Corey Graves Makes Surprise NXT Return

It was a major night for NXT as it kicked off 2025 in a huge way but Corey Graves’ appearance left plenty of questions about WWE’s commentary teams.

The announce desks have seen quite the changes in the last few months in WWE. Joe Tessitore joined the company as Raw’s lead announcer but with the Monday night show starting its multi-billion dollar deal on Netflix, Michael Cole and Pat McAfee have taken over duties on WWE’s flagship show.

Joe Tessitore has joined Wade Barrett and Corey Graves on SmackDown but with Triple H’s WWE seemingly preferring two-announcer teams rather than three, could more changes be on the way?

Corey Graves Returns To NXT Commentary

At NXT New Year’s Evil, Corey Graves returned to the brand where he made his name as he joined Vic Joseph and Booker T on commentary. Graves was a part of SmackDown’s commentary team on January 3 so it remains to be seen if he’ll be pulling double duty or if his blue brand days are behind him for now.

It was a big show for Graves to make his return, however, as The Rock lashed out the reaction to his embrace of Cody Rhodes on Raw as The Final Boss made his presence felt in NXT.

There was also plenty of action in the ring at New Year’s Evil as both Iron Survivor Challenge winners Giulia and Oba Femi captured gold winning the NXT Women’s Title and NXT Championship respectively.