7 Ups And 5 Downs From WWE NXT TakeOver: Respect

By Scott Carlson /

6. Graves Has Got €˜It€™

Kudos to NXT announcer Corey Graves, who continues to impress as he makes the transition from wrestler to commentator. Graves clearly studied how Jesse €œThe Body€ Ventura conducted himself €“ how he interacted with the play-by-play announcer, how he related to the wrestlers, and how he rationalized every decision the heel made but still had limits. Graves was solid Wednesday, relating a situation to his own wrestling career (Scott Dawson using a chop block to take Cena out), praising Apollo Crews for his technique during a pinfall attempt, and many other really good moments. He continues to impress and could easily transition over to the main roster if they wanted to. That€™s not to say that he wouldn€™t wither with a worked-up Vince McMahon in his ear on Raw and PPVs, but it€™s good to see a former wrestler doing the color analyst stuff pretty well.