The Royal Rumble and NXT TakeOver: San Antonio took place this past weekend and the link between both events was the voice calling the action. Corey Graves is the color commentator of NXT and part of RAW’s announce team. He’s quickly risen to become the voice of WWE’s ‘New Era,’ a period marked with young and talented wrestlers pulled from the developmental system, the indies and international promotions. A former wrestler himself, Graves has flourished as a rebellious and entertaining talker, connecting with the hard-to-please wrestling audience, saying and shouting things many of us would like to say.
At the start of the weekend festivities, Corey took another step in his career, announcing that he would be stepping down from his role in NXT. While Corey leaving NXT is bittersweet, his expanding presence on the main roster is a natural progression. Last week, Myspace chatted with Corey about wrestling and his role with WWE. Hop to the next page to read the interview.
To start things off, how cool is it to yell out Kinshasa in a (Shinsuke) Nakamura match?
[laughs] I remember the day that Nakamura arrived in NXT in Dallas last year. Before his match I knew we were going to change the name of his move and I asked him what he was calling it now, and he wasn’t sure what he was calling it. He thought maybe Kinshasa, and I remember he was busy with a million different things, so I said “Hey, is it okay to call it this?” and I ran it up the ladder and I figured, if I shout it loud enough it’s gonna stick [laughs]. He hit it that night and I, at the top of my lungs. I’ve followed Nakamura for quite some time. I’m a pretty big fan of Japanese wrestling and I just shouted it, similar to the way they do it and it caught on. I love it, it’s my favorite thing. Actually, I have people in my ear sometimes telling me, "okay, take it easy."
With TakeOver taking place Saturday (1/28), what’s going to be the match everyone will be talking about come Monday Morning?
I hate to discount any of them. I think Nakamura and (Bobby) Roode aren’t going to disappoint, but I think in my opinion the match that really has potential to steal the show is Roderick Strong and Andrade “Cien” Almas. From a technical prospective and to have time and in that sort of atmosphere, both of those guys are going to rise to the occasion, and I think those two are going to open a whole lots of eyes. Roddy is relatively new to the company and Cien hasn’t really found his footing until recently, so I think both of them sort of have that chip on their shoulder to prove and show the world what they’re capable of, and I honestly believe that that match is going to have a lot of people talking afterwards.
Just like Jim Ross is known as being the voice of The Attitude Era, you’ve now become the voice of NXT. How do you handle that responsibility?
I’m honored and flattered that you would refer to me as such. I try not to think about it, man. I have the coolest job in the world now. I get to watch wrestling and I get to be around my friends and travel and tell jokes. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. It’s been a long road to get here. I just try to make sure that the stuff that comes out of my mouth, I think is quality. If I make a joke, it’s something I generally think is funny or I think other people are going to find funny. If I tell a story I want it to be something impactful. I try not to talk for the sake of talking, because sometimes you get caught in that trap and it doesn’t really add anything and if anything, it can take it away. I try not to speak unless I have something to say.
What’s the difference calling the action between RAW and NXT?
The atmospheres are totally different, usually. At this point on RAW, when you get that big main event style match, it’s usually you’re two and a half hours deep into RAW and you’ve seen a ton of stuff. The matches are still incredible but there’s so much going on, they’re just completely different products, RAW is its own thing. NXT is more of a strip-down wrestling show. The atmosphere, especially at a TakeOver is indescribable. I’ve been in arenas on back-to-back nights where a crowd was red hot and then the next night for the pay-per-view, they’re hot at points and they like certain things but there’s not that sustained rumble of “Oh man, we’re witnessing something special.”
It’s different audiences if you know what I mean. Not everybody that likes NXT watches RAW, and a lot of people that watch RAW have no idea what NXT is, so they’re completely different animals. I just try to look at everything the same way though, because the guys that are in the ring I feel that we owe them the honor of trying to tell their story. No one out there is playing games, you know what I mean. Everyone is out there every night giving it their all, they’re on the road all the time, they’re beat up and I have a different respect because I did it at one point, so I try and give them the most respect that I can and try and make the entire thing better.
Which current WWE Superstar can you see joining you at the announce table once their career is done?
I’m pretty impressed with Austin Aries as of late, as I’ve been working with him on 205 Live. He’s nursing an injury so it’s not going to be a full-time gig for now, but if he ever wants to do it, he’s got a future. I’m trying to think off the top of my head. For some reason I’d think it’d be a lot of fun to call matches with (Dean) Ambrose. Kevin Owens would be great but Kevin is very overbearing at the table. Kevin talks and Kevin’s the only one that needs to talk. I think Ambrose, the guy that I know, the guy that I use to ride with and the way he looks at the world and looks at the business, I think Ambrose would be an awesome commentator someday.
You’re following the steps of wrestlers turned announcers like Jesse Ventura, Gorilla Monsoon and Jerry Lawler. Who influences you and what do you want to add to what they did?
All the guys you just named are incredibly important. I love Jesse Ventura’s work. I love Bobby Heenan and of course King (Jerry Lawler), he’s his own separate entity. Just to be in the conversation with those guys is a huge honor to me because I grew up loving this business and watching those guys, listening to those guys, and to have people tell me that I remind them of those guys at any point is just like the biggest honor to me. I just want to add to the product, whether it be with humor or intensity or anything, I just want to be able to make things better.
You take like a guy like Jim Ross. If Jim Ross isn’t screaming at the top of his lungs, the moment doesn’t resonate the same. When you hear that Mick Foley was thrown off the (Hell in a) Cell and “By God, he’s broken in half”, that whole package is what sticks with us as fans. If I can provide the soundtrack to a few of those moments man, I’m incredibly happy to do so.
Here at Myspace we have a tattoo feature called Tattoosday, so we’re fans of your show Superstar Ink. With that, what’s the last piece of ink you’ve gotten?
I’m in the middle of having a piece done on my chest and it’s about halfway done right now. I probably have about six or seven more hours worth of work to do. A guy in Connecticut named Joe Capobianco, who’s one of my favorite artists, he’s doing it, so it’s just a matter of finding time off the road to go sit in chair for awhile.
Finally, what’s the coolest piece of wrestling memorabilia that you own?
That’s actually a pretty easy question for me because I don’t collect wrestling memorabilia. I’m not much of a collector of anything, I’m a fan of everything. I’ve never been one to collect things. But I do have a t-shirt that was worn by “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. Bruno Sammartino tore his t-shirt off during Piper’s Pit in Pittsburgh and threw it into the crowd and my dad caught it. It’s about two thirds of a ‘Hot Rod’ shirt. It’s the closest thing my family has to an heirloom to pass down, so hopefully I’ll give it to my son one day.
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