WWE Announcer Delighted By Change In Approach Under Triple H
WWE announcer Corey Graves has explained the differences he’s experienced in the company now that Vince McMahon is gone and Triple H is in charge.
Vince McMahon was told to resign as Executive Chairman of TKO following a disturbing lawsuit being filed against him that accused him of sexual assault and sex trafficking.
McMahon had been absent from week-to-week WWE shows but still seemed to have an overall control of creative in the company before Endeavor’s takeover of WWE was completed in September 2023. Triple H now runs creative and sits in the hotseat producing weekly shows and premium live events. And it seems, it’s a welcome change for at least one WWE commentator.
Corey Graves Opens Up About WWE Under Triple H
Speaking on the Short and to the Point podcast, Corey Graves discussed the support he’s received from Triple H during his career and says he has a lot more freedom now The Game is sitting in the boss’ seat where Vince McMahon used to sit:
Triple H is another guy that I owe a great deal, if not everything in my career, to. He was the one that took a chance on me as a wrestler in NXT. And I know that we’ve had a few conversations since – that him having to shut me down broke his heart as much as it broke mine. He’s always been sort of silently supportive. If I need something, I’ve never hesitated to go to him and ask. 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. As long as all the boxes that need checked continue to be checked, I don’t have to do them the same way that the six guys before me have done or that Michael Cole does.
Graves was then asked what having Triple H in his ear is like and he says his headsets have been as quiet as ever now that McMahon is not producing him:
I’ve been on TV for, I think, seven years on Raw and SmackDown. And in the last few months, I think my headsets have been as quiet and lucid as they have been ever. I only hear from him if I’m doing something terribly wrong, which knock on wood doesn’t happen too frequently, or the other time I hear from him pretty regularly is if a joke lands. If I say something and it gets him, ‘Oh, that was really good.’ Or he’ll double down. He’ll follow up on my joke in my headset. And sometimes I’m like, ‘Oh man I wish I could tell the people this but it just doesn’t fit.’
Under Triple H’s time in charge of WWE, Corey Graves has taken over the lead announcer role on SmackDown where he is joined every week by Wade Barrett.