Corey Graves Pulled From NXT After Criticising WWE

The controversial story around Corey Graves has taken another twist.

On January 13th, Corey Graves publicly called out WWE for dropping him from SmackDown. After appearing on the blue brand on January 3rd, Graves appeared on NXT four days later but was missing from the most recent edition of Smackdown.

In the rant, Graves said he was no longer famous enough to do his own job, seemingly in response to Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett becoming the commentary team on SmackDown with Michael Cole and Pat McAfee being installed on Raw.

In a follow-up, Graves said he “had a lot to say” on the January 14th edition of NXT, but it seems the company had other ideas.

Corey Graves To Miss NXT

Despite those comments from Graves, it’s now been reported by Mike Johnson of PWInsider that he won’t be appearing on NXT after all. The report noted that the announcer was spotted at Orlando Airport in the hours before the taping heading through TSA to leave the city.

The report added that while the comments from Graves were seemingly being turned into an angle for television, he has been legitimately frustrated backstage.

Graves’ brother Sam Adonis has also added to the already building controversy, taking to social media to write “Not A Work… 🫢”

Meanwhile, Ibou, of Wrestle Purists also noted that Graves was “legitimately upset” about the situation.

With Graves absent, Vic Joseph will continue to call the action alongside Booker T.