Corey Graves Misses Second WWE Broadcast After Social Media Rant

Monday Night Raw’s move to Netflix marks a significant shift for WWE.

Not only does this mean WWE’s flagship show can access a wider audience, it also opens up more exposure for the entire roster.

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Unfortunately, this means that there will be some roster shifting since Netflix wants the biggest stars on the streaming service.

This means that Raw’s announcer team has changed. While Michael Cole remains as the play-by-play announcer, Pat McAfee has taken over for Corey Graves as the color commentator.

Graves had taken over the position after McAfee turned his focus back onto College GameDay. However, his return led to Graves being moved to announcing on NXT, and the former WWE Superstar was not happy about it.

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Soon afterward, Graves took to X (formerly Twitter) to complain about the move, especially after he had to retire from in-ring action due to suffering multiple concussions.

“Imagine chasing your dream,” Graves said in a since deleted post. “Then being TOLD (not deciding) that you’re no longer physically able to pursue your dream.”

“Then you dedicate your life to something ‘dream adjacent’ and being pretty f—— awesome at it. And then, when it’s time to enjoy the fruits of your labor, being told you’re not famous enough for your own job. Just in case you’re wondering where I’ve been.”

Graves followed up the post the following day, saying, “I’ve got a lot to say. Don’t Miss [WWE NXT] tonight on [The CW]. TONIGHT.”

This prompted confusion in multiple fans, and the confusion only grew when Graves didn’t appear on the Jan. 14 episode of NXT. And that wouldn’t be the only time Graves would be missing.

After serving as the regular commentator for WWE Speed on X, Graves was replaced by Blake Howard for the match between Charlie Dempsey and Chad Gable.

Needless to say, fans and experts aren’t necessarily sure if this move is a work (planned) or a shoot (real). However, Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio believes he has the answer.

According to Meltzer, there was already a plan to have McAfee and Cole as the announcers for Raw. Meanwhile, the original plan was for Graves to move back to SmackDown with Joe Tessitore.

However, something changed and Wade Barrett took Graves’ spot and Graves was moved to NXT instead, leaving Graves really upset.

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“Now why you would go on Twitter and do all this? I can’t answer that question,” Meltzer said. “There’s people there who think that he was trying to get fired and that’s why he did it. If he was trying to get fired, they probably aren’t gonna fire him, because I don’t think they want him going to AEW if they give him a release.”

“They could also suspend him, which maybe they’ve done for all we know. It doesn’t have to be announced that they’ve suspended him. I don’t know what’s going on there, but he was removed from doing the show on Tuesday night after Tuesday morning, basically tweeting ‘You better tune in Tuesday night.'”

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