A ton of things have changed in WWE once Paul “Triple H” Levesque took over creative from Vince McMahon in the summer of 2022 following the hush money scandal. The product has gotten better and morale has increased within those who work for the company. Commentary has also changed after years of McMahon being notorious for yelling at the announcers.
Changes
Corey Graves has been part of the commentary team for years and has worked under both men. Graves took on a new role as the lead SmackDown play-by-play voice last month.
While speaking on the Short and to the Point podcast, Graves talked about the support he has from Triple H, noting he owes a lot, if not his career, due to him supporting his transition from wrestler to commentator.
Experience
“He also is really cool and sort of refreshing in a sense that he gives us [announcers] space. When he’s in Gorilla [position] right where the old boss sat, instead of being told and prompted, ‘Hey, you’ve got to say this, you have to do it this way, you have to use this verbiage,’ He, I think, understands that we’re all fans and we all love this in different ways. And as the business grows and evolves, you kind of have to let go of the reins a little bit. I still have my guide rails, I just feel like they’re a little bit wider on each side now where rather than trying to stay on a particular path and walk in a certain rhythm and do things a certain way, I have a little bit more leeway to be me and develop my own style.”
He said he doesn’t do commentary the same way that people before him have done. Graves also talked about having Triple H in his headset. He said that his headset is as quiet now as they’ve ever been in his career and only hears from Triple H if he’s doing something wrong, which doesn’t happen too frequently. He will also hear him pretty regularly if he says a joke the right way.
H/T to F4Wonline.com for the transcription
