Corey Graves Reveals When WWE "Upset" Him

Michael Cole and Carmella had to talk Corey Graves out of snapping at WWE management.

Pat McAfee
WWE

Corey Graves has revealed that he was p*ssed off at WWE for replacing him with Pat McAfee on SmackDown in 2021. Both Michael Cole and Carmella had to intervene and "talk [him] off a ledge", because Corey planned to broach the subject with upper management.

He's glad he didn't.

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Graves told Kurt Angle's podcast that his annoyance had nothing to do with McAfee. Corey "thinks the world of Pat", and even put him over as "a strong persona" during the interview. Instead, the stalwart announcer was peeved that he'd pulled double duty on Raw and SmackDown for years, but was cast aside from the FOX spot without hesitation.

That didn't sit well with him, but Cole and Carmella combined to talk Graves down and make him realise he still had a wonderful spot on Mondays. Nowadays, here's where Corey lands on the situation: "Looking back, it's business. Sometimes you have to do the stuff you don’t want to do so you can do the stuff you do".

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He was really annoyed at the time though, and doesn't mind admitting it. WWE ticked Graves off by pushing him aside for someone else.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.