwback larger-than-life juggernaut of athletes colliding on the grandest stage of them all. This is what WrestleMania was made for. 

WWE Raw, Mondays, 8/7c, Netflix 

WWE SmackDown, Fridays, 8/7c, USA Network 

WWE WrestleMania 42, 6/5, April 18 (First Hour Also Airing on ESPN 2) and 19 (First Hour Also Airing on ESPN), ESPN Unlimited