WWE’s announce team is often criticized by fans because as the mouthpiece of a television show it’s often easier to blame them for what’s going on. But Corey Graves’ performance is often regarded as top-notch. In all honesty, if it wasn’t for the head injuries early on in his career he might be in the main event scene alongside the people he used to train with in NXT and now calls matches for on a weekly basis.
Graves had to get used to a new ball game entirely when he hung up his wrestling boots and put on a headset in the commentary booth. But one thing that is probably very hard to get used to is WWE’s ever-changing idea of what kind of show they want to present. Because as it turns out, things are changing all the time.
“Even though there’s a list of things you’re not supposed to say or you’re not supposed to do,” Graves explained to E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness, “that changes on an hourly basis. Yeah, it happened on back-to-back weeks. We had this edict in a production meeting a couple of weeks ago where, after a backstage pretape, there’s a wide shot of the crowd, and just let everything breathe. Don’t talk over it. Don’t react to it. Just kind of let everyone digest what they just saw. Makes sense. That’s perfectly logical.”
“Last night, something happens, there’s a live shot [of the audience]. The three of us [on commentary] shut up. ‘Why didn’t anyone say anything?’ — ‘I don’t know. I don’t know. I’m sorry.’ Clearly, I made up this idea in my head that we weren’t supposed to say anything.”
It has to be frustrating sometimes if you work for a place where the rules are always changing on a whim. But Corey Graves continues to make it work and he seems to be thriving. Let’s hope there are many years of Graves on commentary to come because as WWE keeps switching up their announce teams, one constant presence really should be the Savior Of Misbehavior.
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Credit for the quotes in this article goes to E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness and Wrestling Inc for the transcription
