Corey Graves on the Best Brand, Vince McMahon, Banned WWE Terms

‘Raw‘ commentator Corey Graves was interviewed on Edge & Christian’s Pod Of Awesomeness where he spoke about which brand he prefers working for and his thoughts on Vince McMahon in his ears while commentating.

Graves first discussed the change from NXT to ‘Raw,’ ‘Smackdown Live’ and 205 Live, which included having Mr. McMahon in his headset during the shows.

“Oh, that’s a whole different ballgame! It was a bit of an adjustment because I went from NXT where it was obviously a taped show, so I had my producer in my ear and I heard my partner. That was basically the only two voices I had to worry about. Every once in a while, [Michael] Cole would jump in and say something, but generally, it was very easy. You didn’t have to worry about live counts to commercial breaks or anything like that, so fast forward to RAW, now I’ve got Booker, I’ve got Cole, I’ve got Kevin Dunn, I’ve got any number of people sitting in gorilla who have information that they want to pass on to me, and then, we’ve got the wacky 71-year-old billionaire who decides to spew things out when he feels like it, and when he says it, you’d better say it! Yeah, and so, it’s weird. That was the hardest thing because I think on a human level when you have someone talking in your ear, you stop, you stop talking, and that’s your instinct.”

Graves talks about the banned list of words for WWE personnel and how it is constantly changing.

“Even though there’s a list of things you’re not supposed to say or you’re not supposed to do, That changes on an hourly basis. Yeah, it happened on back-to-back weeks! We had this edict in a production meeting a couple of weeks ago where, after a backstage pre-tape, there’s a wide shot of the crowd, and just let everything breathe. Don’t talk over it. Don’t react to it. Just kind of let everyone digest what they just saw. Makes sense. That’s perfectly logical. Last night, something happens, there’s a live shot [of the audience]. The three of us [on commentary] shut up. ‘Why didn’t anyone say anything?’ ‘I don’t know. I don’t know. I’m sorry. Clearly, I made up this idea in my head that we weren’t supposed to say anything. I don’t know.'”

The beloved commentator explains faults he has felt while working ‘Smackdown Live.’

“SmackDown, to me, is incredibly fast-paced, which sometimes is fun and other times can be kind of difficult. Three hours versus to two doesn’t seem like it would be that huge of a world of difference, but I mean it absolutely is. Monday, we never struggle for time to tell the stories and you get a lot more two [segment] matches or just plenty of time to do whatever business you need to do. SmackDown, to me, feels more like an infomercial where it’s bam, bam, bam. Here’s this. Here’s that. Plug this. Let’s throw to break. Let’s throw to this package. And you’ve got two rosters that are roughly the same size, so, obviously, everyone needs their airtime to have their stories told. I just feel like SmackDown is so… I don’t want to say ‘rushed’ because it’s just fast.”

He continued this by confirming which brand he likes working for most.

“I have more fun on Mondays because I can really help delve into a story or a character with some layers, some depth because that’s what’s fun to me. I make most of this stuff up. Some guys will come up to me and give me little tidbits here and there, but usually, I’ll just go into business for myself and try to make myself laugh.”

Finally, Graves says he understands why some fans prefer the two-hour format in use by ‘Smackdown Live.’

“I completely understand and I look at it this way. And I actually agree with you. Three hours is a really long time. From a personal perspective, I enjoy getting to do what I do longer. I don’t feel rushed. It’s a lot of an investment to ask for anybody’s time for anything! Three hours is a long, long time, so I get that. I think the pacing of SmackDown, from a fan’s perspective, I could see that actually being a little more enjoyable and from the best of my recollection, RAW used to be like that. When it was two hours, it was a lot more, bang, bang, bang, here’s this match, here’s that match, boom, boom, boom, constantly moving.”

With H/T to William Windsor of WrestlingInc for the transcription.

If you would like to hear Graves talk in full with Edge & Christian, you can find the podcast to listen to below.

E&C’s Pod of Awesomeness | Corey Graves The Savior of Misbehavior, RAW and SmackDown Commentator

Which brand is your favorite? Do you agree with Graves’ points?

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