Corey Graves Admits Real Frustration With WWE Decision
Corey Graves has been with WWE for over 15 years.
In January 2025, WWE reshuffled its commentary team, and placed Michael Cole and Pat McAfee on Raw, while Graves was moved to NXT alongside Booker T and Vic Joseph.
This decision created real-life frustration for Corey Graves, and he even expressed it on social media, claiming that he was told he wasn’t “famous enough” for a role he had performed for nearly a decade.
Corey Graves was later moved back to the main roster on Monday Night Raw after he filled in for McAfee in 2025, when McAfee took a hiatus for football commitments. He eventually reclaimed his full-time main roster spot. He is now part of the Monday Night Raw commentary team and also serves as the voice of Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide.
Corey Graves Reveals How NXT Move Pushed Him to Work Harder
During a recent interview with Scott Fishman of TV Insider, Corey Graves admitted that his demotion to NXT following Pat McAfee’s return to the main roster in early 2025 definitely put “a chip on his shoulder.”
“Definitely. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t. If anything else, that whole period in my career I looked at it and thought, “This isn’t where I want to be. This isn’t what I want to be doing. I’m going to show them.” This goes back to the outworked next guy. I will be the hardest worker in the room. I will say yes to stuff people don’t want to do.
Sure, it gets me in trouble with my wife from time-to-time. I’ve missed a lot of events in life that I’m not super excited about. At the end of the day, this is what I have done with my life. This is my life’s work. Yeah, when I got bounced, so to speak, from that very first time, I intended to say, “I’m coming into NXT and will reinvent myself and show you guys I’m the best in the world at this.”
I kind of approached this with that mentality. It was very much a chip on my shoulder situation. I like to think I still have some of that chip on my shoulder because I’m still not quite back to where I want to be.”