On this week’s “After The Bell,” Corey Graves talked about how he believes Seth Rollins is the best wrestler in the world today, and how he can feel emotion when calling a match.
Corey Graves said he believes Seth Rollins is the best wrestler in the world today:
“As a fan of this business, in my not quite humble opinion, Seth Freakin’ Rollins is the best sports entertainer, professional wrestler, superstar, whatever label you want to put on him, on Earth. Not just in WWE, not just in America, in the world,” Graves said.
“I believe that in my soul after watching what Rollins has done night in and night out, week in and week out, for years. When Rollins is in the ring, you’re never going to be disappointed. But the trilogy of matches with Cody, and then to recover after losing in Hell in a Cell, coming up on the short end of this hot rivalry, the focal point story, without missing a beat, reinsert himself in the top tier as the number one villain, bad guy, on Monday Night Raw, and continue to churn out these epic matches almost effortlessly, there’s no one that can touch Rollins, in my opinion.”
Corey talking about the emotion he can feel when calling a match if the match is telling a good story:
“If I feel it, you’re gonna get the real me. I still love this. As cynical as I am and as jaded as I can be, and I spend time cracking jokes, if I think something sucks, usually I’m just gonna make fun of it. That’s just how I deal with life,” he shared.
“But if I’m invested in something, if I believe, and case in point, Rollins and Styles on Monday night, I wasn’t thinking, ‘Oh, this is RAW. Hey, we have to throw to this package afterwards.’ I was a fan watching two dudes I have the utmost respect for tear it down. They told the story and all I had to do is verbalize it. That’s the difference.”
“So many wrestlers, not only in WWE, but around the globe, it’s almost a trope, ‘We’re gonna go out there and tell a story.’ ‘What’s the story?’ ‘Well, you know, I’m trying to win the match.’ Okay, you’re using the phrase, you’re gonna go out and tell the story. Me, as a commentator, I should be able to watch your match and do what I did with Rollins and Rhodes. Tell me the story eloquently in a phrase, a paragraph, less than, because they laid it all out. They gave me all the tools and everything I needed. They told a story. There was backstory, there was emotion, there was drama. I just had to explain it. So that to me is my gauge on things.
“If you’re going out there and you’re doing stuff that is fun or interesting to some people, I’m never trying to disrespect it, but when you hook me, and that’s what Rollins and Rhodes did, they hooked me as a fan. They dug somewhere deep inside of me and they went ‘Hey, Matt, remember how you loved wrestling your entire life and this is all you ever wanted to be a part of?’ They touched that. So again, all the credit in the world to those guys. I appreciate everyone giving me a little nod for the first time in my career.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit After The Bell with Corey Graves with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription
