Corey Graves has noticed a major difference between WWE’s biggest stars and a lot of the rest of the roster — and it happens before they ever step through the curtain.
During an appearance on Busted Open Radio, Graves was discussing the relationship between WWE wrestlers and the commentary team when Natalya explained that she will personally approach him before matches to make sure he understands the story she wants told. That led Graves to explain just how valuable those conversations are from his side of the desk.
Graves made it clear that wrestlers have an open door with him before shows, even if his personality might make some talent think otherwise. He said that if someone takes the time to explain what they want viewers to understand, he can help make sure that message gets across on television.
“I cannot overstate how important it is for talent. Hopefully, some of them are listening to this right now. I know that I sort of appear to be kind of a grumpy guy. I’m really not hard to get along with, especially when I’m sitting at the commentary desk all day while rehearsals are happening or walkthroughs, etc.”
He then explained exactly what he can offer wrestlers who make the effort to communicate their story beforehand.
“If you tell me what you want your story to be, I will tell it for you and I will most likely enhance it for you. I will put my spin on things and maybe do it my own way, but I will make sure that what you want conveyed is conveyed.”
That’s where Graves dropped the more surprising part. Despite commentary being responsible for explaining those stories to millions of viewers, he said only a small number of wrestlers actually seek out the announcers before their matches.
“With that said, there’s a remarkably low number of talents who make sure they seek out myself or Michael Cole or Wade Barrett or Joe Tess or even Vic and Booker.”
Graves also noticed a pattern among the people who do make those conversations a priority. According to him, they tend to be the wrestlers sitting near the very top of WWE’s food chain.
“And it’s funny because those are always the stars that populate the top of the card. Off the top of my head, I will tell you every match of his I ever called, John Cena found me, AJ Styles found me, Roman Reigns finds me.”
Graves wasn’t suggesting that wrestlers need to spoon-feed commentary every detail of their match. He acknowledged that the announcers generally understand what is happening, but said giving them extra information can prevent an important part of the story from getting lost.
“They make sure it—obviously, it’s pro wrestling, right? It’s not rocket science. There likely isn’t something that’s going to be totally missed, but better safe than sorry.”
For Graves, commentary also becomes a safety net when a match doesn’t unfold exactly as planned. If he already knows what the wrestlers are trying to accomplish, he can adjust on the fly and help steer the audience back toward the intended story.
“And if you arm us as the commentators with the information that you want the audience to know, we’re sort of that last line of defense.”
That communication becomes even more important when something goes sideways in the ring, because Graves said commentary can sometimes help rescue the direction of a match in real time.
“If something doesn’t go right, which God knows happens all the time, if I know where you’re trying to go or what your goal was, nine times out of ten, I can spin something to get the train back on the track.”
He admitted commentary can’t magically erase everything that goes wrong, but having that advance knowledge gives the announcers a much better chance of protecting the wrestlers and their story.
“It’s not necessarily going to clean up all the mess as a whole, but it will, you know, smooth down some of the sharp edges of what’s going wrong at the moment.”
Graves basically laid out a pretty simple lesson for WWE talent — the commentary team can only help tell your story better if they know exactly what you’re trying to tell. The fact that Cena, Styles and Reigns consistently made sure Graves was in the loop probably isn’t lost on anyone considering how long all three have operated at the highest level.
Do you think more WWE wrestlers should make a point of talking with the commentary team before their matches, or should the announcers already be expected to know the story? Let us know what you think in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
